2010 Alamo Bowl ( January ) The 2010 Alamo Bowl ( known via corporate sponsorship as the Valero Alamo Bowl ) was the seventeenth edition of the college football bowl game , and was played at the Alamodome in San Antonio , Texas on Saturday , January 2 , 2010 . The game featured the Michigan State Spartans against the Texas Tech Red Raiders . The 2010 game was the last one to feature a team from the Big Ten . In the fall of 2009 , it was announced that the Pac - 10 second - place team will take part in the Alamo Bowl instead of the Holiday Bowl which they currently participate in unless they qualify for the BCS . The Alamo Bowl will offer 2011 teams $ 3 million payouts , thus taking away a team from the Pac - 10 and attracting higher - ranking teams from the Big 12 . According to Bruce Binkowski , the Holiday ' s executive director , average ticket prices for the Holiday Bowl would have had to have been increased from $ 60 to $ 100 to match the Alamo Bowl ' s offer . This was the third Alamo Bowl appearance and first Alamo Bowl win for the Texas Tech Red Raiders . Their most recent previously appearance was a 19 – 16 loss to Iowa in the 2001 game . Michigan State played in one previous Alamo Bowl , losing the 2003 edition to Nebraska 17 – 3 . The game also marked the first - ever meeting between the two schools . With approximately 5 , 553 , 630 households watching it , the game was the most viewed Alamo Bowl in history . It also drew the highest rating of any bowl ever shown by ESPN . Behind the BCS bowl games and the Capital One Bowl , it was the most viewed bowl shown up to that point in the 2009 / 10 bowl season . Game Buildup . The game featured two programs which , prior to the event , were undergoing controversies . On December 28 , 2009 , Texas Tech suspended , and fired two days later , head coach Mike Leach over the alleged mistreatment of an injured player . Defensive Coordinator Ruffin McNeill was named interim head coach . Meanwhile , on November 22 , 2009 , Michigan State had suspended 14 players for the bowl resulting from a fight at one of the school ' s dormitories . Game summary . First Quarter . Texas Tech won the coin toss and deferred to the second half . The 67 yard kick off by the Red Raiders was returned by Keshawn Martin for 33 yards . The Spartans made it all the way to the Texas Tech 32 yardline before their opening driving ended in disappointment , when Jamar Wall intercepted a pass by quarterback Kirk Cousins . The Red Raiders opening drive ended with a 3 yard rushing touchdown by Barron Batch . Both teams went three - and - out in their next drive . Michigan State ' s first score came in their third drive of the game by way of an explosive run by Edwin Baker for a 46 yard rushing touchdown . The Spartan ' s scoring drive would be the last of the quarter , bringing the score at the end of the quarter to 7 – 7 . Second Quarter . At the end of the second quarter the Red Raiders were leading with a score of 14 – 20 . Third Quarter . At the end of the third quarter the Spartans were leading with a score of 28 – 27 . Fourth Quarter . Michigan State took a four - point lead with 8 : 05 left in the game after a FG , but it was all Red Raiders after that point . The game ended with Texas Tech winning the game with a final score of 31 – 41 .