Las Vegas Bowl Ushers In 2026 In Vegas; Utah Blasts Nebraska, 44-22 At Annual Game At Allegiant Stadium
ADVERTISEMENT
Shop at Jay’s Market at 19o East Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip.
ADVERTISEMENT
Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Good ol’ Las Vegas Bowl.
These days, Las Vegas likes talking Super Bowls, Final Fours, CFP title games and F1 races.
But the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl is old school Vegas sports.
Today’s match up between two teams in red — Nebraska and Utah — was bittersweet because it was the first Las Vegas Bowl since the death of former Las Vegas tourism leader Rossi Ralenkotter, the LVCVA boss who helped start the college bowl game more than three decades ago. Ralenkotter died in October at age 78.
John Saccenti, the Las Vegas Bowl’s executive director, was thrilled with the Nebraska-Utah showdown on New Year’s Eve. This is Nebraska’s first appearance, while Utah is a veteran of this bowl game, playing in its seventh Las Vegas Bowl. Plus, Utah played in this stadium twice in the Pac-12 Conference championship game.
Last year’s USC vs Texas A&M Las Vegas Bowl game was an exciting battle. The Trojans overcame a 17-point deficit in the second half to beat Texas A&M, 35-31.
Today, Nebraska jumped out to 7-0 and 14-7 leads, but then Utah scored 17 straight to lead at the half, 24-14.
The red-clothed crowd inside Allegiant Stadium looked to be about 35,000 fans. The bowl game reported attendance at 38,879.
Utah blasted Nebraska in the second half, adding another 20 points for a 44-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter as fans exited the building. Nebraska added a TD and two-pointer for the 44-22 score.
PSA
