The 1999 Mobile Alabama Bowl was an American
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
bowl game
In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...
. It was part of the
1999 NCAA Division I-A football season
The 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season saw Florida State named national champions, defeating Virginia Tech in the BCS Sugar Bowl.
Florida State became the first team in history to start out preseason No. 1 and remain there through the entir ...
, and was the inaugural edition of the
Mobile Alabama Bowl (which has subsequently gone though several name changes). It was played on December 22, 1999, and featured the 8–3
East Carolina Pirates
The East Carolina Pirates are the sport, athletic teams that represent East Carolina University (ECU), located in Greenville, North Carolina. All varsity-level sports teams participate at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA ...
(Coaches/ESPN No. 20) of
Conference USA
Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas.
Mem ...
, and the 7–4
TCU Horned Frogs
The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competi ...
of the
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington.
Due to ...
(WAC). The game was played at
Ladd–Peebles Stadium
Ladd–Peebles Stadium (formerly Ernest F. Ladd Memorial Stadium) is a stadium located in Mobile, Alabama. Opened in 1948, it has a seating capacity of 33,471. It is primarily used for American football. It is the home field the 68 Ventures Bowl ...
in
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...
.
Game recap
East Carolina opened the scoring with a 58-yard touchdown pass from quarterback
David Garrard
David Douglas Garrard (born February 14, 1978) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the East Carolina Pirates and was selected b ...
to wide receiver Arnie Powell. TCU running back
LaDainian Tomlinson
LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979), nicknamed "LT", is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college football career with the T ...
scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7 after one quarter.
Casey Printers
Casey J. Printers (born May 16, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the BC Lions and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He played college football at TCU and Florida A&M.
Early ...
threw a 21-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, and the Horned Frogs took a 14–7 lead. Tomlinson, who had 124 yards rushing in the game, scored on a 3-yard touchdown run before halftime, to give TCU a 21-7 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Jamie Wilson scored on a 13-yard touchdown run to bring East Carolina within a touchdown.
Russell Gary
Russell Craig Gary (July 31, 1959 – March 10, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college footba ...
scored on an interception return to give TCU a 28–14 lead. TCU, which alternated between the quarterbacks Casey and Patrick Batteaux, made it impossible for the Pirates to adjust to the variance of play styles between the drop back passer Printers and the option running Batteaux. The Frogs defense shut down the Pirates' running game, holding them to minus-16 yards. TCU held on to that lead to win the game by that margin.
References
Further reading
*
External links
USA Today summary
{{TCU Horned Frogs bowl game navbox
Mobile Alabama Bowl
68 Ventures Bowl
East Carolina Pirates football bowl games
TCU Horned Frogs football bowl games
December 1999 sports events in the United States
1999 in sports in Alabama