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Sun Bowl Corner

The Brut Sun Bowl has been an annual college football bowl game since 1935.  It is the second oldest bowl game that has been played each and every year since 1935 (the Rose Bowl is the oldest continuously played bowl game since 1923). 

The 2008 Brut Sun Bowl game will be played on December 31, 2008.  The 2008 Brut Sun Bowl game will feature 2 NCAA college football teams that may be ranked in the top 25 of the Associated Press or Coaches poll preceding the Motor City Bowl contest.  

The Brut Sun Bowl will be televised on the CBS Sports television network.  The Sun Bowl’s agreement with CBS is the longest continuous relationship between a college football bowl game and a television network – spanning almost 40 years since 1968.  It is one of only 2 games still televised on the CBS sports network.

Brut Sun Bowl History

In the early years of the Sun Bowl, the Sun Bowl featured the champion of the now-defunct Border Conference against an at-large opponent from another part of the country.  Currently, the Brut Sun Bowl matches an NCAA bowl-eligible team from the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) against either an NCAA bowl-eligible team from the Big 12 Conference or the Big East Conference, or the University of Notre Dame (if it is NCAA bowl-eligible).  This arrangement will last from 2006 through 2009, with a Big 12 appearing two times and a Big East team or Notre Dame appearing two times during the 4-year period through 2009.

Helen of Troy Limited has owned the naming rights to the Sun Bowl since 2004.  From 2004 through 2005, the bowl game was known as the Vitalis Sun Bowl – Vitalis is owned by Helen of Troy Limited.  In August 2006, Helen of Troy Limited decided to change the name of the bowl game to the Brut Sun Bowl – Brut is also owned by Helen of Troy.  The bowl game has had other names during the course of its history: the Sun Bowl from 1935 through 1985 and from 1994 through 1995; the John Hancock Sun Bowl from 1986 through 1989; the John Hancock Bowl from 1990 through 1993; the Norwest Sun Bowl from 1996 through 1998; and the Wells Fargo Sun Bowl from 1999 through 2003.

The El Paso All-Stars defeated Ranger (Texas) 25-21 in the inaugural Sun Bowl which occurred on January 1, 1935.  The Texas Tech Red Raiders have appeared in the most Sun Bowl contests with 9 appearances.  Texas Tech has not had much success in the Sun Bowl, as it has lost in 8 of its 9 Sun Bowl appearances.  Texas Tech’s sole victory came in 1952 with a 25-14 over Pacific University.  The home team UTEP Miners have appeared in the next most Sun Bowl contests with 8 appearances.  UTEP has enjoyed much success in the Sun Bowl, as it has an overall record of 5-3 in Sun Bowl contests.  UTEP even enjoyed back-to-back Sun Bowl victories with a 37-14 win over Southern Miss in 1954 and a 47-20 win over Florida State in 1955.  Wyoming and UCLA are both undefeated in Sun Bowl contests.  Wyoming has won all 3 of its Sun Bowl appearances, while UCLA has won both of its Sun Bowl appearances.  The perennial powerhouse USC Trojans lost its only Sun Bowl appearance – 17-16 to Michigan State in 1990.  There have been three games that ended in a tie in Sun Bowl history.  One of those ties was a scoreless tie back in 1940 when neither Catholic University nor Arizona State could put any points on the scoreboard.

In more recent history, Sun Bowl contests have been some of the most exciting games during the college football bowl season.  In the December 31, 2003 Sun Bowl, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the University of Oregon Ducks 31-30 in a thrilling high-scoring affair.  Even in defeat, Oregon Wide Receiver Samie Parker, the current Wide Receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football Conference of the NFL, put forth a magnificent receiving effort and was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest.  A year later, the Arizona State Red Devils defeated the Purdue University Boilermakers 27-23 in a back-and-forth contest.  Although the first half ended in a 3-2 defensive struggle, Purdue Quarterback Kyle Orton completed an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play of scrimmage in the 2nd half to give Purdue the lead.  Arizona State retook the lead on its next drive and held onto the lead late into the 4th quarter.  With under 2 minutes to play in regulation, Orton put his team on top with an efficient scoring drive that was capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass to Charles Davis.  But Arizona State marched right back down the field and finished off an 80-yard drive with a 19-yard, game-winning touchdown pass from Quarterback Sam Keller to Rudy Burgess.  Keller was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest for his heroic effort.  On December 30, 2005, the UCLA Bruins defeated the Northwestern University Wildcats 50-38 in the highest scoring game in Sun Bowl history.  Ironically, neither team utilized the weapons it had relied on during the regular season to have a successful enough record to become NCAA bowl-eligible.  UCLA Freshman Running Back Kahlil Bell and UCLA Sophomore Running Back Chris Markey (neither of whom had topped more than 100 yards in any game during the regular season) combined for almost 300 yards and 2 touchdowns on 42 carries.  Bell and Markey were named the Co-Most Valuable Players of the contest.  UCLA Running Back Maurice Jones-Drew, the workhorse during the regular season, was held in check during the contest, as was Wildcats star Freshman Running Back Tyrell Sutton, who was held to just 82 yards rushing.  UCLA typically relied on explosive Quarterback Drew Olson to lead the offensive attack, but he threw 3 interceptions in the Brut Sun Bowl, two of which were returned for touchdowns by Northwestern.  Northwestern saw a 22-0 first half lead disappear, and watched in amazement as reliable Kicker Joel Howells missed 2 extra points and a field goal before riding the pine the rest of the Brut Sun Bowl.  Howells had missed only 1 of 45 extra point attempts all season long.  One bright spot for Northwestern was Quarterback Brett Basanez who threw for over 400 yards and 2 touchdowns in a losing effort.

Sun Bowl Stadium

Currently, the Brut Sun Bowl is played at Sun Bowl Stadium on the UTEP campus, where it has been played since 1963.  Sun Bowl Stadium opened in September 1963 and had an original seating capacity of 30,000 people because it only had stands on the sidelines of the football field.  With the addition of the press box in 1969 and the expansion of the east sidelines stands and the construction of north end zone stands in 1982, the seating capacity of Sun Bowl Stadium rose to its current capacity of 51,500 raucous fans.  In addition to hosting the UTEP college football team and the annual Sun Bowl, Sun Bowl Stadium briefly hosted El Paso Patriots soccer games from 1989 through 2001.  The El Paso Patriots are a member of the PDL – the USL Premier Development League – which is the amateur league of the United States Leagues in the United States and Canada.  On February 2, 2007, Sun Bowl Stadium hosted the inaugural Texas vs. The Nation Game, which pitted a team of top-rated college seniors who played for a college or high school team in Texas against a team of top-rated seniors from the rest of the country.  Sun Bowl Stadium also holds the infamous distinction of being the stadium located closest to the border of a foreign country.  At its current location, Sun Bowl Stadium sits only a half mile from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and the Rio Grande.

The first three Sun Bowls were played at El Paso High School Stadium in El Paso, Texas.  From 1938 through 1962, the Sun Bowl was played at Kidd Field on the campus of the University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP).  Kidd Field was the home football stadium for the UTEP Miners and had a seating capacity of only 15,000 people.

Stadium:

Sun Bowl Stadium
Sun Bowl Drive
El Paso, Texas 79968

Event Resources

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