1999 Motor City Bowl

August 2023 March 2026 Motor City Bowl December 27 1999 1999 Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, Michigan Brigham Young University BYU Cougars 8–3 NR 25 NR LaVell Edwards Mountain West 3 0 0 0 Marshall University Marshall Thundering Herd 12–0 11 11 12 Bob Pruett MAC 0 7 7 7 RB Doug Chapman (Marshall) 52,449 ESPN Ron Franklin, Mike Gottfried, Adrian Karsten The 1999 Motor City Bowl was a National Collegiate Athletic Association bowl game in which the #11 Marshall Thundering Herd of the MAC defeated the BYU Cougars of the Mountain West Conference 21–3. It was played on December 27, 1999, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. Background BYU started the season with a win over Washington at home, 35–28. They were thrust into the AP poll at #25 soon after, and they responded with a win over conference opponent #23 Colorado State, which rose them to #17. But a 45–40 loss to Virginia at home dropped them out of the polls. A six game winning streak gradually made them rise back, reaching #15 before a game with Wyoming. The Cougars were beaten 31–17, and a loss the following week to Utah made them fall out of the AP poll for good, though they were still ranked in the Coaches Poll. In the first season of the Mountain West Conference, the Cougars finished as co-champions with Colorado State and Utah. Marshall was in the third year of play in Division I-A, and they ran the table by winning all of their games for the second time in four years. They began the season unranked, but rose to #21 before their matchup with Temple. They rose to #15 by the sixth win, and rose gradually to #11 in the AP Polls before their match-up with Western Michigan in the MAC Championship Game. Marshall came back from a 20–0 halftime deficit to win 34–30, their fourth straight conference title (1 Southern, 3 Mid-American Conference). With the win, the Thundering Herd had a 49–4 record in four seasons. Marshall's offense was led by future NFL quarterback Chad Pennington and running back Doug Chapman. The game was the third installment of the Motor City Bowl, matching the Mountain West Conference against the Mid-American Conference for the first time in its history. Scoring summary BYU – Owen Pochman 28 yard field goal Marshall – Doug Chapman 30 yard touchdown pass from Chad Pennington (Malashevich kick) Marshall – Chapman 87 yard touchdown run (Malashevich kick) Marshall – Chapman 1 yard touchdown run (Malashevich kick) For Marshall, Chad Pennington went 17-of-28 for 207 yards and 1 touchdown and interception. Doug Chapman rushed for 133 yards on 14 carries for two touchdowns while also catching 4 passes for 40 yards and a touchdown. For BYU, neither of their three quarterbacks were effective. Kevin Feterik had the most yards with his 6-of-11 performance for 125 yards. However, he left the game midway through the third quarter. The other two quarterbacks (Charlie Peterson and Bret Engemann) combined for 10-of-18 for 2 interceptions and 95 yards. The three quarterbacks also had -44 rushing yards on 14 carries, while the rest of the runners had just 28 yards. This was Marshall's 50th win in four years.https://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/sfc/99bowls/motor.htm USA TODAY Latest news USA Todayhttp://sltrib.cougarstats.com/games.php?show=details&game_id=154 CougarStats: BYU Football: BYU vs. Marshall 1999 Motor City Bowlhttp://byucougars.com/m-football/marshall-remains-undefeated-defeating-byu-motor-city-bowl Marshall Remains Undefeated by Defeating BYU in Motor City Bowl | the Official Site of BYU Athletics 2017-01-14 2017-01-16 https://web.archive.org/web/20170116175925/http://byucougars.com/m-football/marshall-remains-undefeated-defeating-byu-motor-city-bowl dead http://www.byucougars.com/files/media_guides/m-football/2010/tradition/bowl-1999.html 1999 Motor City Bowl – Bowl Games – Tradition - BYU Football Guide 2017-01-14 2015-11-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20151120120943/http://byucougars.com/files/media_guides/m-football/2010/tradition/bowl-1999.html dead Statistics Statistics BYU MarshallFirst downs 12 14 Rushing yards -16 147Passing yards 220 207 Total yards 204 354Sacked-yards lost 8–53 3–16 Return yards 18 90Passing (C–A–I) 16–29–2 17–28–1 Fumbles–lost 2–2 0–0Penalties–yards 8–81 11–84 Punts–average5–48.3 4–42.8 Time of possession 30:31 29:29 BYU Cougars BYU Marshall Thundering Herd Marshall Kevin Feterik 6/11, 125 yds Donny Atuaia 2 car, 19 yds Margin Hooks 4 rec, 108 yds Chad Pennington 17/28, 207 yds, 1 TD, 1 int Doug Chapman 14 car, 133 yds, 2 TD James Williams 5 rec, 95 yds Aftermath Marshall finished #10 in the final AP Polls, their highest ever finish. Though the Thundering Herd lost five games the following year, they managed to win the MAC once again and qualify for another Motor City Bowl, which they won. BYU won their next Mountain West Conference title in 2001, which gave them the right to play in the Liberty Bowl. They did not win a bowl game until 2006. References Motor City Bowl Category:Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Category:BYU Cougars football bowl games Category:Marshall Thundering Herd football bowl games Motor City Bowl Motor City Bowl Category:Organized events in Pontiac, Michigan Category:Sports in Pontiac, Michigan