The 1981 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl was a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

, played on December 31, 1981. It was the 23rd

Bluebonnet Bowl The Bluebonnet Bowl was an annual college football bowl game played in Houston, Texas. A civic group was appointed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce Athletics Committee in 1959 to organize the bowl game. It was held at Rice Stadium (Rice Univ ...

game. The

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

defeated the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

by a score of 33–14. This was the first bowl game meeting of a Big Ten team and a Pac-10 team outside the

Rose Bowl Game The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, traditionally played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl (stadium), Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on ...

and was labeled the "mini Rose Bowl".Michigan Bowl History, 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl
University of Michigan Athletic Department Both teams were in the running to meet in the 1982 Rose Bowl, but had their seasons spoiled on November 21, 1981, by their arch-rivals.

Teams

Michigan

The defending 1981 Rose Bowl champion Wolverines, who were the preseason #1, opened with a loss to Wisconsin. This led to the Badgers being ranked afterwards. Also, losing the #1 ranking led to the Clemson Tigers winning their first consensus national championship. The Wolverines responded the next week by beating Notre Dame 25-7. Wins over Navy and Indiana led to a cross state showdown at Michigan State, where the Wolverines downed the Spartans 38–20. The next week, Michigan hosted Iowa and lost 9–7. Michigan would win the next four games leading up to the Michigan–Ohio State rivalry football game on November 21. Michigan lost to Ohio State 14–9. Ohio State and Iowa were tied for the Big Ten conference championship. Iowa would go on to the 1982 Rose Bowl, as Iowa and Ohio State did not play each other, and Ohio State had been to the

1980 Rose Bowl The 1980 Rose Bowl was It was the 66th edition of the college football bowl game, played on Tuesday, January 1, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The USC Trojans, champions of the Pacific-10 Conference, defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, ...

UCLA

The Bruins opened the season with wins at Arizona and at #20 Wisconsin. They lost at Iowa, the eventual Big Ten champion 20–9. Even with a 26–23 loss at Stanford and a tie at Washington State, the Bruins were in position to win the Pacific-10 after four straight wins. Going into the

UCLA–USC rivalry The UCLA–USC rivalry is the American collegiate athletics rivalry between the UCLA Bruins sports teams of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and USC Trojans teams of the University of Southern California (USC). Both univers ...

football game, The Rose Bowl was on the line for the third time for Terry Donahue's UCLA Bruins teams against USC. UCLA lost to USC in a 21–20 nailbiter, which put Washington into the 1982 Rose Bowl. Washington had defeated USC just the week before in what would prove to be the other conference deciding game.

Game summary

Scoring

First quarter

*Michigan —

Ali Haji-Sheikh Ali S. Haji-Sheikh (born January 11, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a kicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines. He was selected in the ninth round (23 ...

, 24-yard field goal. *Michigan — Anthony Carter, 50-yard pass from Steve Smith. Haji-Sheikh converts.

Second quarter

no scoring

Third quarter

*UCLA — Jojo Townsell, 17-yard pass from

Tom Ramsey Tom Ramsey (born July 9, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. He began his pro career with ...

. Norm Johnson converts. *Michigan —Haji-Sheikh, 47-yard field goal.

Fourth quarter

*Michigan —

Butch Woolfolk Harold E. "Butch" Woolfolk (born March 1, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a running back and kick returner in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines (1978&ndas ...

, one-yard run. Run failed. *UCLA—

Tim Wrightman Timothy John Wrightman (born March 27, 1960) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a tight end. He played for two seasons for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). Wrightman played col ...

, nine-yard pass from Ramsey. Johnson converts. *Michigan—Smith, nine-yard run. Haji-Sheikh converts. *Michigan—B.J. Dickey, five-yard run. Haji-Sheikh converts.

Aftermath

The Bluebonnet Bowl was the first of three meetings between the schools in 367 days. They met during the

1982 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season was the last for Paul "Bear" Bryant as head coach at Alabama, retiring with in The Penn State Nittany Lions won their first consensus national championship, closing out an season by defeating Georg ...

twice: at

Michigan Stadium Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "the Big House," is the American football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third-largest stadium in the wo ...

, where UCLA won 31–27, and in the

1983 Rose Bowl The 1983 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game, played on January 1, 1983. It was the 69th Rose Bowl Game. The UCLA Bruins defeated the Michigan Wolverines by a score of 24–14, in a bowl rematch of a regular season game, also won by UCLA. ...

, where UCLA earned a 24–14 victory.

References

External links

Summary at Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History
{{UCLA Bruins bowl game navbox

UCLA Bruins football bowl games Michigan Wolverines football bowl games Bluebonnet Bowl 1981 in sports in Texas December 1981 sports events in the United States 1981 in Houston