Editor’s note: Last in a series exploring BYU’s 1984 national football championship.
When people believe and you believe, the task becomes easy.
Many believe Blaine Fowler’s biggest claim to fame, aside from earning the Ernie Davis Award during his high school career in Elmira, New York, and being a TV sportscaster viewed worldwide on BYUtv, are his five completed passes against Michigan in the Cougars’ 1984 Holiday Bowl victory.
“I remember looking at each other, and in silence, wondering how they were getting away with it. Bosco was getting smacked around.”
— Backup BYU QB Blaine Fowler of 1984 Holiday Bowl game vs. Michigan
Fowler completed 5-of-7 passes when starter Robbie Bosco left the school’s biggest game with an ankle injury in the first half.
Fowler actually played much more during his career than most fans realize.
He once joked with former BYU offensive line coach Darrell Funk, who played for Colorado State in 1984, saying, “You guys were so awful that I played the whole game.”
Playing for a national championship
There were a lot of games Fowler played in, including some his sophomore year.
But true to legend, Fowler’s relief role for Bosco is what he’s known for. He could have shrunk from the call, he could have fumbled, thrown an interception, panicked or been sacked every time he tried to drop back to pass. But he didn’t.
The minutes of that night remain vivid in Fowler’s brain.
He remembers, before Bosco went down in the first quarter, thinking Michigan’s defense got away with multiple plays on Bosco that were borderline late hits or roughing the passer.
“I thought they were getting nasty with their defensive front and should have got more penalties,” Fowler said. “I remember looking at each other, and in silence, wondering how they were getting away with it. Bosco was getting smacked around.”
Sure enough, Bosco went down and didn’t get up. Fowler didn’t even think about it as he put on his helmet to go on the field.
Quarterbacks coach Mike Holmgren — who went on to win a Super Bowl as an NFL head coach — grabbed Fowler, and Fowler recalls the first thing he said to him was, “You are great. You are in great shape. You’ve got this. You know the offense better than anybody on this team.”
Receivers coach Norm Chow came over and told Fowler, “We’re going to put you in a position to do really well. We’re going to call the plays we know you’re really good at and we’re going to move the football.”
‘This was going to be fun’
“Those were exactly the words I needed to hear,” Fowler said. “I did have this. I’ve got this. I do know the offense better than anybody and I know what every player is supposed to do and where they need to be. I may not have been the guy out there playing, but guys always looked to me when they had questions about what they were to do.
“This gave me great comfort. Everyone had my back. I was confident. This was going to be fun. I ran on the field and Glen Kozlowski came up and said, ‘We got you man.’ Craig Garrick said to me he had my back, not to worry, I could do it.”
A feeling of confidence washed over Fowler.
This was what he’d worked hard for the last four years. He’d prepared his whole life to play a big role in a meaningful game that mattered. He could make a difference and everyone who counted believed in him and had faith that he could perform.
To this day, all those voices, those feelings, are secure in his memory and he can access them. “All the comments, the picture of the faces and the way it made me feel, I remember it all. It’s really cool.”
The first play called was a pass. So was the next, and the next. It was like the coaches were sending a message to Fowler — they really believed in him. It also gave Michigan a message that BYU wasn’t going conservative with a backup QB. “We were going to freaking throw the ball,” Fowler said.
Taking in the moment
On third down, Fowler completed a pass for a first down, then another.
“We were just rolling out there and I started to feel comfortable and relaxed,” Fowler said. “Another play required a measurement for a first down and there was a lapse in play as officials brought out the chains.”
In that moment, Fowler remembered something his father had told him, to always enjoy the moment, take advantage of every situation and take notice and appreciate it for what it was. Don’t get so caught up in the moment that you miss the moment. “I don’t know if I’d ever applied that advice,” said Fowler.
In that short break, Fowler looked up at the crowd, the lighted Jack Murphy Stadium, the entire atmosphere. He took a “panoramic 360-degree look” at his surroundings. He “pirouetted around” outside the huddle and soaked it all in; a memory he’d tuck away and treasure forever.
“This is awesome, this is cool,” Fowler thought. “We’re playing Michigan. We win this thing, we are national champs and I’m in the middle of it. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
Then Kozlowski came up. “Hey, we’re rolling.”
Mark Bellini came in with a play from the sidelines and the pause was over.
As it turned out, a holding penalty killed the drive. “If it weren’t for that holding, there is no doubt in my mind we would have gone down and scored,” said Fowler.
A third memory for Fowler, one in the heat of battle, stands out in his mind of his precious two series in that game.
It was a play where Fowler dropped back and the pocket began to collapse from the inside out. Michigan’s upfield rush prevented him from escaping to the outside on the edge. Defenders were in front of him and had grabbed ahold of his feet as the pocket collapsed.
“I remember kind of ducking under an outside rusher, but someone had my foot. As it looked like I would go down, Craig Garrick was there and as he was going down, he reached up and pushed me back on my feet. He shoved me back on balance. I rolled to my left, kept my vision downfield and threw a touch pass over the linebacker to Kelly Smith past the first-down marker. The crowd went nuts.”
It was a “Houdini” act. The eruption of the crowd that followed was deafening. Fowler and Smith traded high-fives. “I remember thinking, ‘I really do have this.’
“Michigan hadn’t game-planned for me, my mobility. We were going to beat these guys. If I got to play more than these two series, I believed completely we would not only win but win going away. They couldn’t stop us. It was my big confidence moment. I settled into the idea I might be playing the whole game and that was just fine by me. I was settled and ready to go.”
Bosco came in to finish the half and the rest of the game. Although Bosco was hobbled and had to do his own improvising, Fowler had been given his moment. He was ready. Others believed in him — and he believed in himself.
Nobody can ever take away his memory of that huge game and his role in it.
He took the time to tuck it away where he can replay it over and over again forever.
