The 1983 Sun Bowl

Sun Bowl

The Sun Bowl is an annual U.S. college football bowl game that is usually played at the end of December in El Paso, Texas. The Sun Bowl, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl are the second-oldest bowl games in the country, behind the Rose Bowl...

, part of the 1983 bowl game season, took place on December 24, 1983, at the Sun Bowl Stadium

Sun Bowl Stadium

The Sun Bowl is an outdoor football stadium, on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso. It is home to the UTEP Miners of Conference USA , and the late December college football bowl game, the Hyundai Sun Bowl...

 in El Paso

El Paso, Texas

El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. The competing teams were the Alabama Crimson Tide, representing the Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 (SEC), and the of the Southwest Conference (SWC). Alabama was victorious in by a final score of 28–7.

Alabama

The 1983 Alabama squad finished the regular season with a 7–4 record and losses against Penn State, Tennessee

1983 Tennessee Volunteers football team

The 1983 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Volunteers offense scored 282 points while the defense allowed 165 points...

, and Auburn

1983 Auburn Tigers football team

The 1983 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. Coached by Pat Dye, the team finished the season with a 11–1 record and won their first SEC title since 1957....

. Following their loss against Boston College, university officials announced they accepted an invitation to play in the Sun Bowl. The appearance marked the first for Alabama in the Sun Bowl, and their 27th overall bowl game appearance.

SMU

The 1983 SMU squad finished the regular season with a record of 10–1 and as SWC runner-up with their only loss coming against . The appearance in the Sun Bowl marked the second for SMU in the game, and their 10th overall bowl game appearance.

Game summary

Coming into the 50th annual Sun Bowl, the Mustangs were heavily favored over the Crimson Tide. Alabama dominated play in the first half and took a 28–0 lead into halftime. The Crimson Tide scored touchdowns in the first quarter on a pair of Ricky Moore runs from one and eleven yards respectively. In the second quarter, Bama scored touchdowns on a one-yard Walter Lewis run and on a 19-yard Lewis pass to Joey Jones. In the second half, both defenses were dominant with the only points coming on a 15-yard Lance McIlhenny touchdown pass to Marquis Pleasant in the third to bring the final score to its 28–7 margin. Entering the game, the Mustangs had only allowed four touchdowns all season only to see the Tide score three on the ground in the first half and outgain the Mustangs in total offense 303 to 105 yards. For his performance, Alabama quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 Walter Lewis was named the Sun Bowl MVP.

Scoring summary