A game for the ages.
How else can you describe last week’s 81st Sun Bowl game? This was Ali vs. Frazier duking it out and Affirmed and Alydar battling nose and nose down the stretch in Triple Crown races.
And the finish was as stunning as Bobby Thompson’s last inning homerun in 1951for the New York Giants against the Brooklyn Dodgers or Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary last-second winning touchdown pass for Boston College in 1984 against University of Miami.
This year’s Sun Bowl didn’t end with an offensive play but with a spectacular defensive one that was just as emotional. Arizona State’s Kweishi Brown intercepted Duke quarterback Anthony Boone’s pass in the farthest corner of the end zone with just seconds on the clock to give Arizona State a 36-31 victory.
The entire game was such a back and forth battle with neither team giving up that many of us felt it was a shame for either side to lose.
The game is certainly one of the greatest in Sun Bowl history.
CONGRATULIONS to El Paso Times photographer Rudy Gutierrez, who caught the game-winning interception on his camera for posterity. What tremendous timing it must have taken. The photo shows the ball in the interceptor’s hands and is so clear you can see the two players’ faces.
It has to go down as one of football’s greatest sports photos.
SPECIAL NOTE: Demario Richard of Arizona State scored four touchdowns in the game to tie a Sun Bowl record for most points scored by a player. But El Paso’s Jesse Whittenton, who played for Ysleta High School before joining UTEP, still holds the record for most points accounted for by a player. He accounted for 35 points with three touchdowns passes, two rushing touchdowns and five extra points in the 21st Sun Bowl against Florida State in 1955. Such a performance may never be duplicated.
AND A SPECIAL thanks again to all the people who volunteer to make the Sun Bowl game so attractive. Scores of El Pasoans give much of their time without pay to make visitors welcome, help the media and direct folks to the proper places. It makes one’s heart throb with pride. I especially missed Mr. and Mrs. Charles Garcia, who had been media hosts for years at the Hawthorn Suites. Mr. Hernandez, 58, died of a heart attack. I was happy to see his memory honored at this year’s game.
TRIVIA QUESTION: Paul Bryant won 323 games as a coach. Can you name the four colleges with which he won those games? Answer at end of column.
HERE’S WHAT I’m looking forward to in 2015:
- UTEP winning the Conference USA basketball championship and going into the NCAA playoffs. I think there’s a good chance.
- The resumption of play by the El Paso Chihuahuas. What fun that will be.
- Watching Sean Kugler coach the UTEP football team next fall. He did so well this season.
- The addition of Major League soccer to the El Paso sports scene. We can dream, can’t we?
A RESIDENT of Santa Teresa Country Club came rushing up to me the other day happy as a lark. He said it’s almost a sure thing that Santa Teresa will be declared a village and thus won’t be annexed by the city of Sunland Park.
Oh, yes, and did you know “Taco Night” is still being held on Wednesdays in the Santa Teresa clubhouse? Yessir. What’s more, the bar is open at night.