The 2010 Insight Bowl was the 22nd edition of the Insight Bowl, a college football bowl game, played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona on Tuesday, December 28, 2010. It featured the Missouri Tigers from the Big 12 Conference versus the Iowa Hawkeyes from the Big Ten Conference.
Teams This was the first meeting of the teams since 1910, when Missouri refused to take the field if Archie Alexander, the black starting tackle for Iowa travelled to Columbia. Prior to this game, Iowa and Missouri had previously met 12 times, all coming between 1892 and 1910, with Missouri holding a 7–5 lead in the series.
Missouri
The Tigers entered the bowl with a 10–2 record. Midway through the season, Missouri looked like it might be making a beeline for the BCS, sitting at 7–0 and favored in its final four games. The Tigers stumbled, following a loss to Nebraska with another at Texas Tech, but rebounded to win its final three games and finish at 10–2 for the program's third 10-win season in four years, bringing the program to its fourth such season ever. Much to the disappointment to many fans, Missouri would later make their second appearance in the Insight Bowl. They were a 34–31 winner over West Virginia in the 1998 game.
Iowa
Iowa looked to end its season on a high note in making its first appearance at the Insight Bowl. The Hawkeyes started off the season with a No. 9 ranking in the preseason AP poll. They had dominating wins over No. 22 Penn State and No. 5 Michigan State – the Spartans only loss in the regular season. But Iowa lost 4 of their last 6 regular season games by a total of 11 points, including a season-ending 27–24 loss at 2–9 Minnesota. The Hawkeyes won their previous two bowl games and were coming off with a 24–14 win in the Orange Bowl over Georgia Tech, giving the Hawkeyes their first BCS bowl win in school history.
Weather 57 deg (F), wind: W at 3 mph, 47% humidity
Game summary
Scoring Scoring Play Score 1st QuarterIOWA – Marcus Coker 1-yard run (Michael Meyer kick), 10:32IOWA 7–0MIZZ – Grant Ressel 23-yard kick, 3:53IOWA 7–3 2nd QuarterIOWA – Marcus Coker 62-yard run (Michael Meyer kick), 13:26IOWA 14–3IOWA – Michael Meyer 34-yard kick, 7:28IOWA 17–3MIZZ – Henry Josey 10-yard run (Grant Ressel kick), 4:51IOWA 17–10 3rd QuarterIOWA – Michael Meyer 21 yard kick, 7:03IOWA 20–10MIZZ – Blaine Gabbert 7-yard run (Grant Ressel kick), 4:34IOWA 20–17MIZZ – Blaine Gabbert 3-yard pass to Michael Egnew (Grant Ressel kick), 0:54MIZZ 24–20 4th QuarterIOWA – Micah Hyde 72-yard interception return (Michael Meyer kick), 5:32IOWA 27–24
Team statistics Statistics
StatisticMissouriIowaFirst Downs 32 19Rush 10 9Pass 20 8Penalty 2 2Total Offense 512 425Total Plays 86 58Average Gain per Play 6.0 7.3Net Yards Rushing 78 225Rushing attempts 29 37Average per Rush 2.7 6.1Rushing Touchdowns 2 2Yards Gained Rushing 118 230Yards Lost Rushing 40 5Net Yards Passing 434 200Comp.-Attempts-INT 41–57–2 11–12–2Average per Attempt 7.6 9.5Average per Comp. 10.6 18.2Passing Touchdowns 1 0Kickoffs-Yards 5–340 6–400Average Yards Per Kickoff 68.0 66.7Net Yards per Kickoff 40.4 49.7Touchbacks 1 1Kick Returns-Yds-Average 5–82–16.4 4–118–29.5Field Goals-Att-Long 1–1–23 2–2–34Punts-Yds-Average-Long 4–168–42.0–55 3–134–44.7–473rd Down Conversions 8–15 6–114th Down Conversions 0–1 0–0Sacks by: Number-Yds 0–0 2–16Fumbles-Interceptions-Yds-TDs 0–2–25–0 0–2–72–1Penalties-Yds 5–48 3–19Time of Possession 29:49 29:23
Notes Iowa and Missouri had previously played each other 12 times with Missouri holding a 7–5 advantage. However, the most recent previous time that the schools had met was in 1910. The two squads had never faced each other in a bowl game.
The two teams played again in the 2024 TransPerfect Music City Bowl, a 27-24 Missouri win.
References