20th Annual Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl
Kansas 42, Minnesota 21
Attendance: 49,103
Stadium: Sun Devil Stadium
Offensive Player of the Game: Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas
Defensive Player of the Game: James Holt, Kansas
Sportsmanship Award: Jack Simmons, Minnesota
Head Coaches: Mark Mangino, Kansas - Tim Brewster, Minnesota
Weather: Clear, 73 degrees
Television: NFL Network
Payout Per Team: $1,350,000
It didn’t take Kansas long to make sure the scoreboard operator was working.
On the game’s first snap, Todd Reesing threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Dezmon Briscoe as the Jayhawks rolled to a decisive 42-21 win over Minnesota in the 20th Annual Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
Briscoe finished with a Bowl record 14 receptions for 201 yards and three touchdowns to earn offensive player of the game honors. Kerry Meier had 10 catches for 113 yards and a touchdown and also threw a touchdown pass.
After the quick touchdown by Kansas, the Gophers responded with two of their own on short touchdown runs by Jon Hoese to take a 14-7 lead. But the Jayhawks reeled off 28 unanswered points to take command of the game.
Reesing completed 27 of 35 passes, hitting on a school-record 14 straight passes in the first half, and finished with 313 yards and four touchdowns.
The Jayhawks were making their first back-to-back bowl appearance after appearing in the Orange Bowl the previous year and won three straight bowl games for the first time in school history.
Minnesota, which began the season 7-1, cut the lead to 35-21 on a 6-yard pass from Adam Weber to Eric Decker early in the fourth quarter, but the Gophers’ offense stalled after that.
Decker finished with eight receptions for 149 yards and a touchdown and Weber was 19 of 34 for 176 yards passing. Hoese scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter on his first collegiate carry and scored again nine minutes later from two yards out.
James Holt of Kansas set an Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl record with three sacks and tied the Bowl record with four tackles for loss to earn defensive player of the game honors.