1989 HOLIDAY BOWL : REMEMBERING THE FIRST 11 GAMES

1978

Navy 23, Brigham Young 16--Navy rallied from a 16-3 deficit and scored 13 fourth-quarter points to beat favored BYU. The play that turned the game was a 65-yard fourth-quarter scoring pass from Bob Leszczynski to Phil McConkey with a little more than 11 minutes to go and BYU leading, 16-13. McConkey, voted the most valuable player, made a leaping catch for the score that put the Middies ahead for good, 20-16. “That long pass play was the game,” BYU Coach LaVell Edwards said. “That completely turned the momentum.” BYU’s Jim McMahon, who split time at quarterback with Marc Wilson, completed nine of 18 passes for 133 yards but threw three interceptions. McConkey caught four passes for 88 yards and rushed twice for 42 yards.

1979

Indiana 38, Brigham Young 37--Ninth-ranked BYU saw its chance for an undefeated season sail wide as Brent Johnson missed a 27-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining. Johnson had made kicks of 46, 29 and 28 yards earlier. The teams combined for 874 yards offense, 520 by BYU. The Cougars took a 37-31 fourth-quarter lead on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Marc Wilson to Eric Lane. Indiana scored the eventual winning points when cornerback Tim Wilbur picked up a punt that had been touched by a teammate and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. Kevin Kellogg’s extra point provided the winning margin. BYU’s final chance came after a 69-yard, eight-play drive to the IU 10. “I’ve never been involved in a better football game in my life,” Indiana Coach Lee Corso said.

1980

Brigham Young 46, Southern Methodist 45-- Clay Brown caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Jim McMahon with no time left, and Kurt Gunther kicked the extra point as BYU completed a 21-point rally. SMU running back Craig James ran 42 yards for a touchdown that gave SMU a 45-25 lead with 3:57 left. McMahon passed 15 yards to Matt Braga for a touchdown that made it 45-31. After BYU recovered an onside kick, McMahon passed to Bill Davis to the SMU one. Scott Phillips ran in on the next play and McMahon passed to him for the two-point conversion to cut SMU’s advantage to 45-39 with 1:58 left. The BYU defense held, Cougar cornerback Bill Schoepflin blocked an SMU punt, and BYU had the ball at the SMU 41 with 18 seconds remaining. After two incompletions, three seconds remained. McMahon, who had set 27 NCAA passing records during the regular season, lofted his last pass into the end zone, and in the midst of three SMU defenders, Brown caught it. “It was a Hail Mary,” Brown said. “That’s all right, Jim and I are both Catholics.” McMahon completed 32 of 49 passes for 446 yards and four touchdowns. James had 225 yards rushing on 23 carries, including touchdown runs of 45 and 42 yards, and his Pony Express backfield partner, Eric Dickerson, had 110 yards in 23 carries and touchdown runs of one and 15 yards.

1981

Brigham Young 38, Washington State 36--Brigham Young took a 31-7 lead and held off Washington State, which had consecutive third-quarter scoring drives of 69, 50 and 39 yards to make it close. WSU’s third-quarter output made it 31-28. BYU countered with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Jim McMahon to Scott Pettis on the first play of the fourth quarter to take a 10-point lead. WSU got its final touchdown with 59 seconds remaining on Mike Martin’s one-yard run and Ricky Turner’s run for the two-point conversion. BYU recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock. McMahon, the game’s offensive most valuable player, completed 27 of 43 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns. It was WSU’s first bowl appearance in 51 years.

1982

Ohio State 47, Brigham Young 17--Tim Spencer, the game’s offensive most valuable player, gained 167 yards in 21 carries including two touchdowns in little more than three quarters of work to lead the Big Ten runner-up. Spencer scored on runs of 61 and 18 yards, and Ohio State rushed 66 times for 329 yards. Steve Young passed for 347 yards for BYU.

1983

Brigham Young 21, Missouri 17--BYU trailed, 17-14, with 23 seconds left when quarterback Steve Young became a receiver for the Cougars. Young, who completed 24 of 36 passes for 314 yards, handed to Eddie Stinnett, who swept right, stopped and passed across his body to Young, who was running in the left flat. The ball barely eluded the right hand of Missouri defensive end Bobby Bell and landed in Young’s hands for a 14-yard touchdown. It culminated a 93-yard drive that began with 3:57 left. “I was shocked when I heard the call,” Stinnett said. “I just hoped I could get the ball to Steve.” Said Young: “We ran the play last week in practice, and I dropped the ball.”

1984

Brigham Young 24, Michigan 17--BYU came in 12-0, ranked No. 1 and needing a victory for the national championship. Quarterback Robbie Bosco, hobbling on a severely injured ankle, passed 13 yards to Kelly Smith with 1:23 left for a touchdown that broke a 17-17 tie. Bosco, the game’s offensive most valuable player, completed 30 passes for 343 yards. The BYU defense held Michigan to a Holiday Bowl record 202 offensive yards and a 2.4-yard average on 49 rushing attempts. BYU won despite six turnovers. “I couldn’t be prouder of any team or any season,” BYU Coach LaVell Edwards said.

1985

Arkansas 18, Arizona State 17--Freshman Kendall Trainor kicked a 37-yard field goal with 21 seconds remaining as Arkansas came from behind twice in the fourth quarter. ASU led, 14-7, in the fourth, but Bobby Joe Edmonds ran 17 yards for an Arkansas touchdown, and quarterback Mark Calcagni ran up the middle for the two-point conversion and a 15-14 lead. ASU came right back, quarterback Jeff Van Raaphorst driving the Sun Devils to the Arkansas one, where they settled for Kent Bostrom’s third field goal with 5:23 remaining to make it 17-15. Arkansas and Calcagni then drove to the Sun Devil 19 to set up Trainor’s kick. ASU had one last chance, but Bostrom was short on a 59-yard try with three seconds to go.

1986

Iowa 39, San Diego State 38--Rob Houghtlin kicked a 41-yard field goal with no time left as Iowa won a game that seconds earlier appeared to be San Diego State’s. The favored Hawkeyes trailed, 21-13, at halftime and were still behind, 35-21, with eight minutes remaining. Iowa quarterback Mark Vlasic threw touchdown passes of 29 yards to Marv Cook and three yards to Mike Flagg, and Chuck Hartlieb passed to Flagg for a two-point conversion, and Iowa had a 36-35 lead with 4:26 remaining. SDSU quarterback Todd Santos passed 45 yards to Alfred Jackson to set up a 21-yard Kevin Rahill field goal with 47 seconds remaining that gave the Aztecs a 38-36 lead. But Kevin Harmon returned the kickoff to the Aztec 37, and three Iowa plays put the ball at the 24 with four seconds left. The snap was high, and Hartlieb, Houghtlin’s holder, nearly came off the ground to catch the ball. Jackson, flying in from the right side, came close enough that one announcer mistakenly said, “The kick is blocked.” Santos completed 21 of 33 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns. Vlasic completed 15 of 28 for 222 and two.

1987

Iowa 20, Wyoming 19--Iowa overcame a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter. First, cornerback Anthony Wright returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown to close the gap to 19-14 and with 7:30 left. Then, fullback David Hudson ended an 10-play, 86-yard drive with a one-yard run for the winning points on Iowa’s only successful offensive drive. The key play was a 48-yard pass from Chuck Hartlieb to split end Travis Watkins, who fooled defenders with a hook-and-go pattern. “The pass to Watkins was the turning point,” Hartlieb said. “They were gambling all night, and we finally took advantage of it.” To that point, the Iowa offense had been stymied, turning the ball over on downs at the Wyoming five, losing another opportunity when tailback Kevin Harmon fumbled out of the end zone and another when Rob Houghtlin missed a 30-yard field goal attempt wide right late in the first half. Wyoming had a final shot with 46 seconds left, but Greg Worker’s 52-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Iowa’s Merton Hanks, who had earlier blocked a punt to set up Iowa’s first touchdown. “You know, I haven’t had a kicked blocked all year, not one,” Worker said. In the tradition of this game, Wyoming got one last shot. But a tripping penalty against Wyoming center Grant Salisbury wiped out a 25-yard pass play to flanker James Loving from quarterback Craig Burnett, which would have given Wyoming a first down at the Iowa 34 with 14 seconds to play. “Yeah, I probably did (trip the rusher),” Salisbury said. “And it was probably a bad thing.” Burnett completed 28 of a game-record 51 pass attempts for 332 yards and one touchdown.

1988

Oklahoma State 62, Wyoming 14--It was the Barry Sanders Show in a battle of Cowboys. Sanders rushed for 222 yards and a game-record five touchdowns--and just think what he might have done had he played the entire game. He sat out the fourth quarter. As it was, this was the first Holiday Bowl in four years that was decided by more than one point. OSU quarterback Mike Gundy completed 20 of 24 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Hart Lee Dykes caught 10 passes for a game-record 163 yards and one touchdown. The Oklahoma State offense set records for points (62), touchdowns (eight), total offense (698 yards), most first downs (33) and fewest punts (none). The defense limited Wyoming to 204 yards and the fewest points ever in this game.