1981 Holiday Bowl
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. 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.
| 1981 Holiday Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 18, 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Jack Murphy Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | San Diego, California | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Jim McMahon (QB, BYU) Kyle Whittingham (LB, BYU) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | BYU by 3 points | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Jack Gatto (PCAA) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Marching bands | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 52,419 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$286,179 per team | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN, Mizlou | ||||||||||||||||||||
It was the first bowl appearance in 51 years for Washington State, who used a two-quarterback system: junior Clete Casper was the passer and sophomore Ricky Turner the runner. 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.