Las Vegas Bowl Moment 25: Bowling Green edges out UNR in inaugural game

The Las Vegas Bowl has reached the quarter-century mark.

To celebrate the local bowl’s milestone, the Review-Journal will rank the top 25 moments in Las Vegas Bowl history. We’ll relive one moment per day until game day on Dec. 17 at Sam Boyd Stadium.

For moment No. 25, let’s go back to the first ever Las Vegas Bowl in 1992.

Year: 1992, the first one.

Final score: UNR 35, Bowling Green 34.

Back story: City leaders created a new bowl game in the desert to help draw visitors during a traditionally slow time of year. The newly founded Las Vegas Bowl replaced the California Raisin Bowl and hosted the champions of the Big West and Mid-American conferences.

The game: Bowling Green edged out UNR 35-34 on Dec. 18, 1992, with quarterback Erik White taking MVP honors for the Falcons.

Since then: Bowling Green still plays in the MAC while UNR is now in the Mountain West. The Big West dropped football in 2000, which led to the Wolf Pack joining the Western Athletic Conference before getting to the Mountain West.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.