New Year's Eve, December 31, 2003
Liberty Bowl Stadium
Memphis, Tennessee

The 45th AutoZone Liberty Bowl game -- Utah vs. Southern Mississippi -- was played Dec. 31, 2003, and shown nationally on .  And once again, ASU students from the Department of Radio-Television at Arkansas State University were there to help the cable network with its national telecast of the New Year's Eve Memphis classic.  Kwokman Productions of Irvine, California, was the production company which provided the crew for and invited ASU students to assist with the national telecast, as they had for the nationally-telecast University of Arkansas-South Carolina game in Little Rock on Nov. 6. 

In a game that featured top performances from two outstanding defenses, Mountain West Champ Utah’s capped its 17-0 win over Conference USA Champion Southern Mississippi with a 74-yard fumble return for a touchdown by junior safety Morgan Scalley. 

The 18 ASU RTV majors who helped worked hard but had fun on New Year's Eve.  Most made it back to Jonesboro in time for the midnight countdown to the year 2004.  Some stayed in Memphis to welcome in the new year.  A comment by RTV major Whitney Gramling, one of the ASU RTV crew members: "This was an awesome experience all around." 

Click here for pictures taken at the event by Whitney and others. 

The following students worked the ESPN telecast:

Raashun Allison of Altheimer
Stephanie Easterly of Pine Bluff
Amber Freeman of Nesbit, MS
Whitney Gramling of Jonesboro
Jamiesha Guy of Hot Springs
Brant Harman of Fort Smith
Matt Horton of North Little Rock
Matt Johnson of Pine Bluff
Josh Longmire of Hoxie
Brandon Massey of Hot Springs
Chris May of Malvern
Kyle Nichols of Forrest City
Mark Olsen of Horseshoe Bend
Kevin Spangler of Hot Springs
Tara Tucker of Batesville
DJ Welte of Cherokee Village