2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas

The 2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, the seventh edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game held on December 28, 2012 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas as part of the 2012-13 NCAA football bowl season. The game, which was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams, was broadcast at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN, and featured the Minnesota Golden Gophers from the Big Ten Conference against the Texas Tech Red Raiders from the Big 12 Conference. The Golden Gophers accepted their invitation after finishing the regular season at six-wins, six-losses, while the Red Raiders accepted their invitation following a campaign during which they totaled seven-wins, five-losses. This was not the first time the Golden Gophers and Red Raiders met in a bowl game; the two teams had previously met in the 2006 Insight Bowl, with the Red Raiders winning 44–41 in overtime.

2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas
Minnesota Golden Gophers Texas Tech Red Raiders (6–6) (7–5) Big Ten Big 12 31 34 Head coach:  Jerry Kill Head coach:  Chris Thomsen
1 2 3 4 Total Minnesota 10 7 7 7 31 Texas Tech 14 10 0 10 34
Date	December 28, 2012
Season	2012
Stadium	Reliant Stadium
Location	Houston, Texas
Favorite	Texas Tech by 13½
Referee	Tom McCabe (MAC)
Attendance	50,386
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Mark Jones, Brock Huard

Teams

Minnesota

See also: 2012 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The Golden Gophers finished at the bottom of the Big Ten's Legends Division, only posting a 2–6 mark in conference play. However, because of their 6–6 record, the Golden Gophers were bowl eligible for the first time since 2009, accepting a bid to the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas their bid to the game, their first Meineke Car Care Bowl appearance.

Texas Tech

See also: 2012 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team

The Red Raiders finished in a tie for fifth place in the Big 12 at 4–5 in conference play, holding tiebreakers ahead of the TCU Horned Frogs and West Virginia Mountaineers but behind the Baylor Bears. Soon after Minnesota accepted their invitation, the Red Raiders did the same. Although this was also the Red Raiders' first appearance in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, the Red Raiders played in three previous bowl games in Houston: the 1976 Bluebonnet Bowl, the 2000 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl, and the 2003 Houston Bowl.

The Red Raiders' passing attack was the second-best in the country, averaging 362 yards per game.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Minnesota Texas Tech 1 8:31 12 50 6:29 Minnesota 41-yard field goal by Jordan Wettstein 3 0 1 8:17 - - - TTU 99 yard kickoff return by Jakeem Grant, Ryan Bustin kick good 3 7 1 5:46 6 67 2:31 Minnesota Rodrick Williams Jr 2-yard touchdown run, Jordan Wettstein kick good 10 7 1 4:01 6 75 1:45 TTU Derreck Edwards 13-yard touchdown reception from Michael Brewer, Ryan Bustin kick good 10 14 2 14:26 9 48 4:35 Minnesota Donnell Kirkwood 3-yard touchdown run, Jordan Wettstein kick good 17 14 2 8:36 14 64 5:50 TTU 28-yard field goal by Ryan Bustin 17 17 2 0:05 12 42 2:22 TTU Seth Doege 4-yard touchdown run, Ryan Bustin kick good 17 24 3 12:07 6 53 2:01 Minnesota Devin Crawford-Tufts 17-yard touchdown reception from Phillip Nelson, Jordan Wettstein kick good 24 24 4 13:07 8 79 3:17 Minnesota Drew Goodger 1-yard touchdown reception from Phillip Nelson, Jordan Wettstein kick good 31 24 4 1:10 7 82 2:14 TTU Eric Ward 35-yard touchdown reception from Seth Doege, Ryan Bustin kick good 31 31 4 0:00 3 11 0:43 TTU 28-yard field goal by Ryan Bustin 31 34 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 31 34

Statistics

Statistics	MINN	TTU
First downs	23	23
Plays–yards	73–368	71–429
Rushes–yards	54–222	24–145
Passing yards	146	284
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	8–19–1	32–47–2
Time of possession	36:18	23:04

Source:

External links

• Game summary at ESPN