2006 Insight Bowl The 2006 Insight Bowl , a college football bowl game held on December 29 at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe , Arizona , pitted the Texas Tech Red Raiders against the Minnesota Golden Gophers . This game featured the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I FBS bowl history . The Red Raiders , after falling behind 38 - 7 with 7 : 47 remaining in the third quarter , rallied to score 31 unanswered points to send the game to overtime . The Gophers scored a field goal in overtime , but the Red Raiders responded with a touchdown to win . The previous record bowl comeback was a 30 - point comeback by Marshall against East Carolina in the 2001 GMAC Bowl . The game was televised by the NFL Network , which as of December 31 , 2006 has made the game available free for online viewing . First quarter . A decision by Red Raiders coach Mike Leach on their opening possession set the initial tone for the game . Tech faced a fourth - and - 1 on their own 45 - yard line , and Leach went for it . Quarterback Graham Harrell was stopped on a sneak , giving the ball to the Golden Gophers . Six plays later , Gophers QB Bryan Cupito connected on a 2 - yard touchdown pass with tight end Jack Simmons . The Raiders ' next possession was even more disastrous for them , as Harrell was intercepted by Mike Sherels on Tech ' s 37 yard line . Amir Pinnix , who would run for 179 yards in the game , scored on a 2 - yard run six plays later . Tech then drove the ball inside the Gophers ' 10 , but Harrell fumbled on a sack and the Gophers ' Steve Davis recovered on their own 13 . Minnesota then went on its longest scoring drive of the season , ending with a 1 - yard TD run by Justin Valentine on the first play of the second quarter . Second quarter . The Red Raiders lost another scoring chance when cornerback Antonio Huffman , who intercepted a Cupito pass on the Gophers 20 , fumbled into the end zone on the return , allowing the Gophers to recover for a touchback . The Gophers took full advantage , going on a drive that culminated in a 14 - yard TD pass from Cupito to Ernie Wheelwright . Tech finally got on the board with 4 : 32 left in the quarter when Shannon Woods capped off a seven - play , 77 - yard drive with a 1 - yard TD run . The Gophers replied with an 81 - yard drive ending in a 3 - yard Cupito TD pass to Logan Payne with 32 seconds left . The first half ended with the Gophers ahead 35 - 7 . Third quarter . Minnesota took the opening kickoff of the second half and kept the ball for 16 plays and 7 : 13 , ending with a 32 - yard field goal by Joel Monroe . With 7 : 47 remaining in the quarter , Texas Tech began its comeback on its next possession , ending when Harrell hit Joel Filani for a 43 - yard TD pass with 4 : 58 to go in the quarter . Tech ' s defense forced a punt on the Gophers ' next possession , and the offense went on another drive . The quarter ended with Minnesota up 38 - 14 , but the Raiders would score on the first play of the fourth quarter on an 8 - yard TD pass from Harrell to Robert Johnson . Fourth quarter . Minnesota responded with a drive of its own inside the Tech 30 , but it stalled there . In what would prove to be a critical decision , Mason decided not to try a field goal , instead going for it on fourth - and - 7 from the Tech 31 . Cupito was sacked , giving Tech the ball on their own 37 . They proceeded to cut the score to 38 - 28 on a 1 - yard run by Harrell . The Gophers went three - and - out on their next possession . Danny Amendola returned the ensuing punt 40 yards , giving the Raiders good field position on their own 44 . Nine plays later , Woods scored his second TD of the evening on a 1 - yard run ; the conversion cut the Minnesota lead to 38 - 35 . However , the Red Raiders failed on an onside kick attempt . While they forced another three - and - out by Minnesota , they had to use their last two timeouts during the series , and the ensuing punt left the Raiders on their own 12 . A false start penalty on the first play sent them back to their own 7 . From there , Harrell ran Tech ' s hurry - up offense to perfection , completing five of seven passes , with the receivers successful in going out of bounds to stop the clock four times . Tech also caught breaks with two 9 - yard gains that caused game officials to stop the clock for measurements . The eighth play of the final drive was Alex Trlica ' s 52 - yard field goal as time expired that sent the game to overtime . Overtime . Minnesota got the ball first in overtime . Six plays later , Monroe gave the Gophers a 41 - 38 lead with a 32 - yard field goal . Tech responded on its possession with a five - play sequence that ended in Woods ' winning TD run , his third of the night , from three yards out . Aftermath . Harrell , who threw for 445 yards and two TDs while also running for a TD , was chosen as the offensive MVP . Tech cornerback Antonio Huffman was defensive MVP . Other top performers for Tech included Woods ( 109 yards and three TDs rushing ) and Filani ( nine catches for 144 yards and a TD ) . In addition to Pinnix , other leading performers for Minnesota included Cupito ( 263 yards and three TDs passing ) and Simmons ( seven catches for 134 yards and a TD ) . Simmons was filling in for the injured Matt Spaeth , the winner of the John Mackey Award as the nation ' s leading tight end . The Gophers set a school bowl scoring record , and Cupito tied the Minnesota career record for TD passes with 55 . Two days after his team ' s loss in the Insight Bowl , Minnesota head coach Glen Mason was fired . Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi did not publicly detail the reasons for the firing , but strongly hinted that the Gophers ' collapse was the proverbial last straw , saying " If we had not lost the way we lost , we probably wouldn ' t be here today . " This was the latest in a series of Minnesota second - half collapses under Mason , which also included one of the previous three biggest bowl collapses in Division I - A history .