The Holiday Way: Spectacular Plays : Close Games Have Set Up Big Moments

As time is running out Friday night in the 11th Sea World Holiday Bowl football game:

Maybe Oklahoma State quarterback Mike Gundy will fumble a snap from center. Wyoming nose guard Marcus Jones will bend over to pick up the ball and kick it 37 yards into the OSU end zone. Barry Sanders, having raced back, will grab it and run 100 yards for the winning touchdown.

Or maybe Wyoming quarterback Randy Welniak will escape the rush and begin running down the sidelines. Cut off, he’ll pull up and dropkick for the winning three points.

This, after all, is the Holiday Bowl. And if it is famous for anything, it’s the unexpected. When you think of the Holiday Bowl, you think of close, high-scoring games.

You also think of memorable plays. A look at 10 of the best:

1. The miracle--Trailing, 45-39, with 18 seconds left in 1980, Brigham Young quarterback Jim McMahon dropped back to pass from the SMU 41. He threw long down the right sideline--incomplete. On second down, he threw long again. Incomplete.

On third down, with 3 seconds remaining, McMahon threw it up for grabs again. When Clay Brown came down between two SMU defenders in the end zone--with the ball--it capped one of the greatest college football comebacks ever.

BYU had trailed, 45-25, with 3:57 remaining. But a McMahon touchdown pass, a recovered onside kick and a 1-yard touchdown run by Scott Phillips in the next 2 minutes made it 45-39 with 1:58 to play.

SMU fielded the next kickoff but was unable to run the final 18 seconds off the clock. When BYU’s Bill Schoepflin blocked the Mustangs’ punt, McMahon had his chance. He blew the house down on his third try.

Kurt Gunther’s normally routine extra point try might have been the biggest play of all. It won the game.

2. The trickery--Though not hopelessly behind this time, BYU still appeared to be on its way to a loss in 1983, trailing Missouri, 17-14, with 3:57 left. But Steve Young led a late drive that started at the BYU 7, and the Cougars reached the Missouri 14 with 23 seconds remaining.

Eddie Stinnett ran right on a sweep play, and Young ran left. Stinnett stopped and threw back across the field, just over the outstretched arm of defensive end Bobby Bell. Young pulled in the pass and weaved through traffic to the end zone.

Young, the only quarterback to catch a touchdown pass in Holiday Bowl history, gave BYU a 21-17 victory.

3. The kick return--When Kevin Rahill kicked a 22-yard field goal with 46 seconds left in 1986, underdog San Diego State apparently had wrapped up a 38-36 victory over Iowa.

But while the Aztecs were still celebrating, Iowa’s Kevin Harmon grabbed Rahill’s kickoff at his own 15, ran up the middle, broke left down the sideline, and carried the ball to the Aztec 37. The 48-yard return was the longest in the game’s history.

Iowa moved 13 yards to the SDSU 24 after Harmon’s return, and Rob Houghtlin kicked a 41-yard field goal as time ran out to give Iowa a 39-38 victory.

Said SDSU Coach Denny Stolz: “It was a great, great game, but a horrible, horrible loss.”

4. The punt return--It’s normally a bad break when an unsuspecting player on the receiving team is struck by a bouncing punt. But when Indiana’s Craig Walls was hit in the back by a loose ball in 1979, Tim Wilbur turned the bad bounce into an Indiana victory.

Indiana was trailing, 37-31, with 6:53 to play when BYU’s Clay Brown (the same player who would make the miracle catch against SMU the next year) punted. The ball bounced off Walls and rolled toward the right sideline.

Wilbur ran over, picked up the ball and raced 62 yards, untouched, down the sideline and into the end zone to give Indiana a 38-37 lead.

BYU, undefeated and ranked No. 9 going into the game, had a chance to win with 7 seconds left, but Brent Johnson missed a 27-yard field goal attempt.

5. The championship--There may have been bigger, more exciting plays, but none was as important as Robbie Bosco’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Kelly Smith, which gave BYU a 24-17 victory over Michigan in 1984.

BYU came in undefeated and ranked No. 1 and needed a victory to clinch the national championship.

Bosco, though hobbled by a leg injury, completed 30 of 42 passes for 343 yards. But with 1:23 left, the score was still tied, 17-17. Bosco had escaped pressure and hobbled up into the pocket when he spotted Smith. And when his receiver came down with the ball in the left corner of the end zone, BYU had its title.

6. The bomb--In the big-play history of the Holiday Bowl, it’s surprising that the longest pass so far has covered only 65 yards. But as might be expected, it also was a game-winner.

With BYU leading Navy, 16-13, in 1978, Navy quarterback Bob Leszczynski dropped back and spotted wide receiver Phil McConkey in 1-on-1 coverage running a fly pattern down the right sideline.

Leszczynski threw, and when the ball arrived, McConkey leaped. He’s only 5 feet 10 inches, but his timing was perfect. McConkey caught the ball at the BYU 30 and outran his coverage to give Navy a 20-16 lead. Navy, which had trailed, 16-3, at one point, went on to win, 23-16.

7. The youngster--In the only year the bowl didn’t invite the Western Athletic Conference champion to participate, Arkansas and Arizona State carried on the close-game tradition in 1985.

Arizona State led, 14-7, early in the fourth quarter, fell behind and then rallied again to take a 17-15 lead late in the game.

But Arkansas drove downfield and moved into position for a 37-yard field goal try with 21 seconds remaining. The Razorbacks’ freshman kicker, Kendall Trainor, connected for the winning points.

“I felt the pressure,” Trainor said. “But it relaxed me to think about landing a big hog bass. Then I said a little prayer and kicked it.”

8. The steals--Wyoming was headed for victory in 1987 before Anthony Wright of Iowa stepped in and turned it around early in the fourth quarter.

Leading, 19-7, Wyoming quarterback Craig Burnett threw a pass into the right flat. Wright intercepted, however, and scored on a 33-yard return to get Iowa back in the game. Iowa went on to win, 20-19.

Wright was named defensive player of the game but said he wanted to share the award with defensive back Merton Hanks, who committed two acts of larceny himself. Hanks blocked a punt to set up an early Iowa touchdown, then sealed the victory when he blocked a 52-yard field goal try by Wyoming’s Greg Worker with 46 seconds left.

9. The turning point--Though Kevin Harmon’s return set up Rob Houghtlin’s winning field goal, a pass from Marc Vlasic to tight end Marv Cook early in the fourth quarter might have been even more critical to Iowa’s dramatic, 39-38 victory over San Diego State in 1986.

The Aztecs led, 35-21, and Iowa was faced with a fourth and 5 at the SDSU 29. San Diego State seemed in control. But Vlasic passed in the right flat to Cook, and two Aztec defenders collided. Cook turned upfield, broke another tackle and went into the end zone.

Iowa went for 2 points and got them to pull within 35-29, setting up the final rally.

10. The blowout--The only Holiday Bowl mismatch was 1982 and featured the longest run from scrimmage in the game’s history.

With BYU leading Ohio State, 7-3, 2 minutes into the second quarter, Tim Spencer broke through a gaping hole in the line and ran up the middle 61 yards for a touchdown. BYU never recovered and lost, 47-17.

After that, Spencer kept running, too, finishing with 167 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns.