1986 Fiesta Bowl

August 2023 1986 Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe Arizona.jpg Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, hosted the Fiesta Bowl. Sunkist Fiesta Bowl 15th Fiesta Bowl 1985 Nebraska Cornhuskers Michigan Wolverines 9–2 Big 8 9–1–1 Big Ten Tom Osborne Bo Schembechler 7 6 5 5 0 14 0 9 3 0 24 0 January 1 Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona Jamie Morris   (Michigan RB)Mark Messner (Michigan DT) Michigan by 3 pointshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EVQNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Qm4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=1977%2C167376 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The latest line January 1, 1986 36https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xmAVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BeEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6600%2C119638 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press Today's bowl games: Fiesta January 1, 1986 5Chttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ElQNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Qm4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4728%2C324684 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fiesta fumbles January 2, 1986 21 Jack Baker (WAC) 72,454 NBC List of announcers of major college bowl games Charlie Jones, Sam Rutigliano The 1986 Fiesta Bowl was the 15th edition of the Fiesta Bowl, a college football bowl game, played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, on Wednesday, January 1. Part of the 1985–86 bowl game season, it matched the fifth-ranked Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference and the seventh-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference; both were runners-up in their respective conferences. Behind by 11 points at halftime, Michigan took advantage of Nebraska turnovers, scored 24 points in the third quarter, and prevailed by a score of 27–23.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JXVhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=t_kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6997%2C279152 Spokane Chronicle Washington Associated Press Wolverine 'D' shucks Nebraska January 2, 1986 C2https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GUZPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GQMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3444%2C4688745 Toledo Blade Ohio Woolford Dave UM erupts in third period; Nebraska mistakes costly January 2, 1986 22 Running back Jamie Morris and defensive tackle Mark Messner, both Wolverines, were named the game's MVPs.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x2AVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BeEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5066%2C251036 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon (Washington Post) Jenkins Sally Sally Jenkins It's a case of turnaround for Michigan January 2, 1986 3B This was the third matchup of top-10 teams in the Fiesta Bowl; the prior two were in January 1982 and December 1975. This was the first bowl game with a corporate title sponsor, as bowl organizers had reached agreement with Sunkist Growers in September 1985, making the game officially the Sunkist Fiesta Bowl.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65966770/sunkist-agrees-to-sponsor-fiesta-bowl/ Sunkist agrees to sponsor Fiesta Bowl Bob Young The Arizona Republic Phoenix, Arizona G1 September 27, 1985 December 24, 2020 newspapers.comhttps://www.newspapers.com/clip/65967219/sunkist-agrees-to-sponsor-fiesta-bowl/ Sunkist agrees to sponsor Fiesta Bowl (cont'd) Bob Young The Arizona Republic Phoenix, Arizona G3 September 27, 1985 December 24, 2020 newspapers.com Teams 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season Nebraska 1985 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team The Cornhuskers opened the season with a home loss to Florida State, won nine straight, then lost at rival Oklahoma. This was their second appearance in the Fiesta Bowl, returning after a decade. Michigan 1985 Michigan Wolverines football team The Wolverines opened with five wins and were ranked second, but lost by two points at top-ranked Iowa. Two weeks later, they tied Illinois. This was Michigan's first Fiesta Bowl appearance. Game summary The opener of a bowl tripleheader on NBC (Rose, Orange), the game kicked off shortly after 11:30 a.m. MST, as did the Cotton Bowl on CBS, which matched the #16 Auburn Tigers with the #11 Texas A&M Aggies. Michigan opened the game on offense and scored on a 42-yard field goal from Pat Moons with less than four minutes elapsed. In the second quarter, Nebraska scored on a five-yard pass from quarterback McCathorn Clayton to running back Doug DuBose to give Nebraska the lead. DuBose scored again on a three-yard run to give Nebraska a 14–3 advantage at the half. Michigan dominated the third quarter, aided by Husker miscues. DuBose fumbled on the third play of the second half and the Wolverines recovered at the Husker 21. Gerald White scored four plays later from a yard out to pull Michigan to within four points. Clayton fumbled on Nebraska's ensuing possession, and Michigan quickly capitalized again, this time on Jim Harbaugh's one-yard quarterback sneak, putting Michigan ahead 17–14 just over four minutes into the third quarter. Following a blocked Nebraska punt, Moons kicked his second field goal of the game, a 19-yarder. Later in the third, Harbaugh scored his second rushing touchdown of the game, a two-yard run, to give Michigan a comfortable 27–14 advantage. In the fourth quarter, Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne decided to spark his sputtering offense by inserting talented freshman quarterback Steve Taylor. He drove the Huskers 64 yards from their own three-yard line, driving deep into Michigan territory, but turned it over on downs. However, the Nebraska defense forced a three-and-out and was able to drive 77 yards in 12 plays, capped by Taylor's one-yard touchdown run to cut Michigan's lead to six points at 27–21, with less than three minutes remaining. Michigan found itself backed up in the shadow of its own goal post. Rather than risk disaster, they opted for an intentional safety with 1:22 remaining in the game, and punter Monte Robbins deliberately ran out of the end zone. Trailing by four points and no time outs, the Huskers set out from their own 46. The Wolverines intercepted an errant Taylor pass in the end zone to kill Nebraska's final threat. Morris was the leading rusher of the game with 156 yards on 22 carries (7.1 avg.). The attendance of 72,454 at this Fiesta Bowl was a record for a sporting event in Arizona. Scoring First quarter Michigan – Pat Moons 42-yard field goal Second quarter Nebraska – Doug DuBose 5-yard pass from McCathorn Clayton (Dale Klein kick) Nebraska – DuBose 3-yard run (Klein kick) Third quarter Michigan – Gerald White 1-yard run (Moons kick) Michigan – Jim Harbaugh 1-yard run (Moons kick) Michigan – Moons 19-yard field goal Michigan – Harbaugh 2-yard run (Moons kick) Fourth quarter Nebraska – Steve Taylor 1-yard run (Klein kick) Nebraska – Safety, Michigan punter Monte Robbins purposely ran out of end zone Source: Statistics {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !!  Nebraska  !!  Michigan  |- |align=left|First downs || 20 || 16 |- |align=left|Rushes–yards|| 60–304|| 49–171 |- |align=left|Passing yards || 66 || 63 |- |align=left|Passes || 6–15–1 || 6–16–0 |- |align=left|Total offense || 75–370 || 65–234 |- |align=left|Punts–average ||3–40|| 5–44 |- |align=left|Fumbles–lost ||6–3|| 2–0 |- |align=left|Turnovers||4||0 |- |align=left|Penalties–yards ||7–46|| 8–43 |- |align=left|Time of possession ||32:01||27:59 |} Source: Aftermath The win improved head coach Bo Schembechler's bowl record to 3 10 y; Michigan (10–1–1) climbed to second in the final AP poll, and Nebraska (9–3) fell to eleventh. In the previous season, unranked Michigan lost the Holiday Bowl (to top-ranked BYU) and finished at 6–6. Until 2022, this was Michigan's sole appearance in the Fiesta Bowl; Nebraska's next was two years later. References External links Fiesta Bowl – January 1, 1986 Summary at Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History Fiesta Bowl Category:Fiesta Bowl Category:Michigan Wolverines football bowl games Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers football bowl games Category:January 1986 sports events in the United States