El Paso Times from El Paso, Texas • 33

V. 6 full pages of coverage i i in ii i 1 waiiiaafcjri mmimm tal Price: 35 cents Saturday, Dec. 24, 1988 Sun Bowl halftime: huge band, 30,000 balloons, dancers 4 How to watch the game: key plays, top players 5 Army, Alabama both gilded with tradition 6 1 Independence Bowl defeat a sad ending for UTEP's seniors 2 Southern Mississippi's James Henry is MVP twice 2 Independence Bowl's future looks bleak 3 Spirit" "2 SUN BOWL toWbfie tar Hi 9t TP. lit IS is c. i rSe s.

if fit T1 UTEP falls 38-18 in bowl game By Don Henry El Paso Times SHREVEPORT, La. UTEP's dream season ended with a nightmare I'iiudy as me miners weic crusueu 38-18 by Southern Mississippi in the Independence Bowl. James Henry of Southern Miss returned two punts for touchdowns to ruin Bob Stull's last game as head coach at the University of Texas at El Paso. Henry, who was named both the offensive and defensive player of the game, almost single-handedly decided the game by scoring on returns of 65 and 45 yards in an eight-minute span of the third quarter. The game was played before only 20,242 fans, one of the smallest crowds in the bowl game's 13-year history.

"The Miners were trying for their 11th victory of the season and had hoped to go out winners in Stull's finale before he leaves to become head coach at Missouri. "We were third in the nation in punt coverage, then bam-bam-bam, we're out of our game," Stull said. "We had two or three opportunities to score in first half. Take away those three plays, and it's an 18-17 game. But Henry is a great threat." Henry returned six punts for touchdowns the past two seasons, one short of the National Collegiate Athletic Association career record held by 1987 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown of Notre Dame.

Bowl game accomplishments don't count in the college record books. "James Henry has to be the best punt returner in the college game this season," Southern Mississippi coach Cur ley Hallman "He finished with eight career touchdowns even though he has returned them only two years. "While tonight's won't count for NCAA stats, he still has returned eight, and that's an accomplishment that just can't be diminished," Hall-man added. "I have to give you guys on the special teams all the credit," Henry said. "Without you none of this would have been possible." Stull said of Henry, "He's a great return guy, and we didn't contain him." UTEP finished the year with a 10-3 record, the most victories in the school's history.

Southern Mississippi finished 10-2, its best year since 1952. The game started brightly for the. 1 A Tu Rudy Gutierrez El Paso Times UTEP wide receiver Reggie Barrett spun past Southern Mississippi linebacker George Hill, left, in the first half of the Independence Bowl Friday night. Your guide to 55th Sun Bowl Good weather Expect clear skies and a temperature in the mid-40s at kickoff, the National Weather Service says. It might be a sellout More than 47,000 tickets had been sold by Friday night, and if the weather is good, the stadium could be sold out by game time (kickoff is 10:13 a.m.).

The remaining tickets, available at the gate, are mostly $12 seats in the end zones, tQ A rrtrw WIUI 4.f oiuCiiiiu iiurvuuj iliiiuiii ing. It's not on El Paso TV The game won't be shown live by El Paso stations, but it will be videotaped and broadcast at 10:30 p.m. today on Channel 4-KDBC. Channel 11-XHCH in Juarez plans to broadcast the Sun Bowl live in Spanish, although a last-minute change on the state-run station is possible. Nationally, CBS will broadcast the game for the 21st year.

Veme Lundquist and Pat Haden will handle the play-by-play. but it is on radio KHEY-AM 690 will broadcast the game with Jon Teicher, Rick Parr and Jeff Limberg. The game also will be carried nationally in 140 markets by New Century Broadcasting. Driving? Get early start Your best bet is to arrive early, and decide where you're going to park before you leave, sheriff's deputies advise. Parking lots around the Sun Bowl and within the campus are reserved.

Try streets outside the campus. People without parking permits will not be allowed on campus. When the game begins, Sun Bowl Drive will become a one-way street into the stadium. At the end of the game, it will be one-way going out Sheriff's deputies and police officers will control all street lights around the university, to help with pedestrian traffic. You could catch the bus Sun Metro will run shuttles from San Jacinto Plaza Downtown to the Sun Bowl every 10 minutes starting at 8:30 a.m.

Saturday. Fare is 75 cents. How to stay comfortable Take a cushion or blanket to sit on the aluminum seats get cold and hard. If you need first aid Ten first-aid teams will be in the stadium. The first-aid station is on the west end of the Sun Bowl.

Two ambulances will be at the stadium. If you lose something Anyone or anything lost or found should go to the nearest police officer. The names of people who are lost will be announced over the public-address system. You can't take food No food or beverages can be taken into the stadium. but you can buy it Hot dogs cost chili dogs, nachos, candy or Snickers), popcorn, peanuts, chips, 75 cents; Frito pie, 14-ounce soft drinks, coffee, hot chocolate, milk, beer, 14-ounce cup and 12-ounce can, wine coolers, $2.50.

Alcohol will be sold until the end of the third quarter. and souvenirs, too Sweat shirts cost $20; T-shirts, $10; oversized T-shirts, $15; oversized sweat shirts, $30; caps, $10; seat cushions, plastic mugs, lapel pins, horns, foam fingers, embroidered stick-ons for lapels, $1. if- i -I i we were forced to pass and they knew what we were doing. It was as simple as that," Stull said. "We had to get out of our game plan, and they knew it." Henry wasn't the only Golden Eagle star.

Tailback Shelton Gandy gained all the yardage in a 60-yard drive in the fourth quarter and scored two touchdowns for Southern Miss. He finished with 136 yards rushing. Southern Miss quarterback Brett Favre completed 15 of 26 passes for 157 yards and one touchdown. Jacke kicked a field goal late in the third quarter and reserve quarterback David Flores led the Miners to a touchdown in the fourth, but by then it was too late. UTEP gained but 53 yards rushing.

Miners, thrust into a forced passing game by Henry's heroics, came up with 308 yards through the air. V. fr 1 El Paso Times Bob Stull lost his final game as UTEP head coach Friday. 4 if a. I 4 4 I J.

drive for a touchdown to take a 10-7 halftime lead. Then it got ugly for the Miners. UTEP's Lance Brownlee punted early in third quarter. Henry took the ball at his 35, cut to his right and outran two Miners to the corner. He sprinted down the sideline all the way to make the score 17-7.

Four plays later, Brownlee tried to punt again. The snap bounced to him, and before he could recover, he was tackled at his 25. The Golden Eagles scored in four plays on a one-yard run by tailback Shelton Gandy, making the score 24-7. Two possessions later, Brownlee's V.punt bounced to Henry, who" burst up jihe middle past the first 'wave of Miners and scored again to' make it 31-7. "It was, just a case that after those three plays in the third long one that.

4 "This team 'has done a good job (Working through all the distractions," Stull don't think they have let it bother them. I don't think' it will bother them at all. "They know the sificance of it. How many teams have a chance to win 1 1 games in a season?" Stull's stay in El Paso measured almost three years. He was as head coach Dec.

31, 1.985 the man behind a football renaissance at UTEPi- from 110 before he came Vto 10-2 this vear. ''What makes it so hard to leave is the guys, the senidrs who've been through so much," Stull said. "It's to leave them, but also, it's good ta; go out with them, also since they've been through so much. We've gotten so close to them." But Stull said the departing seniors will not leave the UTEP team depleted. "There are a lot of players coming back," Stull said to a UTEP booster.

1 Coach's last day is a Miners, who scored on the first possession to take a 7-0 lead. Quarterback Pat Hegarty threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Reggie Barrett. Southern Mississippi scored a field goal shortly after UTEP's touchdown, and things began to unravel for the Miners. Chris Jacke, the UTEP place-kicker who missed only two of his 27 field goal attempts during the season, missed two in the second quarter. A long pass completion apparently set up UTEP with a first-and-goal at the Southern Mississippi 4 midway through the third quarter, but the play was wiped out when the Miners were called for pass interference.

Jacke missed a 54-yard field attempt to end, that drrve. After Jacke's second miss, the Golden Eagles mounted, an 80-yard As Missouri's head coach-in-waiting, Stull was winding down his final hours at UTEP. In a sense he I was down to his final 60 minutes. So, he was spending almost as much time shaking hands '-v receiving congratu-j lations for his new job, goodbyes from, his old as he was readying his troops. The preparation for Southern Mississippi and the Independence Bowl 1 was complete, in West lexas.

lan guage, the hay was in the barn. The game plan was in place, luggage packed for a trip back to El Paso, Christmas presents tucked away for Christmas weekend. Nothing to do but wait. And reflect. "I've tried hard to keep them separate," Stull said of his bowl game preparations and Missouri planning.

"No, I'm not thinking about Missouri; I'm thinking about tonight," he said, referring to the bowl game. Stull said the bowl game represents a climax to the Miners' season and the coaching move shouldn't change Stull reflects on team, work done in El Paso By Don Henry El Paso Times SHREVEPORT, La. Bob Stull spent much of Friday wandering around, first in the motel, then on the turf at Shreveport's Independence Stadium. In the motel, he wore a sports coat, slacks and tie; on the field he wore a UTEP Windbreaker. In both instances, he had a stern look on his face.

For a man with a swan song on his mind, Stull was quiet Friday night before his team took the field. This was his final game as head football coach at the University of Texas at El Paso, and as it turned out, it was not a pleasant exit. His Miners were blasted by Southern Mississippi, 38-18. This week he was a Miner; next week he will be a University of Missouri Tiger..