The 2009 International Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Connecticut Huskies (UConn) and the Buffalo Bulls at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, on January 3, 2009. The game was the final contest of the 2008 NCAA Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-FBS) football season for both teams, and ended in a 38–20 victory for Connecticut. UConn represented the Big East Conference (Big East) in the game; Buffalo entered as the Mid-American Conference (MAC) champion.
Connecticut was selected as a participant in the 2009 International Bowl following a 7–5 regular season where they won their first five games, only to lose five of their last seven contests. Facing the Huskies were the Buffalo Bulls with a regular season record of 8–5, highlighted by an upset win over then-No. 12 and undefeated Ball State in the 2008 MAC Championship Game. Pre-game media coverage focused on the legacy of the 1958 Buffalo Bulls, the first team from the university to be invited to a bowl game. When told that the two African-American members of the team would not be allowed to play because of segregation, the team elected to refuse the bowl bid. Buffalo would not play in a bowl until this game, 50 years later.
The game began at 12:00 p.m. EST. Connecticut, led by running back Donald Brown's 208 yards rushing, dominated the first half statistically, but found themselves down 20–10 midway through the second quarter because they committed six fumbles, five of which were recovered by Buffalo. UConn would close the gap to 20–17 by halftime, and take the lead for good late in the third quarter off a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tyler Lorenzen to tight end Steve Brouse. The Connecticut victory was sealed when, late in the fourth quarter, Buffalo quarterback Drew Willy threw a pass that was intercepted by UConn safety Dahna Deleston and returned 100 yards for a touchdown.
UConn junior running back Donald Brown was named player of the game. He finished with 261 rushing yards and one touchdown; his 2,083 rushing yards for the 2008 season was best in the NCAA. Following the game, Brown declared his eligibility for the 2009 NFL draft; he would become the first Connecticut player ever drafted in the first round. Three other UConn players were drafted in the second round.
Team selection
The International Bowl had contracts with the Big East and Mid-American Conferences that allowed them to select one team from each conference to participate in their annual game. By virtue of being the Big East champion Cincinnati was awarded an automatic Bowl Championship Series berth; they would play in the 2009 Orange Bowl. The Gator Bowl and Sun Bowl shared the second pick of Big East teams; after the Gator Bowl opted to select Big 12 member Nebraska and the Sun Bowl learned that they would not be allowed to select Notre Dame, Pittsburgh received the Sun Bowl invitation. The Meineke Car Care Bowl, which had the third selection, picked West Virginia. The fourth, fifth, and sixth selections of Big East teams belonged collectively to the International Bowl, PapaJohns.com Bowl, and St. Petersburg Bowl, which, in consultation with the Big East, decided which schools were the best fit for each bowl. There were three remaining bowl-eligible Big East teams: Connecticut, Rutgers, and South Florida. The previous season, Rutgers had played in the International Bowl and South Florida had appeared in the PapaJohns.com Bowl; bowls in general dislike inviting the same team in consecutive years, on the theory that fans are less likely to want to travel to the same destination they were at the year before. Additionally, the St. Petersburg Bowl, in its inaugural year, sought to have local team South Florida play in their game to drive local attendance. Therefore, the teams were apportioned among the bowls as follows: South Florida to the St. Petersburg Bowl, Rutgers to the PapaJohns.com Bowl, and Connecticut to the International Bowl. On December 7, 2008, UConn formally accepted the bowl invitation, the third in their history.
Buffalo accepted an invitation to the International Bowl following their victory over then-undefeated Ball State in the 2008 MAC Championship Game. Although in past years the MAC champion had been invited to the Motor City Bowl, Buffalo preferred to go to the International Bowl due to Toronto being closer to the school than Detroit, the home of the Motor City Bowl. The game marked the first bowl for the Bulls after their first MAC Championship since moving to Division I-A and joining the MAC in 1999.
The Bulls and Huskies had been frequent opponents during the previous decade as both programs made the transition from Division I-AA to Division I-A. The two teams played each other in six consecutive seasons from 1999 to 2005, with Connecticut winning five of the six contents. The 2005 game, won by UConn 38–0, was the most recent meeting between the two teams. Overall, the Huskies and Bulls had played each other 16 times since their first meeting in 1939, with Connecticut holding a 12–4 advantage in the all-time series. Prior to the 2008 season, Buffalo and UConn had signed a contract to play a four-game, home-and-home series beginning in 2010.
Buffalo
Entering 2008, the Bulls sought to build off of their 2007 season, where they shared the MAC East championship but did not appear in the championship game due to a 31–28 loss to fellow division co-champion Miami (Ohio). Their 5–7 final record, while not good enough to qualify for a bowl game, was still the best by a Buffalo team since they had moved up to Division I-A in 1999. With 10 starters returning on offense and eight on defense, the 2008 team was predicted to be perhaps the most talented team in Bulls history; however, due to their challenging schedule, their final record was predicted to be no better than 3–9.
Buffalo opened the season stronger than expected, with a dominant home win over the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP), 42–17. This was followed by a closer-than-predicted loss at heavily favored Pittsburgh, 27–16. Buffalo's third game and conference opener, versus Temple, was a back-and-forth contest that came down to the final play of the game. Keeping the game within seven points for the first three quarters, the Bulls first took the lead with 2:27 left in the fourth quarter, on a 25-yard field goal by A.J. Principe. Temple responded with a nine-play, 74-yard drive capped by an 11-yard touchdown catch by wide receiver Bruce Francis, his second score of the game, to take a 28–24 lead with only 38 seconds remaining. Taking over at their own 40-yard line after the kickoff went out of bounds, the Bulls drove down the field, scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 35-yard desperation heave from Drew Willy to wide receiver Naaman Roosevelt with no time remaining on the clock. Buffalo's record following the last-second win was 2–1, marking the first time since 1969 that the Bulls had a record over .500 beyond Week 1 as a Division I-A team. The last time the Bulls had started a season 2–1 was 1998, while they were still playing in Division I-AA.
The Bulls proceeded to lose their next three games. Buffalo was unable to keep up with No. 5-ranked Missouri, losing 42–21 in a game that Missouri saw as a tuneup for their later season. In the next contest, against MAC opponent Central Michigan, down nine points with under three minutes left Buffalo scored on a 65-yard pass to James Starks, recovered an onside kick to retain possession, and attempted a game-winning field goal—but A.J. Principe's 46-yard kick hit the right goalpost to give Central Michigan the victory. In the next game, against the Western Michigan Broncos, also in the MAC, Buffalo squandered a two-touchdown advantage with just over five minutes left, allowing the Broncos to win the game in overtime. Buffalo's overall record fell to 2–4, 1–2 in the MAC.
Bouncing back, Buffalo won their next five games. Against Army, Buffalo reversed the result of the Western Michigan game, coming back from a two-touchdown deficit to win in overtime. Handling conference opponents Ohio and Miami (Ohio) with relative ease, Buffalo continued conference play by beating Akron in a four-hour, four-overtime slugfest, 43–40, in Akron's final football game at the Rubber Bowl. In their next game, against Bowling Green, the Bulls found themselves down 21–0 midway through the third quarter, but still managed to come back for their third overtime win of the season. With the win, Buffalo clinched the MAC East championship and ensured that they would have their first winning regular season since moving to Division I-A; the final regular season game, a 24–21 loss to Kent State, was only a formality. The Bulls finished the regular season with an overall record of 7–5, 5–3 within the conference.
Buffalo's opponent in the 2008 MAC Championship Game would be the No. 12-ranked Ball State Cardinals, who had gone undefeated in winning the MAC West. Ball State was a two-touchdown favorite entering the game; Buffalo in its history was 0–5 against the Cardinals. The Bulls struck first with a touchdown late in the first quarter; Ball State responded with a touchdown and a field goal in the second quarter to take a 10–7 lead at the half. The two teams traded touchdowns early in the third quarter. Disaster then struck for Ball State: on two consecutive possessions late in the third quarter, after having driven into the red zone, the Cardinals fumbled the ball. Buffalo returned both of these fumbles for touchdowns and took a lead they would not surrender. The Bulls won the game 42–24, earning their first-ever MAC Championship as well as their first-ever win over a ranked opponent in nine attempts.
Connecticut
The Huskies entered 2008 seeking to prove their success the previous season was no fluke. In 2007, Connecticut earned their first Big East co-championship, albeit after losing to their fellow co-champion, West Virginia, 66–21. A loss to Wake Forest in the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl—the team's second bowl appearance all-time—gave the Huskies a final 2007 record of 9–4. In the Big East preseason media poll, UConn was picked to finish 6th overall in the conference.
UConn started the season strong, winning their first five games. The Huskies easily won their first game 35–3 against Division I-Football Championship Subdivision (Division I-FCS) opponent Hofstra. The second game, at Temple, was played as the remnants of Hurricane Hanna hit Philadelphia. UConn won 12–9 in overtime as Donald Brown ran for a then-career high 214 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown. Connecticut next avenged their loss to Virginia from 2007, winning the rematch 45–10. Baylor was next on the schedule; the Huskies pulled out the win in a back-and-forth game, 31–28. Connecticut opened Big East conference play in their next game against Louisville. The game was not decided until UConn linebacker Lawrence Wilson returned an interception for a touchdown with 2:45 left in the fourth quarter, giving the Huskies a 26–21 lead they would not relinquish. This was the second straight season where Connecticut won their first five games; before 2007, they had not opened a season so successfully since 1995, when they won their first six straight. Following the game, UConn achieved their first and only ranking of the year, appearing at No. 24 in the Associated Press (AP) and Harris polls and No. 23 in the Coaches' poll. However, starting quarterback Tyler Lorenzen broke his foot in the Louisville game; the Huskies would be forced to rely on backup Zach Frazer for the next few games.