The 1979 Holiday Bowl was a

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played December 21, 1979, in

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, California. It was part of the

1979 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season saw the Alabama Crimson Tide bring home a national title with a perfect 12–0 season. The title was Alabama's 11th claimed, and their 6th Associated Press awarded title. This was an extremely dominan ...

. It featured the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

against the

BYU Cougars The BYU Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. BYU fields 21 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity athletic teams. They are a member of the Big 12 C ...

. Indiana won 38–37.

Background

Indiana won seven games to complete their first winning season since

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

while qualifying for a bowl game for the first time since the Rose Bowl team of

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, while finishing fourth in the

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champion BYU was a perfect 11-0 going into this game, having risen from #20 to #9 by the fourth game, with a win over #14 Texas A&M beginning a season that saw the most wins in one season in school history up to that point.

Game summary

*BYU – Eric Lane 1-yard touchdown run (Brent Johnson kick) *Indiana – Bob Stephenson 38-yard touchdown pass from Tim Clifford (Kevin Kellog kick) *Indiana – Clifford 1-yard touchdown run (Kellog kick) *BYU – Marc Wilson 3-yard touchdown run (Johnson kick) *BYU – Johnson 40-yard field goal *Indiana – Clifford 1-yard touchdown run (Kellog kick) *BYU – Homer Jones 13-yard touchdown pass from Wilson (Johnson kick) *Indiana – Mike Harkrader 1-yard touchdown run (Kellog kick) *Indiana – Kellog 26-yard field goal *BYU – Johnson 29-yard field goal *BYU – Eric Lane 15-yard touchdown pass from Wilson (Johnson kick) *Indiana – Tim Wilbur 62-yard punt return (Kellog kick) The game, which featured an 11-0 BYU team going against a 7-4 Indiana team coached by future

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college football analyst

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, went back and forth from start to finish. The Cougars held a 37–31 lead late in the fourth quarter when Tim Wilbur took a punt back for 62 yards and a touchdown for the go-ahead score. Brent Johnson's 27 yard field goal attempt with seven seconds to go was blocked and Indiana held on to get their first ever bowl win in school history. Wilbur was named co-MVP, along with Marc Wilson of BYU, who threw 28-of-43 for 380 yards with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions while rushing for 40 yards on 9 carries for a touchdown.

Statistics

Aftermath

Indiana did not make a bowl game again until

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, while BYU continued to make bowl games, including five more Holiday Bowls in a five-year span, with the 1980 team breaking the record for most wins a season with 12.

References

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in San Diego, California. Operating since 1978, its current conference tie-ins are with the Pac-12 Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The bowl is held at Snapdragon S ...

Holiday Bowl 1970s in San Diego BYU Cougars football bowl games Indiana Hoosiers football bowl games

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