{{short description|American college football game}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox college football game | name = | year_game_played = 2008 | game_name = Champs Sports Bowl | caption = Champs Sports Bowl logo | football_season = 2008 | visitor_name_short = Wisconsin | visitor_nickname = Badgers | visitor_school = University of Wisconsin | home_name_short = Florida State | home_nickname = Seminoles | home_school = Florida State University | visitor_record = 7–5 | visitor_conference = Big Ten | home_record = 8–4 | home_conference = ACC | visitor_coach = Bret Bielema | home_coach = Bobby Bowden | visitor_1q = 0 | visitor_2q = 3 | visitor_3q = 3 | visitor_4q = 7 | home_1q = 0 | home_2q = 14 | home_3q = 14 | home_4q = 14 | date_game_played = December 27 | stadium = Florida Citrus Bowl | city = Orlando, Florida | MVP = P/PK Graham Gano (Florida State) | referee = Michael Batlan (Pac-10) | attendance = 52,692 | us_network = ESPN | us_announcers_link = List of announcers of major college bowl games | us_announcers = Brad Nessler, Bob Griese, Paul Maguire | ratings = 4.5 }}
The '''2008 Champs Sports Bowl''' was the 19th edition of the college football bowl game that was played on Saturday, December 27, 2008, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The game, which had a 4:30 p.m. US EST kickoff and was broadcast on ESPN, pitted the Wisconsin Badgers against the Florida State Seminoles. At the end, the Florida State Seminoles were the winners, 42–13.
==Game summary== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Scoring Play ! Score |- |colspan="4" align="center"| '''2nd Quarter''' |- |FSU - Derek Nicholson 75-yard fumble return (Graham Gano kick), 12:33 |FSU 7-0 |- |Wisconsin - Philip Welch 31-yard FG, 4:46 |FSU 7-3 |- |FSU - Greg Carr 15-yard TD pass from Christian Ponder (Gano kick), :07 |FSU 14-3 |- |colspan="4" align="center"| '''3rd Quarter''' |- |Wisconsin - Welch 41-yard FG, 12:01 |FSU 14-6 |- |FSU - Antone Smith 6-yard TD run (Gano kick), 4:11 |FSU 21-6 |- |FSU - Carlton Jones 14-yard TD run (Gano kick), :18 |FSU 28-6 |- |colspan="4" align="center"| '''4th Quarter''' |- |FSU - Dekoda Watson 51-yard fumble return (Gano kick), 14:28 |FSU 35-6 |- |FSU - Caz Piurowski 10-yard TD pass from Ponder (Gano kick), 11:04 |FSU 42-6 |- |Wisconsin - Elijah Theus 20-yard TD pass from Dustin Sherer, 4:06 |FSU 42-13 |}
Team Stats; Wisconsin - First downs 16, FSU- First downs 23. Wisconsin- Rush-Yds-TD's 38-201-0, FSU- Rush-Yds-TD's 38-134-2.Wisconsin- Cmp-Attd-Yd-TD-INT 9-16-132-1-0. FSU- Cmp-Attd-Yd-TD-INT 23-37-276-2-0. Wisconsin- Total yards 333, FSU- Total Yards 410. Wisconsin- Fumbles-Lost 3-3, FSU-Fumbles-Lost 0-0. Wisconsin- Turnovers 3, FSU-Turnovers 0. Wisconsin- Penalties-Yards 2-25, FSU- Penalties-Yards 7-85.<ref>sports reference cfb website</ref>
Kick&Punt returns: Player- Michael Ray Garvin, FSU- ret:4, Yd's:71, Avg: 17.8, TD: 0. Bert Reed, FSU- ret:2, Yd's:23, Avg:11, TD:0. Ochuko Jenije, FSU- ret:2, Yd's:6, Avg: 3.0, Td:0. Antonio Fenelus, Wisconsin- ret:2, Yd's: 50, Avg: 25.0, Td:0. Blake Sorensen Wisconsin- ret:1, Yd's:11, Avg:11.0, Td:0. Bill Rentmeester Wisconsin- ret:1, Yd's:1, Avg:1.0, Td:0. David Gilreath Wisconsin- ret:1, Yd's:3, Avg:3.0, TD:0.<ref>sports reference cfb website</ref>
Florida State's Graham Gano was able to kick three punts that died or went out of bounds inside Wisconsin's 3-yard line in the first quarter and a 58-yarder that was returned for 3 yards to the Wisconsin 7. He finished the game with 5 punts averaging 48.2 yards.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=283620052|title = Wisconsin vs. Florida State - Box Score - December 27, 2008 - ESPN}}</ref> He also drew a roughing the kicker penalty that extended a Florida State scoring drive (Replay revealed that he had not been touched).<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/dWrimX_x1Ag Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20151202190745/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWrimX_x1Ag Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWrimX_x1Ag| title = College Football - ''Champs Sports Bowl Florida State vs Wisconsin'' (Recorded Dec 27, 2008, ESPN) | website=YouTube| date = December 28, 2008 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> Gano was also the team's kicker and winner of the 2008 Lou Groza Award.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2008-12-27-florida-state.html|title = Champs Sports Bowl - Wisconsin vs Florida State Box Score, December 27, 2008}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{2008 bowl game navbox}} {{Cheez-It Bowl navbox}} {{Florida State Seminoles bowl game navbox}} {{Wisconsin Badgers bowl game navbox}}
Champs Sports Bowl Category:Pop-Tarts Bowl Category:Florida State Seminoles football bowl games Category:Wisconsin Badgers football bowl games Category:American football competitions in Orlando, Florida Category:December 2008 sports events in the United States Champs Sports Bowl Category:2008 in Orlando, Florida
{{collegefootball-bowl-stub}} {{Florida-sport-stub}}