2010 Outback Bowl The 2010 Outback Bowl was the 24th edition of the college football bowl game , and was played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa , Florida . The game started at 11 AM US EST on Friday , January 1 , 2010 . The game was telecast on ESPN and matched Auburn University against Northwestern University . The game drew 5 . 69 million viewers ( up 30 % from the previous year ) , making it the 7th highest viewing on cable television for the week . The game marked Auburn ' s third appearance in the Outback Bowl . It was the team ' s first appearance in the bowl since a 1996 43 - 14 loss to Penn State . The game marked Northwestern ' s first appearance in the Outback Bowl . The Wildcats sought their first postseason win since the 1949 Rose Bowl . The two teams had never played each other prior to the Outback Bowl . Darvin Adams , the MVP , had 12 receptions for 142 yards . Game summary . Scoring summary . First Quarter . Northwestern started out on offense . On their first drive , quarterback Mike Kafka threw his first interception when his pass bounced off of a Wildcat player and caught by a diving Walter McFadden . The Tigers drove 31 yards , ending with a Kodi Burns 1 yard touchdown rush , to get a 7 - 0 lead . On Northwestern ' s second drive , the ' Cats moved the football all the way to the Auburn 6 yard line . However , Kafka ' s pass into the endzone resulted in his second interception , once again to McFadden . McFadden ran the ball back 100 yards for a touchdown giving Auburn a 14 - 0 lead . NU was finally able to score on its third drive , with Kafka hooking up with Andrew Brewer for a 39 yard touchdown , making the score 14 - 7 . Second Quarter . The first drive of the second quarter resulted in Northwestern ' s Stefan Demos missing a 48 - yard field goal . Later in the quarter , Auburn extended its lead to 21 - 7 when quarterback Chris Todd found Quindarius Carr for a 46 yard touchdown . With 1 : 55 left in the quarter , Northwestern got the ball at its own 6 . The Wildcats were able to drive to Auburn ' s 4 yard line with 47 seconds left . But , Kafka threw his third interception of the game to T ' Sharvan Bell in the endzone . Third Quarter . On the first drive of the third quarter , Auburn wide receiver Kodi Burns threw his second interception of the game to Brian Peters . Later in the quarter , Kafka threw his fourth interception to Neiko Thorpe . But on NU ' s next drive , Kafka completed a 35 yard strike to Brewer for a touchdown to cut Auburn ' s lead to 21 - 14 . The Tigers ' following drive resulted in a punt giving NU the ball at its 34 yard line . Kafka found Drake Dunsmore for a 66 yard touchdown on the first play of the drive to tie the game at 21 - 21 . Fourth Quarter . Auburn ' s first drive of the quarter resulted in another punt . On the subsequent drive , Kafka threw his fifth interception of the game , second interception for Auburn ' s Bell . The short field resulted in a Ben Tate 5 yard TD rush , giving Auburn a 28 - 21 lead . Northwestern ' s following drive ended with a punt . Auburn ' s next drive ended again with Tate touchdown , this time of 7 yards , giving Auburn another 14 point lead . Tate dunked the ball over the field goal , resulting in a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the kick - off . With the short field , Northwestern scored a touchdown on a Kafka 2 yard rush . However , Demos ' extra point attempt was blocked , making the score 35 - 27 . With 3 : 22 left in the game , Northwestern attempted an onside kick that was recovered by the Tigers . Tate fumbled on Auburn ' s second play of the drive and the Wildcats recovered at its 31 yard line . NU drove all the way to Auburns 33 , but faced a 4th and 3 with 1 : 31 left . It looked as if Kafka was going to be sacked for a loss by Nick Fairley , essentially giving Auburn the win . However , Fairley was called for a 15 yard personal foul after getting a hold of Kafka ' s face mask . The ' Cats were given a first down on Auburn ' s 18 . Kafka connected with Sidney Stewart for a touchdown , making the score 33 - 35 . On NU ' s two - point attempt , Kafka tossed the ball to Brewer in what appeared to be a reverse . But , Brewer threw the ball to a wide open Brendan Mitchell , tying the game up and capping NU ' s second 14 - point deficit comeback of the day . With 1 : 15 left in the game it appeared that Auburn would have a chance for a game winning drive . But Demond Washington fumbled during the kick - off return giving the Wildcats the ball at the 50 yard line . Northwestern drove to Auburns 26 yard line . With 3 seconds left , Demos attempted a 43 - yard field goal for the win , but missed wide right , sending the game into overtime . This was Demos ' third miss of the game ( 2 FG and 1 blocked PAT ) . Overtime . The overtime period alone turned the game into an instant classic . Northwestern won the toss and elected to play defense . Auburn reached the Northwestern 4 yard line , only to be stopped . Wes Byrum kicked a 21 - yard field goal to give Auburn a 38 - 35 lead . On the fourth play of Northwestern ' s drive , Kafka was sacked for a 14 yard loss . Initially , he was ruled to have fumbled the ball causing the Auburn players celebrating and rushing the field . After further review , it was determined that Kafka was down . NU attempted a 37 yard field goal , which hit the right upright setting off another Auburn celebration . However , Demos was run into after the kick , resulting in a 10 yard penalty , giving the Wildcats a 1st and goal on the 9 . The ' Cats were only able to reach the Auburn 5 yard line . Freshman kicker Steve Flaherty came in to try an 18 yard field goal due to Demos being injured on his previous attempt . With the Tigers still not ready , Northwestern ran their version of the fumblerooski , with Markshausen taking handoff between the legs from holder Dan Persa and rushing to the right . However , he was stopped short and hit out of bounds by Neiko Thorpe at the Auburn 2 , sealing an Auburn victory . Statistics . Northwestern . Kafka set the all - time bowl record with 47 completions and 78 attempts . He set Northwestern and Outback Bowl records with 532 passing yards and an Outback Bowl record with 5 interceptions .