Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Oregon State, Florida picked for Las Vegas Bowl at Allegiant Stadium

Vegas Bowl Pep Rally

Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

The Oregon State drum line performs at a pep rally on Fremont Street for the Vegas Bowl game between Oregon State and BYU Monday, December 21, 2009.

Updated Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022 | 4:13 p.m.

Oregon State is no stranger to competing in the Las Vegas Bowl.

The Pac-12 Conference school was picked today to play Florida in the annual college football bowl game on Dec. 17 at Allegiant Stadium, and has plenty of history here to build on with two previous appearances.

The Beavers beat New Mexico 55-14 in the 2003 game, where local product Steven Jackson scored five touchdowns in helping Oregon State establish a bowl mark for the largest margin of victory. That record still stands — as does the record for fewest yards with Oregon State only allowing 127 yards against New Mexico.

Oregon State also played in the 2009 game, losing 44-20 to BYU.

“Las Vegas is ready to welcome back the Beavers for the first time in over a decade and a traditional SEC powerhouse in the Gators,” Las Vegas Bowl executive director John Saccenti said in a statement. “It’s always special to host two programs located across the country from each other to play for the first time.”

The annual game has been enhanced in the last few seasons after moving from Sam Boyd Stadium to Allegiant Stadium. This is the 31st year and the 30th edition of the event.

It is now aligned with three conferences — the Big 10 Conference, SEC and Pac-12 — to bring Wisconsin to Las Vegas in 2021 to face Arizona State. This year, the SEC takes its turn with Florida.

Florida will join Arkansas (1999) as the second SEC school to play in the game.

“It’s a great opportunity for our team to play a quality opponent at Allegiant Stadium in a nationally televised game,” Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith said in a statement.