1981 Holiday Bowl

1981 Holiday Bowl
Washington State Cougars BYU Cougars
(8–2-1) (10–2)
Pac-10 WAC
36 38
Head coach: 
Jim Walden		 Head coach: 
LaVell Edwards
APCoaches
2018
APCoaches
1412
1234 Total
Washington State 07218 36
BYU 71777 38
DateDecember 18, 1981
Season1981
StadiumJack Murphy Stadium
LocationSan Diego, California
MVPJim McMahon      (QB, BYU)
Kyle Whittingham (LB, BYU)
FavoriteBYU by 3 points [1]
RefereeJack Gatto (PCAA)
Halftime showMarching bands
Attendance52,419[2]
PayoutUS$286,179 per team[2]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN, Mizlou
Holiday Bowl
 < 1980  1982 > 

The 1981 Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 18 in San Diego, California. It was part of the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season, and was the fourth edition of the Holiday Bowl.[3] The Friday night game was the third of sixteen games in this bowl season and featured the #20 Washington State Cougars of the Pac-10 Conference, and the 14th-ranked BYU Cougars, champions of the Western Athletic Conference.[4][5][6][7][8]

It was the first bowl appearance in 51 years for Washington State,[9] who used a two-quarterback system: junior Clete Casper was the passer and sophomore Ricky Turner the runner.[10] Meanwhile, it was the fourth straight year in the Holiday Bowl for BYU. BYU's quarterback was consensus All-American and future Super Bowl champion Jim McMahon, the fifth overall pick of the 1982 NFL draft. He was backed up by sophomore Steve Young, a future member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and also a Super Bowl champion.

  1. ^ "The latest line". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 18, 1981. p. 17.
  2. ^ a b "Holiday Bowl Game History". Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2008.
  3. ^ Van Sickel, Gary (December 18, 1981). "Holiday's history short, wild". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 22.
  4. ^ "McMahon passes for 342 yards". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). UPI. December 19, 1981. p. 6.
  5. ^ Barrows, Bob (December 19, 1981). "Washington State almost has a curtain call". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
  6. ^ Van Sickel, Gary (December 19, 1981). "Happy Holidays – for BYU". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 21.
  7. ^ "McMahon makes Holiday happy one for BYU, 38-36". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 19, 1981. p. 2B.
  8. ^ Robinson, Doug (December 19, 1981). "Y. wins another Holiday heartstopper". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. A3.
  9. ^ "WSU, BYU go 'bowling' tonight". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). December 18, 1981. p. 21.
  10. ^ "WSU got here via the 1-2 punch". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 18, 1981. p. 22.