2005 Sun Bowl The 2005 Sun Bowl , known as the Vitalis Sun Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 30 , 2005 in El Paso , Texas . It was the 72nd Sun Bowl . It featured the UCLA Bruins , and the Northwestern Wildcats . UCLA overcame a 22 - 0 deficit to Northwestern in the first quarter to win 50 - 38 . This is the biggest comeback in UCLA football history . UCLA running backs Chris Markey and Kahlil Bell shared the most valuable player award , the first such shared award in Sun Bowl history . Defensive tackle Kevin Mims of Northwestern won the Jimmy Rogers , Jr . Most Valuable Lineman award . The game would unexpectedly be Randy Walker ' s last as Northwestern head coach . Walker died of an apparent heart attack the following June . Game summary . The weather was clear and 56 degrees Fahrenheit . Northwestern ' s Joel Howells started the scoring with a 33 yard field goal to give Northwestern an early 3 - 0 lead . Kevin Mims later scored on a 33 yard interception return to increase Northwestern ' s lead to 9 - 0 . Mark Philmore rushed 19 yards for a touchdown to put Northwestern up 15 - 0 . However , the kicker missed his second consecutive extra point attempt . Nick Roach intercepted another UCLA pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown to give Northwestern a 22 - 0 first quarter lead . At the end of the quarter , running back Kahlil Bell put UCLA on the board , by rushing for a 5 yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 22 - 7 . Less than 2 minutes later , quarterback Drew Olson connected with wide receiver Ryan Moya for a 58 yard touchdown pass , to cut the lead to 22 - 14 . Kahlil Bell scored his second rushing touchdown of the game by rushing 6 yards for a touchdown . Drew Olson then found tight end Marcedes Lewis for the two point conversion to tie the game at 22 . With 29 seconds left in the first half , Olson found wide receiver Marcus Everett for an 8 yard touchdown pass to give UCLA a 29 - 22 halftime lead . In the third quarter , Olson connected with Michael Pitre for a 5 yard touchdown pass , to extend the lead to 36 - 22 . Amado Villarreal connected on a 31 yard field goal for Northwestern , to cut the lead to 36 - 25 . The last 2 : 30 of the game featured a lot of scoring . Quarterback Brett Basanez found Mark Philmore for an 8 yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 36 - 31 with 2 : 29 remaining . The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Brandon Breazell and returned 42 yards for a touchdown , extending UCLA ' s lead to 43 - 31 . With 24 seconds in the game , Basanez found wide receiver Shaun Herbert for a 5 yard touchdown pass , pulling NU to 42 - 38 . The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Brandon Breazell , and once again returned 45 yards for a touchdown . That made the final margin 50 - 38 . Aftermath . The 2005 Sun Bowl game , sponsored by Vitalis , had a $ 1 . 5 million payout . UCLA Bruin team comeback records . This was the third record setting comeback for the 2005 UCLA Bruin football team . As of the 2007 season , they rank first , second , and third in all time scoring comebacks to win for the UCLA Bruins . Sun Bowl records . The Northwestern Wildcats broke five records . The UCLA Bruins broke three records . Together Northwestern and UCLA broke or tied six records . In addition , Brett Basanez tied the individual record of 38 completions and broke the offensive yardage record at 448 yards . Sun Bowl Legends . CBS Announcer Verne Lundquist who had been the Sun Bowl broadcaster starting in 1988 , and former UCLA Bruins coach Terry Donahue were named Legends of the Sun Bowl .