2008 Humanitarian Bowl
The 2008 Humanitarian Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Nevada Wolf Pack on December 30, 2008. It was the two teams' first meeting. The game featured two conference tie-ins: the University of Maryland represented the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the University of Nevada represented the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The game was played at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho and was the 12th edition of the Humanitarian Bowl. It was sponsored by the New Plymouth, Idaho-based company Roady's Truck Stops, which claims to be the largest chain of truck stops in the United States.
| 2008 Roady's Humanitarian Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postseason bowl game | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Date | December 30, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Bronco Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Boise, Idaho | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Maryland: Da'Rel Scott, RB Nevada: Colin Kaepernick, QB | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Nevada −3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Clair Gausman (MW) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 26,781 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$750,000 per team | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Bob Wischusen (play-by-play) Brock Huard (color) Heather Cox (sidelines) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 2.1 | ||||||||||||||||||
The featured match-up was between what was called a "wildly inconsistent" Maryland team and the third-best rushing defense and fifth-best total offense of Nevada. The result was an offensive shoot-out. The final score of 42–35 in favor of Maryland exceeded total-points predictions by as much as 17 and tied the all-time Humanitarian Bowl record.
Before the kickoff, seven Maryland players, including six starters, received partial-game suspensions for violating the team's curfew. Maryland took a quick lead within the first two minutes of play, but repeated errors allowed Nevada to remain competitive and the lead changed hands five times. In the second quarter, Nevada's dual-threat quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, was hobbled by an ankle injury that altered the complexion of the game. Nevertheless, Kaepernick remained in the game for almost its entirety and was able to scramble for a touchdown. Halfway through the third quarter, Maryland's leading running back, Da'Rel Scott, made his first appearance of the game. He had been one of the suspended players, but scored twice in the final quarter to help secure a victory for the Terrapins.