A longstanding San Diego tradition and a more recent one highlight the local college football bowl scene.
Tonight, Dec. 20, Navy and Utah square off at 6 p.m. in the third annual San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium.
Utah and Navy both come into the contest (televised by EPSN) with records of 8-4.
“The Utes and Midshipmen are going to put on quite a show for football fans all around the country,” said Rudy Castruita, president of the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl 2007.
Utah has won its last six bowl games, dating back to 1999, which is the second-longest postseason win streak in the nation.
The 2006 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl featured a 37-7 Texas Cchristian University victory over Northern Illinois.
Next Thursday, Dec. 27, Arizona State and Texas will hook up in the 30th annual Pacific Life Holiday Bowl.
The 5 p.m. meeting, televised nationally on ESPN, will be their first ever.
First-year head coach Dennis Erickson led ASU to a 10-2 record and a share of the Pac-10 title (7-2).
“We are tremendously excited to be playing in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl,” Erickson said. “It will be a top match-up of Pac-10 and Big 12 teams with the University of Texas. Our players will receive a positive bowl experience in San Diego.”
ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter leads the offense, having thrown for 3,015 yards and 23 touchdowns during the regular season, the fourth most single-season passing yards in school history. Troy Nolan led a tough ASU defense, intercepting six passes.
This will be the Sun Devils’ third trip to the Holiday Bowl. They were defeated by Arkansas 18-17 in 1985, and by Kansas State 34-27 in 2002.
Under head coach Mack Brown, Texas finished the regular season with a 9-3 overall record, 5-3 in the Big 12 Conference.
“We’re looking forward to getting out to San Diego and preparing for another great Pacific Life Holiday Bowl,” Brown said. “There’s great weather, wonderful events and, most importantly, friendly, helpful and enthusiastic folks around all of the time. It will be a great experience for our guys.”
The Longhorns are led on offense by sophomore quarterback Colt McCoy. In 2007, McCoy connected on nearly 65 percent of his pass attempts (255-of-393) for 3,129 yards and 21 touchdowns. The Longhorns defense is led by senior defensive tackles Derek Lokey and Frank Okam.
Texas returns to the Holiday Bowl for the fourth time. The Longhorns beat Washington 47-43 in 2001, and were defeated by Oregon 35-30 in 2000 and by Washington State 28-20 in 2003.
Tickets for the 2007 Pacific Life Holiday Bowl can be purchased by calling TicketMaster, (619) 220-TIXS (8497), or by visiting www.PacificLifeHolidayBowl.com.