Holiday Bowl | Longhorns remember Erickson well

AUSTIN, Texas — With Arizona State taking the field Thursday against Texas in the Holiday Bowl, first-year Sun Devils coach Dennis Erickson wanted nothing to do with rehashing the last time he faced the Longhorns.

Asked for an interview about the Cotton Bowl between Erickson's then-No. 4 Miami Hurricanes and the third-ranked Longhorns capping the 1990 season, Erickson said no thanks.

Probably a good idea considering he ended up calling then-Texas coach David McWilliams to apologize for a flag-filled, personal-foul fest staged by the Canes, who won 46-3 and even taunted Texas' mascot Longhorn, Bevo.

"That 1990 team was the most physically talented I ever had," Erickson said, referring to a team that had future NFL players Micheal Barrow, Randall "Thrill" Hill, Russell Maryland, Darrin Smith and Kevin Williams.

Erickson, who won national titles at Miami in 1989 and 1991, declined to say anything else about the game.

It doesn't serve Erickson to look back.

Coaches see everything in terms of bulletin-board material, even if the subject is 17 years old. So what good would it do for Erickson to talk about a game that represents Texas' largest margin of defeat in a bowl game?

It was also a game that perpetuated the Hurricanes' reputation as undisciplined showboats after they set an NCAA bowl record for penalty yards (202) that stands today.

"It seemed like every time I looked up, there was a flag on the field," then-Texas middle linebacker Brian Jones said after the game.

Believe it or not, McWilliams thinks it was some trash talk by his own team that helped rile up those Hurricanes.

"We had a couple players basically say Miami wasn't that good," he said. "I don't think Miami even wanted to be at the Cotton Bowl. They probably wanted to be in the Orange Bowl. But we probably helped them focus a little bit."

Lance Gunn, a safety on that Texas team, remembers Miami players barely showing up for functions put on by the Cotton Bowl.

"We went to the Lawry's Beef Bowl with like 50 guys and they showed up with like five," Gunn said.

But the Hurricanes showed up for the game.

By halftime, Miami had already set the Cotton Bowl record for penalty yards (132) before finishing with 16 penalties for 202 yards. More than half were personal fouls.

Things got so bad, referee Jimmy Harper issued a statement after the game.

"We probably could have called more penalties," Harper said. "When it starts getting out of hand, you try to stop it without calling anything. But so many times the fouls are obvious."

Erickson has expressed nothing but praise for the Longhorns heading into Thursday's game.

"Texas is one of the most historic programs in all of college football," he said. "It's going to be great."