1985 Freedom Bowl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 1985 Freedom Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom Bowl II | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Date | December 30, 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Anaheim Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Anaheim, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Chris Chandler (QB, UW) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Washington by 4 points [1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 30,961 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | Lorimar Sports Network | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Barry Tompkins and Lou Holtz | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1985 Freedom Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game played on December 30 in Anaheim, California. It matched the Washington Huskies of the Pacific-10 Conference and the Colorado Buffaloes of the Big Eight Conference.[2][3][4]
Colorado
The Buffaloes switched to the wishbone offense in the spring and won five of their first six games;[5] they tied for third in the Big Eight (4–3), and entered the bowl at 7–4 overall.[6][7] With only one win the previous year and six consecutive losing seasons, this was Colorado's first bowl game in nine years, when they played in the Orange Bowl.
Washington
The Huskies finished fourth in the Pac-10 (5–3), but lost three of their last five games to finish the regular season with five losses. It was their seventh straight bowl game, and eighth under head coach Don James. Washington had finished second in the nation the previous season after winning the Orange Bowl.
Game summary
The night game kicked off shortly after 5 p.m. PST with Colorado in white jerseys and Washington in home purple. Jeff Jaeger gave the Huskies the lead late in the first quarter on a 30-yard field goal. The Buffaloes scored back on a one-yard touchdown by Anthony Weatherspoon. The Huskies scored with 30 seconds remaining in the half on a David Toy three yard touchdown run to make it 10–7 at halftime.[2][3]
Colorado kicker Larry Eckel tied the game with a 33-yard field goal, but Washington scored quickly on a Tony Covington touchdown run three minutes later. An 18-yard field goal by Jaeger early in the fourth quarter made it 20–10. The Buffaloes responded later in the quarter with a drive into Washington territory, all the way to the 31. But on fourth down, the Buffaloes had to decide whether to kick a field goal or go for the first down. They sent out their punt team, led by punter Barry Helton. He took the snap and threw a 31-yard pass to tight end Jon Embree, who scored to make it 20–17 with 11:05 remaining. Colorado had one last chance with five minutes remaining deep into the Huskies' territory, but Mike Marquez fumed the ball at the two, as Washington held on to win their second straight bowl game.[2][3] With the loss, Colorado's bowl losing streak stood at four.[8] Both teams concluded the season with 7–5 records.