2012 Capital One Bowl

The 2012 Capital One Bowl, the 66th edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on January 2, 2012 at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida as part of the 2011–12 NCAA Bowl season.

2012 Capital One Bowl
Nebraska Cornhuskers South Carolina Gamecocks (9–3) (10–2) Big Ten SEC 13 30 Head coach:  Bo Pelini Head coach:  Steve Spurrier AP Coaches BCS 21 20 20 AP Coaches BCS 10 9 9
1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 13 0 0 0 13 South Carolina 9 7 0 14 30
Date	January 2, 2012
Season	2011
Stadium	Florida Citrus Bowl
Location	Orlando, Florida
MVP	Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina wide receiver
Favorite	South Carolina by 1[1]
Referee	Jerry McGinn (Big East)
Attendance	61,351
Payout	US$4.55 million per team[2]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Joe Tessitore (Play-by-Play) Rod Gilmore (Analyst) Quint Kessenich (Sidelines)
Nielsen ratings	2.86
Capital One Bowl  < 2011  2013 >

The game, which was telecast at 1:00 p.m. ET on ESPN, featured the #9 South Carolina Gamecocks from the Southeastern Conference versus the #20 Nebraska Cornhuskers from the Big Ten Conference.

In the third quarter, South Carolina receiver Alshon Jeffery and Nebraska corner Alfonzo Dennard were involved in a fight, resulting in both players being ejected.^[3]

Down 13–9 at the end of the first half, South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw took the snap from the Gamecocks' own 49-yard line with 0:06 seconds remaining. With 0:02 remaining, Shaw heaved a Hail Mary pass, which was caught at the 4-yard line by Jeffery, who dove into the endzone for a touchdown as time expired. South Carolina went on to win 30–13, and Jeffery was named MVP of the game.

This game is notable Gamecocks football history for being the first 11 win season for the South Carolina football program. In turn, it ultimately led to their first top-10 final ranking in the major college football polls.

References

1. Bowl Schedule, Los Angeles Times, December 7, 2011
2. "Bowl payouts projected around $281 million – College Gridiron 365 Blog – Orlando Sentinel". Archived from the original on November 11, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
3. "USC's Jeffery Ejected from Bowl Game | WYFF Home - WYFF Home". Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2012.