PROVO — BYU’s second trip to the Poinsettia Bowl will mark the Cougar’s 35th all-time bowl contest. It will mark the Cougars second trip to the San Diego-based bowl since going Independent and will pit BYU with a familiar foe in the Wyoming Cowboys.
The Cougars and Cowboys, who will play Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. MT on ESPN, have met 77 times, most recently in 2010. BYU head coach Kalani Sitake will be trying to earn his first-ever bowl win as well as BYU’s 14th bowl overall win. Here is a look back at some of the best moments in BYU’s bowl history.
Dec. 19, 1980
SMU vs. BYU
In LaVell Edward’s fifth bowl game, the Cougars, led by junior Jim McMahon, matched up with the Mustangs’ famous “Pony Express” offense, led by running backs Eric Dickerson and Craig James. The 19th-ranked Mustangs jumped out to a 45-25 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the game. The Cougars mounted a furious fourth-quarter rally that began with a 15-yard McMahon touchdown pass to Matt Braga. After a failed two-point conversion the Cougars were down by 14. A successful onside kick eventually led to another Cougar score to give BYU a little bit of life.
SMU had the ball with 1:57 left in the game and could have run out the clock, but the Cougar defense came up big once again and forced a punt with only 13 seconds on the clock. The punt was blocked by defensive back Bill Schoepflin to set up McMahon’s Hail Mary pass completion to Clay Brown. Kurt Gunther’s PAT sealed the win in what become known as the “Miracle Bowl” and one of the greatest comebacks in college football history. McMahon finished with 446 yards passing and four touchdowns on 32 completions.
Dec. 23, 1983
Missouri vs. BYU
In what was becoming a yearly tradition, BYU appeared in the team’s sixth straight Holiday Bowl in 1983. As was coming to be expected in Holiday Bowl games, this game turned out to be a thriller that was also decided in the fourth quarter. In a back-and-forth contest, Missouri jumped out to a 10-7 halftime lead. Senior quarterback Steve Young led the Cougar offense to a third-quarter touchdown, but the Tigers answered right back in the fourth quarter to take a 17-14 lead.
The Tigers drove the length of the field again but were stopped on a goal-line stand by the Cougar defense. Young engineered a drive deep into Missouri territory with less than a minute left in the game when the coaching staff made the play call that led to the game-winning score. Young handed the ball off to Eddie Stinnett, who faked a sweep to the outside, stopped and threw the ball back across the field to Young, who ran 15 yards for the score. Young finished with 328 yards passing and had a hand in all three Cougar touchdowns. A Kyle Morrell interception sealed the game for the Cougars.
Dec. 21, 1984
Michigan vs. BYU
The seventh annual Holiday Bowl game was taken to a new level of prestige as BYU entered the game undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country. Bowl organizers pitted the Cougars against Michigan for the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Junior quarterback Robbie Bosco was forced to the sideline with an injury in the first quarter, but he returned in the second quarter with a noticeable limp. He led the Cougars on an 80-yard scoring drive and a 10-7 halftime lead.
After falling behind 17-10 early in the fourth quarter, Bosco again led the Cougars on an 80-yard drive to tie the game. On third-and-4 from the 13-yard line, the Wolverines brought pressure on the hobbled quarterback. Bosco stepped up in the pocket and found Kelly Smith open in the end zone for his second touchdown pass of the game. A Marv Allen interception closed out the win for the Cougars and delivered the national championship to Provo.
Dec. 29, 1994
Oklahoma vs. BYU
Edwards continued to lead the Cougars to bowl game appearances after the national title in 1984 but suffered a string of defeats. Over the next nine years, BYU won just one game (1988 Freedom Bowl vs. Colorado) and had seven losses and one tie during that time frame. That all changed following the 1994 season, as BYU earned its first invite to the Copper Bowl. Senior John Walsh led the Cougars to a 9-3 record and a matchup with Oklahoma.
Walsh and the Cougar offense jumped out to a 24-0 lead before Oklahoma scored its only touchdown of the game. Walsh’s fourth touchdown pass put the Cougars ahead 31-6, which is how the game ended. The Cougar defense held the Oklahoma offense to less than 250 yards of total offense in the rout, and Walsh’s 454 yards passing earned him the game MVP award.
Jan. 1, 1997
Kansas State vs. BYU
The 1995 season marked the first time in 17 years that BYU wasn’t invited to a postseason bowl game, but the Cougars rebounded in a big way during the 1996 season. The Cougars, led by quarterback Steve Sarkisian, earned a 13-1 regular-season record and a No. 5 ranking the AP Poll prior to the Bowl Alliance games being announced. However, they were bypassed for other teams ranked lower than the Cougars and were invited to the Cotton Bowl for BYU’s first-ever New Year’s Day game.
BYU jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks, in part, to a safety by Shay Muirbrook. The Wildcats answered with a touchdown on either side of halftime and took a 15-5 lead into the fourth quarter. Sarkisian led two scoring drives in the fourth quarter, with passes to James Dye and K.O. Kealaluhi to take the 19-15 lead. Kansas State still had a chance to win the game and drove to the BYU 17 with about 90 seconds remaining. Omarr Morgan intercepted a pass at the 12 to secure the win. Sarkisian tied a Cotton Bowl record (at that time) held by Roger Staubach with 21 completions and earned co-offensive MVP honors. Muirbrook was named defensive MVP with six sacks and was named to the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in 2012.
Dec. 21, 2006
Oregon vs. BYU
After the Cotton Bowl win, BYU again had a hard time earning bowl wins. Over the next nine years, the Cougar program would experience a lot of change. Legend Edwards earned two final bowl bids (both losses) in 1998 and 1999 before retiring following the 2000 season. Replacement Gary Crowton earned one bowl bid during his four-year tenure — another loss — before Bronco Mendenhall earned his first of 11 straight bowl bids in 2005.
A Las Vegas Bowl invite capped Mendenhall’s second season. BYU fans packed Sam Boyd Stadium for a then-record crowd of 44,615. Quarterback John Beck led the Cougar offense to a school-record margin of victory in the 38-8 win over the Ducks. Beck and the offense gained nearly 550 yards or total offense while the Cougar defense held Oregon to only 260 total yards. Beck finished his Cougar career with 375 yards passing while senior tight end Jonny Harline set a then-record for the bowl game with 181 yards receiving and running back Curtis Brown added 120 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the blowout after Oregon coach Mike Bellotti famously made comments prior to the game indicating that the Cougars couldn’t compete with upper-level Pac-10 teams.
Dec. 22, 2009
Oregon State vs. BYU
Under Mendenhall, BYU attended the Las Vegas Bowl five years in a row, going 3-2 during those games. The last of that five-game streak was in 2009 as the Cougars were again paired with a foe from the Pac-10. This time, the Cougars would put their No. 14 ranking on the line against the Oregon State Beavers, who entered the game ranked 16th. This would be the first time that the Las Vegas bowl had two top-20 teams.
The Cougars fell behind 7-0 in the first quarter, but they scored 30 unanswered points to take a commanding lead. The senior class led the way as the Cougars finished 11-2 for the third time in four seasons. Senior Max Hall completed 19 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns and Manase Tonga rushed for two more touchdowns. Linebacker Matt Bauman also tallied a fumble recovery that he returned for the first fumble recovery touchdown in Cougar bowl history while defensive back Scott Johnson intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter leading to BYU’s final touchdown in the 44-20 win.
Dec. 20, 2012
San Diego State vs. BYU
The first time that BYU played in the Poinsettia Bowl was in 2012 and also pitted the Cougars against a former WAC and Mountain West Conference foe. The Cougars were matched up with the Aztecs in what turned out to be Mendenhall’s 74th win as head coach of the Cougars. The game started out slow with the Aztecs leading the Cougars 6-3 at the start of the fourth quarter. It was then that the Cougars took the game over.
Junior Kyle Van Noy sacked Aztec quarterback Adam Dingwell and jarred the ball loose for a fumble in the end zone. Van Noy recovered it for his first of two defensive touchdowns in route to the defensive MVP award, He was also credited with an interception return for a touchdown, a blocked punt and eight total tackles and he single-handedly outscored the Aztecs. Freshman Jamaal Williams was credited with 31 yards rushing, 27 yards receiving and one touchdown in his first bowl game as a Cougar, while junior Cody Hoffman earned offensive MVP honors with 10 catches, 114 yards. The 23-6 win was BYU's fourth bowl win in a row, but the Cougars have gone 0-3 since.
Landon Walters studied history and political science at Salt Lake Community College. He is an avid sports fan and loves writing. Email: mavericksoccer_22@hotmail.com