1981 Holiday Bowl

August 2023 March 2026 1981 Holiday Bowl 1981 Washington State Cougars Washington State University BYU Cougars Brigham Young University 8–2-1 Pac-10 10–2 WAC Jim Walden LaVell Edwards 20 18 14 12 0 7 21 8 7 17 7 7 December 18 Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, California Jim McMahon6(QB, BYU)Kyle Whittingham (LB, BYU) BYU by 3 points https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UxBZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lm0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=1300%2C3920516 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The latest line December 18, 1981 17 Jack Gatto (PCAA) Marching bands 52,419http://www.holidaybowl.com/game-history/1981.html Holiday Bowl Game History 2008-05-23 https://web.archive.org/web/20080517044538/http://www.holidaybowl.com/game-history/1981.html 2008-05-17 dead mdy-all 286,179 per team ESPN, Mizlou The 1981 Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 18 in San Diego, California. It was part of the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season, and was the fourth edition of the Holiday Bowl.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=W6gwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7024%2C1868742 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Van Sickel Gary Holiday's history short, wild December 18, 1981 22 The Friday night game was the third of sixteen games in this bowl season and featured the #20 Washington State Cougars of the Pac-10 Conference, and the 14th-ranked BYU Cougars, champions of the Western Athletic Conference.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2ZtVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OkANAAAAIBAJ&pg=2822%2C5863522 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania UPI McMahon passes for 342 yards December 19, 1981 6https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G8xeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tDIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4004%2C1556050 Lewiston Morning Tribune Idaho Barrows Bob Washington State almost has a curtain call December 19, 1981 1Chttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XKgwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6838%2C2024756 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Van Sickel Gary Happy Holidays – for BYU December 19, 1981 21https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=D_VVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WuIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5031%2C4819012 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press McMahon makes Holiday happy one for BYU, 38-36 December 19, 1981 2Bhttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eOUnAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xIMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6251%2C1898079 Deseret News Salt Lake City, Utah Robinson Doug Y. wins another Holiday heartstopper December 19, 1981 A3 It was the first bowl appearance in 51 years for Washington State,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=W6gwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7158%2C1862513 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington WSU, BYU go 'bowling' tonight December 18, 1981 21 who used a two-quarterback system: junior Clete Casper was the passer and sophomore Ricky Turner the runner.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=W6gwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4829%2C1869068 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Associated Press WSU got here via the 1-2 punch December 18, 1981 22 Meanwhile, it was the fourth straight year in the Holiday Bowl for BYU. BYU's quarterback was consensus All-American and future Super Bowl champion Jim McMahon, the fifth overall pick of the 1982 NFL draft. He was backed up by sophomore Steve Young, a future member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and also a Super Bowl champion. Game summary Favored BYU scored first on a 35-yard pass from McMahon to Dan Plater, the only scoring of the first quarter. McMahon threw a 7-yard pass to Gordon Hudson to increase BYU's lead to 14–0. Washington State got on the board after quarterback Turner scored on a two-yard run. BYU's Kurt Gunther kicked a 20-yard field goal and Waymon Hamilton ran in from a yard out to give BYU a 24–7 lead at halftime. Early in the third quarter, BYU cornerback Tom Holmoe intercepted a Casper pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown, but WSU scored three unanswered touchdowns. Running back Matt LaBonne scored on an 18-yard run, Robert Williams scored on a 5-yard run, and Turner scored again on a 13-yard run to close the BYU lead to three points (31–28) at the end of the third quarter. McMahon fired an 11-yard touchdown pass to Scott Pettis to take the lead back to ten points at 38–28. WSU fullback Mike Martin scored from a yard out and Turner added a 2-point conversion to close the gap to two points (38–36) with five minutes remaining. Late in the game, McMahon fumbled a third-down snap but picked up the ball and ran for a first down that helped to clinch the victory for BYU.http://byucougars.com/files/media_guides/m-football/2010/tradition/bowl-1981.html 1981 Holiday Bowl – Bowl Games – Tradition - BYU Football Guide 2017-01-06 2015-11-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20151120120831/http://byucougars.com/files/media_guides/m-football/2010/tradition/bowl-1981.html dead mdy-all The players of the game, both from BYU, were McMahon and middle linebacker Kyle Whittingham, the future head coach at Utah. BYU evened its record in the bowl at 2–2, and played in the next three. BYU moved up one spot to thirteenth in the final AP poll, and Washington State slipped out of the top twenty;https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rPRVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WOIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6597%2C677431 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon wire services Polls agree that Tigers are No. 1 January 3, 1982 3E their next bowl appearance was seven years later. Scoring First quarter BYU – Dan Plater 35 pass from Jim McMahon (Kurt Gunther kick) Second quarter BYU – Gordon Hudson 4 pass from McMahon (Gunther kick) WSU – Ricky Turner 4 run (Ward Leland kick) BYU – Field goal, Gunther 20 BYU – Waymon Hamilton 1 run (Gunther kick) Third quarter BYU – Tom Holmoe 35 interception return (Gunther kick) WSU – Matt LaBomme 18 run (Pat Beach pass from Clete Casper) WSU – Robert Williams 5 run (pass failed) WSU – Turner 13 run (Leland kick) Fourth quarter BYU – Scott Pettis 11 pass from McMahon (Gunther kick) WSU – Mike Martin 1 run (Turner run) Source: Statistics {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !! 5WSU5 !! 5BYU5 |- |align=left|First downs || 23 || 22 |- |align=left|Rushes–yards|| 53-245|| 32-69 |- |align=left|Passing yards || 106 || 368 |- |align=left|Passes || 8-25-2 || 28–44–0 |- |align=left|Total yards || 351 || 437 |- |align=left|Punts–average ||8–41|| 8–37 |- |align=left|Fumbles–lost ||0–0|| 5–0 |- |align=left|Turnovers by||2||0 |- |align=left|Penalties-yards ||5-45|| 9-86 |} Source: References Holiday Bowl Category:Holiday Bowl Category:1980s in San Diego Category:Washington State Cougars football bowl games Category:BYU Cougars football bowl games Holiday Bowl Category:December 1981 sports events in the United States