Show '"t A10 — The Herald Joumal Logan Utah Wednesday January 2003 1 was a real joker Holy BCS! The Gotham Bowl Utah State’s Turner reflects on first one By Hal Bock AP sports writer ( ed by bad luck It was a experiment that never qaite got off the ground and eventually drowned in a sea of red ink Gotham organizers noticed the success of the Liberty Bowl in Philadelphia in I95?1— a game that later passed through Atlantic City beforfc settling in Mem- phis — and thought if postseason football could make it there it cer- - ' tainly could make it in New York two-ye- As the glut of 28 bowl games meanders toward a merciful conclusion it might he appropriate to pause and remember some departed postseason classics wonders such There were one-year as the Blucgrass Bowl played In 1958 at Louisville and the Aviation Bowl hosted by Dayton inl96l ESPN Classic never shows clips from the 1937 Bacardi Bow l at Havana or the Dixie Bowl at Birmingham in I94X-4- 9 May they all rest in peace alongevents such as side other short-live- d the Cigar Bow l in Tampa the Camellia Bowl in Lafayette La the Della Bowl in Memphis the Raisin Bowl in Fresno and of course the Salad Bowl in Phoenix A lew had some admirablestaying power such as the Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston which lasted from 1959 to 19X7 and the Aloha Bow I a Hawaii staple from I9X2-2IXThey're gone now too Each came with a promoter who thought it was a good idea to extend the college football season and make a few bucks Each fell somewhat short of that mark Perhaps the most spectacular failure however was the Gotham Bow l which was founded in New York City with good intentions hut hound ' first-ye- ar Well not exactly First there was a question of a site With the NFL's Giants occupying Yankee Stadium the inaugural Gotham Bow l was relegated to the Polo Grounds an ancient rundown structure that was home to the Titans forerunners of the Jets Then there was the matter of which teams would be invited Baylor and Utah State each located far away from New York were the cash-starv- er partic- ipate because of academic problems So Rodney Davis ran for them He carried 37 limes for 153 yards and two touchdowns as Fresno State won its first how I game in 10 years defeating Georgia Tech 30-2- 1 on Tuesday “This w in was for the guys who couldn't make it" Davis said had not The Bulldogs ) won a postseason game since beating Southern California in the 1992 Freedom Bow l a string of lour straight losses And they were even more proud they did it with a depleted roster Fresno Slate suited only 45 players and was missing five starters (9-5- A new Western Athletic Conference rule requires athletes to pass at least six credits to play in a bowl game and seven didn't meet the requirement They may have had incompleles or grades that had not yet been finalized for example "For the nation to think we played with ineligible players is a misconception” coach Pat Hill said "We were playing with non-certifi- players I'm so proud of this football team We hud some adversity this season" Three seniors stayed home some because their grades weren't posted "That drives me nuts" Hill said “But we persevered" Asen Asparuhov kicked a field goal with 3:43 left one of his three in the game and Davis clinched the TD run victory with a just more than a minute later for the Bulldogs And the Fresno State defense did an impressive job after halftime of weathering a 33-ya- rd 28-ya- rd ance on NBC’s “Today" show with host Dave Garroway Then came the game Early December weather can be dicey in New York and game day was windy and cold What’s more’ the elderly ballpark wasn’t exactly spruced up for the event “There were more pigeons than people" Turner said “It was a dump It hud seen its day It was a baseball stadium The pitcher’s mound was not totally leveled The locker rooms ' were like bathrooms of today" licld goal Turner kicked a but Baylor won 24-- 9 The attendance was announced as 15123 and as sports Writer Warren Pack was fond of saving: many of them came disguised as empty seals The game lost $ I (X)(XX)and there were reports that the teams hud not been paid Those rumors persisted through the following yeurwhen the promoters invited Miami and Nebraska and moved the game to Yankee Stadium a more luxurious setting Both schools were dubious about comipg w ith neither able to move its allotment of 3CK1 tickets In fact Nebraska sold 46 tickets for the Orange Bow l game between Okla- homu and Alabama in Miami and just 30 for its own team's game in New York The Nebraska team plane sat o'n the runway in Lincoln until olficials got confirmation that a check cover-- ' r 37-ya- rd ing their expenses had been deposited Miami also refused to move its team until it saw Gotham's greenbacks There were other problems ABC had canceled its tclcvision'conlract alter the first game There was a news- paper strike in New York shutting down any opportunity for publicity And a freezing rain fell on game day Attendance was limited to 6166 hardy souls well short of the 937X1 who watched Miami play Nebraska in the Rose Bow l a year ago Even w ith its limited crowd the 1962 Gotham Bowl still ouldrew the New ATLANTA i P l -M- aryland only dominated where it mattered most - the score-boar- d l Scott McBrien ran for two touchdowns and Uurome Cox returned an interception 54 vards for another as the No 20 Terrapins beat Tennessee 30-Tuesday night in the Peach Bowl Mars land ( was outeained 3 M'-il' £' iV:" : 2X7-27- i :'Wt - ' " v V v AP photo Fresno State running back Rodney Davis (22) holds the ball aloft as he scores the final touchdown against Georgia Tech Tuesday at the Silicon Valley Football Classic in San Jose Calif comeback strong second-hal- f attempt by Georgia Tech freshman backup quarterback Damarius Bilbo and you have to be able to execute on offense and we didn't do either well" 'I he game turned into a muddy mess alter hard ruin fell Monday night It took only a few plays for Georgia Tech's gleaming while uniforms to turn a dull brown and there were plenty of slips and missed plays In a lackluster first half the teams struggled to take advantage of their scoring opportunities with Fresno Slate leading 13-- 7 at halftime Dee Mea's intertouchfor return a ception down with 14 seconds left in Bilbo passed for a touch- down and ran for another after replacing the ineffective AJ Suggs but Bilbo also threw four interceptions as the Yellow Jackets (7-committed seven turnovers Georgia Tech was the only team in the ACC to throw more interceptions ( 14) than touchdowns (13) this season “I'm disappointed with the execution" coach Chan Gai-le- y said “Obviously you have to be able to stop the run 6) EL PASO Texas ( AP) — Purdue didn't have much success in its bow games the last few years Quarterback Kyle Orton wanted to change that Orton passed for 2X3 yards and two touchdowns as Purdue deficit to beat overcame a Washington 34-2- 4 in the Sun Bowl nt has gone Although Purdue (7-to six straight bowl games under couch Joe Tiller it had lost its last three before beating Washington In last year's Sun Bowl Orton broke three game records with 74 passing attempts 38 completions and 419 yards But Purdue lost 33-2- 7 to Washington State “We haven’t proved how gorrd we are in our last four bowl appearances so today we redeemed ourselves” Orton said Tiller has never had a losing season at Purdue since taking over for the start of the 1997 season “We played well here last year but came up a little bit short” Tiller said “But we were not to be denied this year” 6) APphoto 10-ya- rd high-jumpi- York Titans who attracted only 3X2X that day for their game a short walk away at the Polo Grounds The conditions were terrible but the game was terrific quarterback George Mira passed for 321 yards bill Nebraska hung on for a 36-3- 4 victory the first bow l game the Huskcrs ever won It was the last Gotham Bow I ever played Turner a survivor of the first Gotham Bow l hardly noticed the results of the second one x "The next year we played in the Sun Bowl in El Paso" he said "It was warmer there" 4X-ya- the second quarter highlighted the half Fresno Slate was playing in the Silicon Valley Classic for the third straight year and Bulldogs fan's look up the majority of the seats at Spartan Stadium Georgia Tech was trying to protect the nation's top bow record in its sixth straight postseason appearance and the Yellow Jackets thought their chances were good with Fresno Slate missing so many key players "We really thought that we could go out and our game plan would work even better" Bilbo said I Purdue rallies to top Huskies Purdue's Joey Harris '(25) oelebrates his touchdown run with teammate Ray Williams during the third quarter against Washington in the Sun Bowl AP file photo Miami quarterback George Mira (10) passes over the head of Nebraska end Larry Donovan during the 1962 Gotham Bowl wgpm Shorthanded Bulldogs swat Yellow Jackets who couldn't ed unlucky guests Jim Turner later a longtime place-kickin the NFL recalled how happy the Utah State players were to make the trip “I was 20 years old" he said "To get on a plane and fly to New York That was great We rode the subways We got lost We ale kind on the streets We found Irish pubs It was great" Turner recalled a strange promotion in which the Utah State players put on their uniforms and marched through Times Square for an appear- - GTOlM®!!) SAN JOSE Calif ( AP) Rodney Davis’ phone rang in the locker room just before Fresno Stale took the field for the Silicon Valley Classic It was his brother and teammate calling to wish the Bulldogs good luck Starting receiver Marque Davis was at home one of seven players ar John Staiideford caught 10 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown and Taylor Stubblefield caught seven passes for 92 yards for Purdue which hud 4(X) yards of offense to the Huskies' 316 ' It wasn't easy for the Boilermakers who overcame an early deficit “We got behind hut we never rolled over" Tiller said “In an era where many teams do we did not” with Cody Pickett was one interception and a touchdown for Washington The Huskies ) took a 0 lead after the first quarter hut did not score again until the fourth quarter “I can't explain why we played so poorly” Huskies coach Rick Neuheisel said “We weren't clicking hut it was OK because Purdue hadn't caught their stride But once they caught their stride the game got away from us" Purdue started its rally with 5:09 left in the second quarter when Orton threw a touchdown pass to Standcford The Boilermakers scored again with 35 seconds before halflime on a bit of luck Brandon Jones fumbled on the line but Ray Williams 1 25-of-- (7-6- 1 7-- rd recovered ihe ball in the1 end zone to cap a d drive and make it at the break Alter a field goal BO W by Bcrin Licevic tied the game Purdue took its first lead with 3:33 lefi in the third quarter on a 10- yard touchdown run by Joey Harris to make it 24-- 1 7 Harris fed tlx Boilermakers with 93 yards on 23 carries "We know how to come from behind” Harris said "We've beaten adversity all year” Washington had a total of 44 yards rushing on 24 carries The Huskies finally scored again when Pickett threw a touchdown pass to Patrick Reddick to make it 34-2- 4 with 3:31 remaining Washington's last scoring attempt failed when John Anderfield goal son missed a ‘with 15 seconds remaining “It was a disappointing year we have to get back to work" Neuheisel said “To get back to the ' upper echelon Not only in our conference but in the national picture This is not what I envisioned for the Washington Huskies” 66-yar- 17-1- 4 l 22-ya- id 12-ya- 24-ya- rd 4 but pulled ass as thanks to a songs opportunistic defense All American linebacker FJ Henderson had three sacks lour tackles for a loss broke up lour passes and forced a tumble lie was selected as the defensive Most Outstanding Player Nick Rosuk kicked three field goals lor the Terrapins wins for the who reached first time since 1976 They also won a bowl for the first lime in 17 sears removing some of the stmg from last season's 56-2- 3 loss to Florida in the Orange Bowl After a I 2 start including a 22-loss to Notre Dame in the Kickoff Classic the Terrapins recovered to w in 10 of their last II Ralph Friedgen a 1970 Maryland graduate is the first coach in school history to win at least 10 games in k seasons comThe Volunteers (X-pleted their worst season since I9XX and gave coach Phillip Fulmer the most losses of his year career Tw ice the defense had to call a timeout after appearing confused and two roughing-the-passpenalties helped sustain Maryland scoring drives McBrien the Most Outstanding Player on offense finof-1 9 for 120 yards ished Bruce Perry finally healthy after a lengthy recovery from a tom groin ran for 50 Tennessee 's Casey Clausen passes for completed 242 yards but made an throw in the second quarter to give Maryland the momentum Scrambling out of the pocket he lofted a screen pass toward an area cluttered with only offensive linemen Cox ran in and picked it ofT then weaved his way across the field and sprinted away from everyone for his second touchdown of the season This one gave iltc Terrapins 14-a 0 lead and they cruised from there 0 back-to-bac- 1 1 -- er 1 1 -- 23-of-- ed |