1989 Holiday Bowl


The 1989 Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played December 30, 1989, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. It was part of the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. It featured the Penn State Nittany Lions and BYU Cougars.

Game summary

  • Penn State - Tarasi 30 yard field goal
  • BYU - Chaffetz 20 yard field goal
  • Penn State - Smith 24 touchdown yard pass from Sacca
  • BYU - Detmer 1 touchdown yard run
  • Penn State - Tarasi 36 yard field goal
  • BYU - Chaffetz 22 yard field goal
  • Penn State - Tarasi 51 yard field goal
  • Penn State - Thompson 16 yard touchdown run
  • BYU - Detmer 1 yard touchdown run
  • Penn State - Thompson 14 yard touchdown run
  • BYU - Boyce 12 yard touchdown pass from Detmer
  • Penn State - Thomas 7 yard touchdown run
  • Penn State - Daniels 52 yard touchdown pass from Sacca
  • BYU - Whittingham 10 yard touchdown run
  • BYU - Nyberg 3 yard touchdown yard pass from Detmer
  • Penn State - Collins 2-point conversion interception return
  • Penn State - Brown 53 yard touchdown fumble return
BYU quarterback Ty Detmer was marching the Cougars toward a game-winning touchdown in the closing seconds when he had the ball stripped by Penn State's Gary Brown, who returned it 53 yards for a touchdown to seal the Nittany Lions victory.
Stealing the ball before Detmer could throw it was the only way he could be stopped by the Penn State defense. Detmer completed 42 of 59 passes for 576 yards, all Holiday Bowl records, and shared Offensive MVP honors with Penn State running back Blair Thomas, who rushed for a Holiday Bowl record 35 times for 186 yards.