R. Marsh Starks / Special to the Sun
Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl Executive Director John Saccenti, center, announces the matchup between Utah and BYU in the 2015 Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015. The Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl will be held at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015.
Monday, Dec. 14, 2015 | 2 a.m.
When the UNLV football team played in the 2000 Las Vegas Bowl, former Rebels coach John Robinson called the game the Rose Bowl for the UNLV program.
Robinson previously coached at USC, where the goal each season was to win the Pac-10 Conference to earn an automatic bid to the Rose Bowl. He may have been foreshadowing.
Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl
• When: 12:30 p.m. Dec. 19
• Where: Sam Boyd Stadium
• TV: ABC, Cox Channel 13
• Tickets: Sold out
Rivalry is back on
Tickets to the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl sold out within hours of the announcement that Utah would take on BYU, and prices on the secondary market more than tripled. It’s a matchup neither fan base wants to miss after a two-year break in the heated rivalry dubbed the “Holy War.” Utah had won four in a row before the schools decided to discontinue the series for the first time since the 1940s, when BYU didn’t field a team during World War II. Beyond snapping the streak, the Cougars will be motivated by the chance to send coach Bronco Mendenhall out a winner. Mendenhall has led BYU for the past 11 years, including to three Las Vegas Bowl wins in five appearances. He recently accepted an offer at Virginia. Utah-BYU games are typically closely contested, with four of the past five meetings and a remarkable 14 of the past 17 decided by less than a touchdown. The gaming industry expects another close one, with Station Casinos listing Utah as a narrow 2.5-point favorite.
While the Las Vegas Bowl doesn’t have the history and national championship significance of games such as the Rose Bowl or Orange Bowl, it has developed into one of the can’t-miss games on the college bowl docket — a network-televised event that draws packed crowds. Las Vegas has seen great players, hosted historic programs and had sellout after sellout each December at Sam Boyd Stadium.
This season, with the Holy War of BYU-Utah arguably the most intriguing matchup in the game’s more than 20-year history, we look back at other memorable moments:
Payouts make bowl game better than ever
In 1995, the payout for each team participating in the Las Vegas Bowl was $175,000. Now, 20 years later, BYU and Utah each will receive $1 million for the ABC-televised game. This isn’t the same bowl as two decades ago. It has gone from barely registering nationally because it featured mid-major conference schools such as Toledo, Central Michigan and UNR, to a respected event with big-time opponents. Having a participant from the Pac-12 Conference gave the game national appeal. And thanks to regional opponents such as BYU, Boise State, Utah and USC that have packed Sam Boyd Stadium each season, the Las Vegas Bowl has the potential to grow.
Humble beginnings
The Las Vegas Bowl was created in 1992 by community leaders hoping to bring revenue to the valley during a traditionally slow month. It now ranks as the 16th-oldest bowl game of the 40 recognized by the NCAA.
In its first 20 years, the Las Vegas Bowl brought more than 380,000 visitors to Las Vegas and pumped nearly $206 million into the local economy in nongaming revenue alone, bowl officials said.
Overtime starts in Las Vegas
Toledo’s 40-37 victory against UNR in 1995 was the first time a Division I-A game was decided in overtime. Overtime rules, still used today, were adopted in the 1995 bowl season. The rule change gave Toledo a rare distinction: It finished 10-0-1 on the season, winning one game in overtime and having another end in regulation as a tie.
Rebels down Arkansas
UNLV has a 2-0 record in Las Vegas Bowl games, including the best bowl victory in school history when the Rebels beat Arkansas 31-14 in the 2000 game. (We know, the Rebels have played in just four bowls all-time). Jason Thomas was so good, completing 12 of 17 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns, NFL draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. projected the UNLV quarterback as a first-round pick. A then-record crowd of 25,868 attended, mostly hometown fans who showed that Robinson was right — this is UNLV’s version of the Rose Bowl. The Rebels also won the 1994 Las Vegas Bowl, downing Central Michigan 52-24 on Henry Bailey’s four touchdowns.
USC comes up snake eyes
Carson Palmer won the Heisman Trophy in 2002 and helped turn Pete Carroll’s Trojans into one of college football’s most successful programs.
But in 2001, Palmer found little success at the Las Vegas Bowl, passing for 150 yards with no touchdowns as USC fell to Utah, 10-6.
In the 2002 season, Palmer was the MVP of the Orange Bowl, passing for more than 300 yards. The following two seasons, with Palmer in the NFL, USC won national championships.
Hometown star goes pro Eldorado High product
Steven Jackson tied a bowl record with five touchdowns in 2003 for Oregon State in its 55-14 victory against New Mexico. After the game, a few miles from where he grew up, Jackson announced at Sam Boyd he was turning professional. “No matter what I do, I know I’m going to be successful,” he said. “As a running back, everybody is gunning for you and you’ve only got so many carries left in your body.”
Jackson was a first-round draft pick, rushing for 11,388 yards in nine NFL seasons.
Blocked kick at buzzer
BYU is 3-2 in Las Vegas Bowl games, including a 17-16 victory against UCLA in 2007 when Eathyn Manumaleuna blocked a 28-yard Kai Forbath field goal at the end of the game.
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