The 2010 Texas Bowl was the fifth edition of the college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 bowl game

Bowl game

In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...

, and was played at Reliant Stadium

Reliant Stadium

Reliant Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Houston, Texas, USA. Reliant Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,500, a total square footage of with of natural grass playing surface....

 in Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

. The game started at 5:00 PM US CST on Wednesday, December 29, 2010

2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season

The 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, or the college football season, began on Thursday, September 2, 2010. The season progressed through the regular season and bowl season, and concluded with the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game on Monday, January 10, 2011.-Rule changes for...

. The game was telecast on ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 for the second time in bowl history after being televised by the NFL Network

NFL Network

NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...

 for the first three games. The bowl matched the sixth selection from the Big 12 Conference

Big 12 Conference

The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...

, Baylor, versus the sixth selection from the Big Ten Conference

Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

, Illinois.

Pre-game

By December 8, three days after the announcement of the participating teams, approximately 60,000 of the stadium's 70,000 seats had been purchased; bowl officials anticipated the bowl's first-ever sellout. Baylor announced the same day that all but 400 of its 12,000-ticket allotment had been sold and that the athletics department had requested more tickets from the Texas Bowl.

Illinois

After a disappointing 3-9 season Illinois returns to a bowl game to face Baylor. Illinois boasts Mikel Leshoure who emerged as the Big Ten’s best running back this season, ranking eighth nationally in rushing with 126.1 yards per game. Illinois has not won a bowl game since 1999 when they defeated Virginia

Virginia Cavaliers football

Virginia Cavaliers football is a college football program that competes in the NCAA Division I-FBS and the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...

 in the MicronPC.com Bowl. The game will also mark the Fighting Illini's first appearance in the Texas Bowl.

Baylor

Baylor enters the Texas Bowl with a 7-5 record. After a 7-2 start the Bears lost their last 3 contests. Baylor boasts 5 receivers with at least 40 catches in their high-powered offense. The Bears will be playing in their first Texas Bowl. This is their first bowl appearance since the 1994 Alamo Bowl

Alamo Bowl

The Alamo Bowl is a major American college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the 65,000-seat Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. It matches the second choice team from the Pacific-12 Conference and the third choice team from the Big 12 Conference.Traditionally, the Alamo Bowl has been...

where they lost to the high powered Washington State Cougars.

Scoring

Scoring Play	Score
1st Quarter
ILL - Derek Dimke 38 yard kick, 11:03	ILL 3-0
ILL - Derek Dimke 28 yard kick, 3:45	ILL 6-0
2nd Quarter
ILL - Derek Dimke 43 yard kick, 13:51	ILL 9-0
ILL - Mikel Leshoure Mikel Leshoure Mikel Leshoure is an American football running back for the Detroit Lions.-Early years:Leshoure attended Centennial High School in Champaign, Illinois...  5 yard run (Derek Dimke kick), 9:42	ILL 16-0
3rd Quarter
ILL - Mikel Leshoure 13 yard run (Two-point conversion), 11:40	ILL 24-0
BAY - Jay Finley 3 yard run (Aaron Jones kick), 8:03	ILL 24-7
4th Quarter
BAY - Robert Griffin III Robert Griffin (American football) Robert Lee Griffin III is the starting quarterback for the Baylor Bears college football team. As a true freshman, he earned Big 12 Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year honors.-Early life and high school career:...  39 yard pass to Kendall Wright Kendall Wright Kendall Wright is an American football wide receiver for the Baylor Bears. He is considered one of the best wide prospects for the 2012 NFL Draft.-Early years:Wright attended Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Texas...  (Aaron Jones kick), 13:43	ILL 24-14
ILL - Mikel Leshoure 5 yard run (Derek Dimke kick), 7:14	ILL 31-14
ILL - Nathan Scheelhaase Nathan Scheelhaase Nathan Scheelhaase is an American football quarterback at the University of Illinois. While playing at Rockhurst High School, he won the 2008 Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year.-High school career:... 55 yard run (Derek Dimke kick), 0:41	ILL 38-14

Statistics

Statistics	Illinois	Baylor
First Downs	25	24
Total offense, plays-yards	547	434
Rushes-yards (net)	306	105
Passes, Comp-Att-Yds	18-23-241	32-44-329
Fumbles-Interceptions	0-0	2-0
Time of Possession	33:15	26:45

External links

• Official Texas Bowl website