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.

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.

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.

...
Wikipedia