1992 Copper Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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Date | December 29, 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||
Season | 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stadium | Arizona Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Tucson, Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||
MVP | Drew Bledsoe (QB, WSU) Kareem Leary (DB, Utah) | ||||||||||||||||||
Favorite | Washington State by 8 points [1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||
Referee | Steve Usechek (Big Eight) | ||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 40,826 | ||||||||||||||||||
United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | Ron Franklin and Mike Gottfried | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1992 Copper Bowl featured the unranked Utah Utes and the #18 Washington State Cougars, as part of the 1992–93 NCAA football bowl season. It was played on the night of Tuesday, December 29, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona.[3][4][5][6]
Washington State scored first on a 3-yard touchdown run by running back Shaumbe Wright-Fair, then junior quarterback Drew Bledsoe fired an 87-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Phillip Bobo, increasing the lead to 14–0. Bledsoe would finish the game 30-for-46 passing for 476 yards. Wright-Fair scored on a 3-yard touchdown run for a 21–0 Cougar advantage at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Utah's Frank Dolce threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Shaun Williams, and Keith Williams scored on a 25-yard touchdown run to make the score 21–14. Bledsoe found Bobo for a 48-yard touchdown pass as Washington State led 28–14 at halftime. In a planned move by WSU head coach Mike Price, Bledsoe was briefly replaced by backup Mike Pattinson in the second quarter.[3]
In the third quarter, Dolce threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Henry Lusk, and Pierre Jones' 8-yard touchdown run tied the game at 28. The only fourth quarter score was a field goal: Aaron Price, the son of the head coach, converted from 22 yards out with less than six minutes left and the favored Cougars escaped with a 31–28 victory,[7][8][9] and climbed to fifteenth in the final rankings.
This was the final collegiate game for the 20-year-old Bledsoe; he was the first overall pick of the 1993 NFL draft.[10][11][12]