Portal:College football/Selected article/December, 2007



The 2006 Alamo Bowl was a bowl game that faced the Texas Longhorns against the Iowa Hawkeyes as part of the 2006–2007 bowl season. The game was played in the 65,000-seat Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on December 30. The game was televised on ESPN and ESPN-HD and was the most-watched bowl game in ESPN history to that point.

Iowa received the ball first, and came out strong, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter. Hampered by an effective Iowa defense, Texas only managed a single field goal. In the second quarter, an interception thrown by Iowa quarterback Drew Tate, coupled with an 80-yard drive by Texas's offense, cut the Hawkeyes' lead to 14-10 heading into halftime. After receiving the opening kickoff of the second half, Texas marched down the field for a 43-yard field goal by Ryan Bailey, cutting Iowa's lead to a single point. After forcing Iowa's offense to punt, Texas ran a wheel route to running back Jamaal Charles, who ran for 72 yards, a touchdown, and Texas's first lead of the game. Iowa answered with a touchdown of their own, however, regaining the lead at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Texas scored a touchdown with 11 minutes remaining to take the lead, 26-20. A failed two-point conversion left Iowa only needing a touchdown and extra point to win.

The Hawkeyes' offense, however, stalled in the red zone, and settled for a field goal, hoping that their defense could force Texas to punt, thus giving another offensive chance to Iowa. Iowa's defense did force a punt, but their offense again failed to get the ball moving forward, as Texas's defense defeated an Iowa end-around for a loss of 11 yards. Iowa was forced to punt yet again, and the Texas offense proceeded to run out the clock and earn the win, 26-24.