2010 Humanitarian Bowl

The 2010 Humanitarian Bowl (officially known as the UDrove Humanitarian Bowl) was the fourteenth edition of the college football bowl game, and was played at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho, on the campus of Boise State University. The game started at 3:30 pm MST on Saturday, December 18, 2010 and was telecast on ESPN. The game featured the Fresno State Bulldogs from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) versus the Northern Illinois Huskies from the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Despite the resignation of Jerry Kill, the Huskies' third-year coach, Northern Illinois defeated Fresno State 40–17.

2010 UDrove Humanitarian Bowl
14th Humanitarian Bowl
New Humanitarian Bowl Logo
Northern Illinois Huskies Fresno State Bulldogs (10–3) (8–4) MAC WAC 40 17 Head coach:  Tom Matukewicz (interim) Head coach:  Pat Hill
1 2 3 4 Total Northern Illinois 6 17 10 7 40 Fresno State 7 3 0 7 17
Date	December 18, 2010
Season	2010
Stadium	Bronco Stadium
Location	Boise, Idaho
MVP	QB Chandler Harnish, NIU
Favorite	NIU by 1
Referee	Dan Romeo (Big 12)
Attendance	25,449
Payout	US$750,000 per team
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard, Mike Bellotti and Shelley Smith
Nielsen ratings	1.8 / 2.89M

UDrove was the new title sponsor of the game. UDrove is affiliated with the game's previous sponsor, Roady's Truck Stops.

Teams

Northern Illinois Huskies

See also: 2010 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

Northern Illinois made its third straight bowl appearance and played in a postseason game for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. The Huskies were ranked in the top 25 in the BCS after winning nine straight games and went undefeated in the Mid-American Conference during the regular season. NIU is led by senior running back Chad Spann, who was voted the Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Year and took home league MVP honors. Spann led the MAC with 1,293 yards on 226 carries and is tied for second in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 20 rushing touchdowns, a NIU single-season record.

Fresno State Bulldogs

See also: 2010 Fresno State Bulldogs football team

Fresno State was invited to the Humanitarian Bowl after posting an 8–4 regular season record. Fresno State won their season finale against Illinois, 25–23. Since 2000 the Bulldogs have won 17 games against teams from BCS Conferences. This was the 3rd time that Fresno State appeared in the Humanitarian Bowl. They entered the game with a 2–0 record in the bowl game with a 37–34 OT win over Virginia in 2004 and a 40–28 victory over Georgia Tech in 2007.

Game notes

Scoring summary

Scoring Play	Score
1st Quarter
FRES - Ryan Colburn 11-yard pass to Jamel Hamler (Kevin Goessling kick), 5:25	FRES 7–0
NIU - Chandler Harnish 7-yard run (Missed kick), 3:10	FRES 7–6
2nd Quarter
NIU - Chandler Harnish 28-yard run (Michael Cklamovski kick), 14:20	NIU 13–7
NIU - Michael Cklamovski 45 yard kick, 9:14	NIU 16–7
FRES - Kevin Goessling 45 yard kick, 3:41	NIU 16–10
NIU - Chandler Harnish 22-yard pass to Kyle Skarb (Michael Cklamovski kick), 0:57	NIU 23–10
3rd Quarter
NIU - Michael Cklamovski 51 yard kick, 10:13	NIU 26–10
NIU - Chad Spann 18-yard run (Michael Cklamovski kick), 1:14	NIU 33–10
4th Quarter
NIU - Chad Spann 8-yard run (Michael Cklamovski kick), 12:16	NIU 40–10
FRES - Ryan Colburn 11-yard pass to Rashad Evans (Kevin Goessling kick), 5:31	NIU 40–17

Statistics

Statistics	NIU	Fresno
First downs	22	26
Rushes–yards (net)	28–203	35–74
Passing yards (net)	300	288
Passes, Comp–Att–Int	17–27–0	28–38–0
Total offense, plays–yards	55–503	73–362
Time of Possession	24:07	35:53

Notes

Fresno State and Northern Illinois faced each other four previous times. The series was tied 2-2. NIU won in 1973 by a score of 24–15 in Fresno and then in 1990 in DeKalb 73–18. Fresno was victorious in 1972 in DeKalb by a score of 9–6 and then in Fresno in 1991 55–7.