1981 Holiday Bowl


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 The Friday night game was the third of sixteen games in this bowl season and featured the #20 1981 [Washington State Cougars football team|Washington State Cougars] of the Pac-10 Conference, and the 14th-ranked 1981 [BYU Cougars football team|BYU Cougars], champions of the Western Athletic Conference.
It was the first bowl appearance Washington State Cougars football team|in 51 years] for who used a two-quarterback system: junior was the passer and sophomore the runner. Meanwhile, it was the fourth straight year in the Holiday Bowl for BYU. BYU's quarterback was consensus 1981 [College Football All-America Team|All-American] and future Super Bowl champion 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 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 lead
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 at the end of the
McMahon fired an 11-yard touchdown pass to Scott Pettis to take the lead back to ten points WSU fullback Mike Martin scored from a yard out and Turner added a 2-point conversion to close the gap to two points 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.
The players of the game, both from BYU, were McMahon and middle linebacker the future head coach at 2005 [Utah Utes football team|Utah]. BYU evened its record in the bowl 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 their next bowl appearance was seven years later.

Scoring

First quarter
Second quarter
  • BYU – Gordon Hudson 4 pass from McMahon
  • WSU – Ricky Turner 4 run
  • BYU – Field goal, Gunther 20
  • BYU – Waymon Hamilton 1 run
Third quarter
  • BYU – Tom Holmoe 35 interception return
  • WSU – Matt LaBomme 18 run
  • WSU – Robert Williams 5 run
  • WSU – Turner 13 run
Fourth quarter
  • BYU – Scott Pettis 11 pass from McMahon
  • WSU – Mike Martin 1 run