The 1985 Bluebonnet Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Texas Longhorns and Air Force Falcons, played on December 31 at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas.[2][3][4][5]
| 1985 Bluebonnet Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 31, 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Rice Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Houston, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Pat Evans, FB, Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Air Force by 6 [1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Courtney Mauzy (ACC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 42,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | Lorimar Sports Network | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Tom Hammond Gifford Nielsen | ||||||||||||||||||
Background
editThe Falcons ran the wishbone offense and had the most regular season victories in program history with eleven, but a conference loss to defending national champion BYU at Provo on November 16 cost them a shot at the national title and an outright Western Athletic Conference (WAC) title.[6] This was the fourth consecutive bowl appearance for Air Force, the previous three were victories.[2] Unranked Texas tied for second in the Southwest Conference (SWC) but had lost to rival Texas A&M to end the regular season; it was their ninth straight bowl appearance and first Bluebonnet Bowl in five years.[2]
This Bluebonnet Bowl was the first at Rice Stadium since 1967; the previous seventeen editions (1968–1984) were at the Astrodome. Nearly a dozen years earlier, Rice Stadium hosted Super Bowl VIII (January 1974).
Game summary
edit- Texas – Harris 34 pass from Stafford (Ward kick), 11:14 remaining
- Air Force – Pshsniak 1 run (Ruby kick), 3:37 remaining
- Air Force – Weiss 1 run (Ruby kick), 1:38 remaining
- Texas – Ward 24 FG, 6:19 remaining
- Air Force – Evans 19 run (Ruby kick), 3:35 remaining
- Texas – Ward 31 FG, 14:14 remaining
- Texas – Ward 28 FG, 7:34 remaining
- Air Force – Ruby 40 FG, :43 remaining
- Source:[3]
Air Force fullback Pat Evans had 18 carries for 129 yards in an MVP effort.[3][4][8]
Statistics
edit| Statistics | Air Force | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 17 | 14 |
| Rushes | 53 | 49 |
| Rushing yards | 189 | 214 |
| Passes | 1–5 | 9–18 |
| Passing yards | 5 | 88 |
| Punts–average | 11–49.2 | 6–44.5 |
| Fumbles–lost | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Interceptions | 0 | 2 |
| Penalties–yards | 6–45 | 8–67 |
- Source:[3]
Aftermath
editThe Falcons (12–1) finished in the top ten in both major polls (fifth in Coaches, eighth in AP), which remains their highest ranking ever. Texas (8–4) lost its fourth straight bowl and did not make a bowl game the following season (at 5–6), and head coach Fred Akers was soon fired.
References
edit- ^ Jimmy the Greek (December 31, 1985). "Odds". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). p. 3B.
- ^ a b c "Today's bowl games: Bluebonnet". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 31, 1985. p. 2B.
- ^ a b c d "Falcons finish season with a rush". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 1, 1986. p. 3C.
- ^ a b "Air Force rumbles past Texas". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). UPI. January 1, 1986. p. D2.
- ^ Slavik, Coy. "Air Force downs Longhorns, 24-16". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). p. 1B.
- ^ "BYU throws No. 4 Falcons for a loss, 28-21". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 17, 1985. p. 2B.
- ^ "Football: College bowls". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). December 31, 1985. p. C3.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
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