NOTEBOOK : Andersen Not Ready to Pull Plug

Don Andersen, Freedom Bowl executive director, said he was unhappy with the turnout for Tuesday’s Freedom Bowl. But he stopped short of saying this was the end of the line for the 11-year-old bowl.

Only 27,477 came out to Anaheim Stadium to see Utah beat Arizona, 16-13. It was the smallest crowd since 1984, when 24,093 came to see the inaugural game in 1984.

“I don’t think we’re in trouble individually, but I think the small bowl games have problems,” Andersen said.

So the Freedom Bowl, one of the smallest bowls, is in trouble.

It has only $700,00 per team payoffs, the same as the Alamo Bowl. Only the Las Vegas Bowl, which has no guaranteed payoff, is smaller.

“The emphasis is on the national championship,” Andersen said. “So everyone wants to be in the three or four elite bowl games.”

And the Freedom is far from joining that group, nor does it want to, according to Andersen.

“We’re trying to be a regional bowl game,” Andersen said. “But we’re locked into certain teams, so we can’t be a little more selective.”

The bowl pits the second place team from the WAC against the third-place team from the Pac-10. Even when the match up is good, the draw hasn’t always been equal to it.

Arizona was ranked 15th and Utah 14th.

“According to one analysis we had the fifth best matchup of the 19 bowl games,” Andersen said.

Yet it was poorly attended.

Andersen said Utah sold more than 10,000 of the 12,500 tickets it was allotted. He said Arizona sold a little more than 3,000 of the 9,000 it was allotted.

“It’s a basketball school and they hosted a tournament this weekend,” Andersen said. “So you had 12,000 basketball season ticket holders with a chance to see two games and you had people disappointed that they did not make the Rose Bowl.”

A bad combination.

But is it the end for the Freedom Bowl? Andersen said no.

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College and professional football appear to be a tougher sell than high school football in Orange County.

The last two games at Anaheim Stadium, Saturday’s Ram season finale and the Freedom Bowl, drew 53,182 fans.

The Southern Section semifinal and championship games, both of which featured Mater Dei, drew 56,359 fans.

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Cal Beck, whose 72-yard kickoff return set up Utah’s winning touchdown, watched last year’s Freedom Bowl from the stands; he was a senior at Cottonwood High in Salt Lake City last December.

A true freshman this season, Beck averaged 25.6 yards per kickoff this season and his 67-yard return against Brigham Young Nov. 19 set up Mike McCoy’s game-winning 20-yard scoring pass to Charlie Brown late in the game. Utah rallied for a 34-31 victory, earning a berth in the Freedom Bowl for the second consecutive season.

“The only reason I’m here now is because Coach (Ron McBride) took a chance on me,” Beck said. “I’m just glad I could come through today.”

Beck, who returned three kickoffs for 140 yards, was named Utah’s MVP.

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Arizona Coach Dick Tomey refused to dwell on what might have been, either Tuesday or at any time during a season filled with so much expectation and so much disappointment.

“Like I told the team,” he said. “Rejoice in the fact that we had a chance to be together and to be around our seniors for four or five years.

Times staff writer Elliott Teaford contributed to this story.