2005 Sun Bowl

2005 Vitalis Sun Bowl
Northwestern Wildcats UCLA Bruins
(7–4) (9–2)
Big Ten Pac-10
38 50
Head coach: 
Randy Walker		 Head coach: 
Karl Dorrell
APCoachesBCS
NRNR25
APCoachesBCS
171716
1234 Total
Northwestern 220313 38
UCLA 722714 50
DateDecember 30, 2005
Season2005
StadiumSun Bowl
LocationEl Paso, Texas
MVPChris Markey (UCLA RB) and Kahlil Bell (UCLA RB)
National anthemNorthwestern Wildcat Marching Band
RefereeDan Romeo (WAC) [1]
Halftime showNorthwestern Wildcat Marching Band & Diamond Rio
Attendance50,426
PayoutUS$1.575 million per team[2]
United States TV coverage
NetworkCBS
AnnouncersVerne Lundquist, Todd Blackledge, Tracy Wolfson
Sun Bowl
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The 2005 Sun Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 2005, in El Paso, Texas. Sponsored by the Vitalis brand of hair tonic made by Bristol-Myers, the game was officially known as the Vitalis Sun Bowl. It was the 72nd Sun Bowl. It featured the UCLA Bruins, and the Northwestern Wildcats. UCLA overcame a 22–0 deficit to Northwestern in the first quarter to win 50–38. UCLA running backs Chris Markey and Kahlil Bell shared the most valuable player award, the first such shared award in Sun Bowl history. Defensive tackle Kevin Mims of Northwestern won the Jimmy Rogers, Jr. Most Valuable Lineman award. This was the biggest comeback in UCLA football history,[3] until the 2017 UCLA vs. Texas A & M game, in which the Bruins scored 34 points.[4] It still stands as of 2021 as the largest comeback in Sun Bowl History.[5] It also is the highest scoring Sun Bowl game.[5]

The game would unexpectedly be Randy Walker's last as Northwestern head coach. Walker died of an apparent heart attack the following June.

  1. ^ "Northwestern vs UCLA Bruins (Dec 30, 2005)". UCLABruins.com. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
  2. ^ "NCAA.com – The Official Website of NCAA Championships | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com.
  3. ^ UCLA football Media Guide (PDF copy available at www.uclabruins.com)
  4. ^ "Josh Rosen leads UCLA to 34-point comeback to stun Texas A&M | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  5. ^ a b 72nd Sun Bowl Recap Sun Bowl Official Site