2009 Sun Bowl The 2009 Brut Sun Bowl game was the 76th edition of the annual college football bowl game known as the Sun Bowl . The Oklahoma Sooners defeated the Stanford Cardinal 31 – 27 on December 31 , 2009 . It was the two teams ' fifth meeting . The game featured two conference tie - ins : the University of Oklahoma represented the Big 12 Conference and Stanford University represented the Pacific - 10 Conference . The game was played at the Sun Bowl Stadium on the University of Texas at El Paso campus in El Paso , Texas . The game featured Stanford ' s 13th - ranked offense including Toby Gerhart , a Heisman finalist who led the NCAA Division I FBS subdivision with 1 , 736 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns , against the seventh - ranked Oklahoma defense . The Stanford offense averaged over 440 yards per game while the Oklahoma defense had held its opponents to an average of 273 yards per game . This was the first time the two teams played each other in a bowl game . They had faced each other 4 previous times in the regular season with Oklahoma holding a 3 – 1 advantage . The last contest played by the schools was a 19 – 7 victory in Norman , Oklahoma by the Sooners in 1984 . Team selection . By contract , the Sun Bowl Association — which produced the game — possessed the third pick from the Pacific - 10 Conference . With that pick , the Sun Bowl selected Stanford over Oregon State , as both teams had been in a three - way tie for second place in the conference with Arizona ( whom the Holiday Bowl selected with the second pick from the Pac - 10 ) . In 2005 , The Sun Bowl and the Gator Bowl agreed to a four - year contract to alternate bids starting with the 2007 game which would prevent repetitive matchups . The Gator Bowl would be allowed to take the Big East ' s number two team or the Big 12 number three team ; however , each conference would have two bids each to the Gator and Sun Bowls over the four years . Since the Gator Bowl had taken a Big 12 team the previous two years , the Sun Bowl was obligated to take a Big 12 team this year . In the Big 12 , the Sun Bowl had the fifth pick , following the Alamo Bowl . When the Alamo Bowl chose Texas Tech , the Sun Bowl then selected Oklahoma . Oklahoma . The Oklahoma Sooners football team began the 2009 college football season as the reigning Big 12 Conference champions . The Sooners also played in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game against the top - ranked Florida Gators , losing 24 – 14 . Expectations were high for the Sooners as they were returning their Heisman Trophy - winning quarterback Sam Bradford as well as their All - American tight end Jermaine Gresham . However , before the season began , Gresham suffered a season - ending injury . During the season opener against BYU , Bradford suffered an injury to his shoulder that forced him to sit out the next several games . The Sooners would go on to lose that game and their fourth game against Miami . Bradford returned for game number five against Baylor , but reinjured his shoulder the next week against Texas , ending his season and giving the Sooners their third loss of the season . The Sooners would continue to suffer many injuries throughout the remainder of the season including losing offensive linemen Jarvis Jones and Brody Eldridge , and defensive players Tom Wort , DeMarcus Granger and Auston English for the season . With freshman Landry Jones now leading the offense , the Sooners would go on win every home game from that point forward , including a season - ending win over in - state rival Oklahoma State , extending their NCAA - leading home winning streak to 30 games . However , the Sooners would also lose all but one of their away games . Oklahoma ended the regular season with seven wins and five losses ( 5 – 3 in the Big 12 ) . The game marked Oklahoma ' s third appearance in the Sun Bowl . They were a perfect 2 - 0 in their previous games . In 1981 , they defeated 40 – 14 , and in 1993 , they defeated Texas Tech 41 – 10 . Stanford . Following a 5 – 7 season in 2008 , the expectations for Stanford were considerably lower than that of Oklahoma . In a poll of media members covering the Pac - 10 prior to the 2009 season , Stanford was predicted to finish in sixth place . Stanford ' s season began as expected with a loss to Wake Forest in the second game of the season . However , the Cardinal ' s fourth game was against a then - ranked Washington team , in which Stanford won 34 – 14 . A two - game skid to Oregon State and Arizona was a setback for the Cardinal . However , after a bye week in early November , Stanford knocked off top - 10 ranked ( and eventual Pac - 10 champions ) Oregon 51 – 42 thanks to a school - record 223 yards rushing by Toby Gerhart . The next week , after earning their first ranking of the season , the 25th - ranked Cardinal defeated the defending Pac - 10 champions and 14th - ranked USC 55 – 21 , the most points ever given up by USC in its history . A subsequent loss to California knocked them out of the rankings but a season - closing victory over Notre Dame brought them back into the ratings at number 19 . Stanford ended the regular season 8 – 4 ( 6 – 3 in the Pac - 10 , for a three - way tie for second place ) . This was Stanford ' s third appearance in the Sun Bowl . Just like their opponent , they were 2 – 0 in Sun Bowl games prior to the 2009 game , with a 24 – 14 victory over in the 1977 game and a 38 – 0 shutout over Michigan State in the 1996 contest . Game summary . Sooners wide receiver Ryan Broyles set a Sun Bowl record with three touchdown receptions , quarterback Landry Jones passed for 418 yards and Oklahoma slowed Toby Gerhart just enough to beat Stanford . Jones took over as Oklahoma ' s quarterback after 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford was injured in an opening loss to BYU . Broyles finished with 156 yards receiving and set Oklahoma ' s single - game record with 13 receptions in front of a Sun Bowl record crowd of 53 , 713 . Gerhart , who led the nation with 1 , 736 yards rushing , ran for 135 on 32 carries and scored two TDs in the first half . Tavita Pritchard went 8 for 19 for 118 yards and two interceptions filling in for Stanford starting QB , Andrew Luck . Stanford was making its first bowl appearance since losing to Georgia Tech in the 2001 Seattle Bowl .