1986 Cotton Bowl Classic

December 2025 August 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic 50th Cotton Bowl Classic Cotton Bowl Classic 1986.png January 1 1986 1985 Texas A&M University Texas A&M Aggies 9–2 Jackie Sherrill SWC 12 3 6 15 11 11 Auburn University Auburn Tigers 8–3 Pat Dye SEC 16 15 7 6 3 0 Auburn by 2 pointsJanuary 1, 1986 The latest line 36 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EVQNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Qm4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=1977%2C167376 Domingo Bryant (A&M SS)Bo Jackson4(Auburn RB) bg Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas Sam Maphis (Big Eight) 73,137 CBS Brent Musburger,Ara Parseghian thumb|The Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, hosted the Cotton Bowl Classic. The 1986 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 50th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday, January 1. Part of the 1985–86 bowl game season, it matched the sixteenth-ranked Auburn Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Texas A&M Aggies of the Southwest Conference (SWC).January 1, 1986 Today's bowl games: Cotton 5C Eugene Register-Guard Associated Press Oregon https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xmAVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BeEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6600%2C119638 A slight underdog, Texas A&M won by twenty points, 36–16.Hoffer Richard January 2, 1986 Not to be Bo-ed over, Texas A&M rips 3B Eugene Register-Guard (Los Angeles Times) Oregon https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x2AVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BeEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2958%2C251063Forman Mike January 2, 1986 Aggies stop Bo, win Cotton Bowl 1B Victoria Advocate Texas https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ijhIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VoEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1439%2C7235000January 2, 1986 Aggies stop Jackson in Cotton Bowl 24 Toledo Blade Knight News Service Ohio https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GUZPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GQMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6904%2C4698598McMillan Tom January 2, 1986 Vindication 20 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ElQNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Qm4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3646%2C320348 Teams 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season Auburn 1985 Auburn Tigers football team Auburn was highlighted by running back Bo Jackson, who rushed for 1,786 yards and won the Heisman Trophy for a team that at one point was ranked #1 before losing to Tennessee September 28. The Tigers finished 8–3, but their 3-3 conference record was only good enough for sixth in the SEC, finishing behind the three teams that had beaten them (Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama). Texas A&M 1985 Texas A&M Aggies football team Jackie Sherrill was in his fourth year as head coach of the Aggies: in his previous three years, A&M finished 16–16–1. They won the Southwest Conference championship for the first time since 1976; their previous appearance in the Cotton Bowl was eighteen years earlier in 1968. Game summary Televised by CBS, the game kicked off shortly after 12:30 p.m. CST, as did the Fiesta Bowl on NBC. Bo Jackson started the scoring for Auburn with a touchdown run early in the game after a fumble recovery. But A&M responded with their own touchdown run by Harry Johnson, and they scored just three minutes later, but it was only 12–6 A&M, due to a missed extra point and a failed conversion attempt. Jackson stuck back for Auburn by catching a 73-yard touchdown pass from Pat Washington to give Auburn the lead again, though they missed the conversion attempt. Scott Slater kicked a 26-yard field goal to give A&M the lead again at halftime, 15–13. Anthony Toney increased A&M's lead with a two-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, but another failed conversion attempt meant it was still a one possession lead at 21–13. Auburn mustered a field goal by Chris Johnson to make it 21–16 entering the fourth quarter. Auburn drove to the A&M six-yard line as the fourth quarter began, but they were stuffed four times. Auburn was given another chance when A&M punted, but Jackson was stuffed again at A&M's 27. From that point on, A&M took control. With 2:22 to go, Keith Woodside caught a touchdown pass, as they also succeeded in gaining the two-point conversion. After an interception seconds later, Anthony Toney added on with his second rushing touchdown of the day to make it 36–16 as time expired.Archived copy http://media.attcottonbowl.com/resource/history/1986/rsrc/1986-Classic-Recap.pdf dead https://web.archive.org/web/20160109150321/http://media.attcottonbowl.com/resource/history/1986/rsrc/1986-Classic-Recap.pdf 2016-01-09 2014-12-24 Scoring First quarter Auburn – Bo Jackson 5-yard run (Chris Johnson kick) Texas A&M – Harry Johnson 11-yard run (Eric Franklin kick failed) Texas A&M – Keith Woodside 22-yard run (pass failed) Second quarter Auburn – Jackson 73-yard pass from Pat Washington (run failed) Texas A&M – Scott Slater 26-yard field goal Third quarter Texas A&M – Anthony Toney 21-yard run (pass failed) Auburn – Johnson 26-yard field goal Fourth quarter Texas A&M – Woodside 9-yard pass from Kevin Murray (Rod Bernstine run) Texas A&M – Toney 1-yard run (Slater kick) Source: Outstanding players of the game Auburn: Bo Jackson who had rushed for 129 yards on 31 carries along with 2 catches for 73 yards. Texas A&M: Domingo Bryant, who intercepted two passes* Statistics {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !! 3Auburn3 !! Texas A&M |- | First downs || 16 ||21 |- | Yards rushing|| 54–198 || 48–186 |- | Yards passing|| 154 ||292 |- |Passing (C–A–I)|| 7–17–2 || 16–26–1 |- |Total offense || 71–352 || 74–478 |- |Return yards || 48 || 51 |- |Punts-Average ||5-43.8 ||5–45.0 |- |Fumbles-Lost || 2–1 || 1–1 |- |Turnovers||3||2 |- |Penalties-Yards ||1–5 ||5–45 |- |Time of possession||30:46 ||29:14 |} Source: Aftermath Texas A&M played in the next two Cotton Bowls (1987, 1988), winning the latter. Auburn went on to five more consecutive bowl games under Dye before he resigned after the 1992 season. They returned to the Cotton Bowl 21 years later, and defeated Nebraska, 17–14. References 2 Category:1985–86 NCAA football bowl games Category:Cotton Bowl Classic Category:Auburn Tigers football bowl games Category:Texas A&M Aggies football bowl games Cotton Bowl Category:January 1986 sports events in the United States