The 1998 Norwest Sun Bowl was played by the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The sc ...

and the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

. This was the 65th Sun Bowl held and the last sponsored by

Norwest Corporation Norwest Corporation was a banking and financial services company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. In 1998, it merged with Wells Fargo & Co. and since that time has operated under the Wells Fargo name. History Early formation Th ...

due to next year's game being held by

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

Background

Paul Hackett was in his first year (of three) with USC, having led them to a bowl game for the first time since the 1996 Rose Bowl. This would be Hackett's only bowl game with USC. TCU hadn't been to a bowl game since the 1994 Independence Bowl nor won one since the

1957 Cotton Bowl Classic The 1957 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 21st edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday, January 1. Part of the 1956–57 bowl game season, it matched the independent and eighth-ranked ...

. Despite having only a 6–5 record, they were invited to a bowl game due to the Big Ten not having enough bowl-eligible teams. They were coached by first year head coach

Dennis Franchione Dennis Wayne Franchione (born March 28, 1951), also known as Coach Fran, is a retired American football coach. He is the former head football coach at Texas State University, a position he held from 1990 to 1991, when the school w ...

Game summary

Basil Mitchell had only 19 carries but ran for 185 yards and two touchdowns as TCU scored on their first three possessions and dominated the time of possession in the first half (having the ball for 20:15). TCU quarterback

Patrick Batteaux Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

also had two touchdowns for TCU, both rushing. But

Carson Palmer Carson Hilton Palmer (born December 27, 1979) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals. He played college football at ...

(who had 280 yards passing) threw two touchdowns (one to Billy Miller and the other to

Petros Papadakis Petros Papadakis (born June 16, 1977) is an American sportscaster who serves as a college football analyst for Fox Sports and co-host of the '' Petros and Money Show'' on AM 570 LA Sports. He is a former tailback and team captain for the Unive ...

) that made it 28–16 going into the fourth quarter. After stopping TCU on a drive, the Trojans got the ball back and drove to the TCU 20 early in the fourth quarter. But TCU's defense stuffed their offense, as USC kicked a field goal to make 28–19. From that point on, TCU ate up most of the clock as USC did not score again, giving TCU their first bowl win since 1957 in what would be the first of six consecutive bowl appearances. Defensive Lineman

London Dunlap London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

was named Jimmy Rogers, Jr. Most Valuable Lineman and Running back Basil Mitchell was named C.M. Hendricks Most Valuable Player.

References

1998–99 NCAA football bowl games Sun Bowl TCU Horned Frogs football bowl games USC Trojans football bowl games December 1998 sports events in the United States 1998 in sports in Texas {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub