The 2002 SEGA Sports Las Vegas Bowl was the 11th edition of the annual

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

. It featured the

New Mexico Lobos The New Mexico Lobos are the athletic teams that represent the University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque. The university participates in the NCAA Division I in the Mountain West Conference (MW) since 1999, after leaving the Western Athlet ...

and the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

. The Bruins defeated the Lobos, 27–13. Notably the game was the first

Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). ...

game to have a female player on the field,

Katie Hnida Katharine Anne Hnida (; born May 17, 1981) is a former American football player who became the first woman to score in an NCAA Division I-A game, college football's highest level. She accomplished this as placekicker for the University of New ...

. Also, UCLA coach Ed Kezirian was victorious in his one and only appearance as a head coach. This was the second year in a row for the Las Vegas Bowl to be held on Christmas day.

Game summary

UCLA scored first on a 49-yard field goal by Nate Fikse to take an early 3–0 lead. New Mexico's Desmar Black intercepted a UCLA pass, and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown. The extra point try was blocked, giving New Mexico a 6–3 lead. An interesting note from that game was that when New Mexico sent

out to kick the

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

, Katie became the first woman to play in a

game. Since the kick was blocked, UCLA was not the first team to be scored upon by a woman in a Division I-A game. Katie would later kick two extra points against Texas State University in the fourth quarter of a 72–8 New Mexico win on August 30, 2003. Nate Fikse's 39 yard field goal for the Bruins tied it in the second quarter, and the score remained 6–6 at halftime. 2 minutes into the third quarter, UCLA's Craig Bragg scored on a 74-yard punt return giving UCLA a 13–6 lead. In the fourth quarter, UCLA's Jarrad Page intercepted a New Mexico pass, and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown, putting UCLA up 20–6. A 1-yard

Tyler Ebell Tyler Jay Ebell (born June 4, 1983, in Ventura, California) is a former Canadian football running back. Ventura High Ebell was a star player at Ventura High School, where he earned three varsity letters as a running back for coach Phil McCune. ...

scored from 1 yard out, increasing the Bruins' lead to 27–6. New Mexico scored once more on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Casey Kelly to Joe Manning. Kenny Byrd kicked the extra point, making the final score 27–13.

Scoring

First Quarter

*UCLA — Nate Fikse, 49-yard field goal. *New Mexico — Desmar Black, 55-yard interception return. Hnida’s kick blocked.

Second Quarter

*UCLA — Fikse, 39-yard field goal.

Third Quarter

*UCLA — Craig Bragg, 74-yard punt return. Fikse converts.

Fourth Quarter

*UCLA — Jarrad Page, 29-yard interception return. Chris Griffith converts. *UCLA — Tyler Ebell, one-yard run. Fikse converts. *New Mexico — Joe Manning, 11-yard pass from Casey Kelly. Kenny Byrd converts

UCLA head coach Ed Kezirian

Ed Kezirian was an offensive line coach under Terry Donahue and

Bob Toledo Robert Anthony Toledo (born March 4, 1946) is an American former college football coach and player. Toledo served as the head coach at University of California, Riverside (1974–1975), the University of the Pacific (1979–1982), the Univers ...

. When Toledo was fired on December 10, 2002, Kezirian became the interim

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

for the game against the

in the

Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas area. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada before moving to the ...

on December 25, 2002. He was victorious in his only game as Bruin head coach; UCLA won 27–13.

Aftermath

After the game, Kezirian retired from coaching undefeated and was replaced by

Karl Dorrell Karl James Dorrell (born December 18, 1963) is an American football coach who was most recently the head coach at the University of Colorado. Dorrell most notably served as the head football coach of the University of California, Los Angeles (UC ...

as the UCLA Bruins head coach. He remained on the staff to continue overseeing academics for the Bruins football team. When Karl Dorrell was fired in 2007, defensive coordinator

DeWayne Walker DeWayne Morris Walker (born December 3, 1960) is an American gridiron football coach and former player. He is currently the cornerbacks and nickels coach for the Arizona Wildcats football team. He previously served as the defensive backs coach o ...

took the interim coaching duty for the

2007 Las Vegas Bowl The 2007 Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl was an NCAA-sanctioned Division I post-season college football bowl game between the UCLA Bruins and the Brigham Young University Cougars. The game was played on December 22, 2007, starting at 5 p.m. ...

. The Bruins lost that game.

References

External links

Review of game by USA Today

Bibliography

*UCLA Football Media Guide (PDF Copy available a
www.uclabruins.com
*University of New Mexico Football Media Guide (PDF Copy available a
golobos.cstv.com
) {{Historic college football games

Las Vegas Bowl New Mexico Lobos football bowl games UCLA Bruins football bowl games