New Year’s Day bowl memories: Part 6

Oklahoma Quarterback Jamelle Holieway led the Sooners to a national

championship in 1985 with a win over Penn State in the Orange Bowl.

Source: Facebook/Ghosts of the Orange Bowl

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The 1985 college football season was a first for me – the team I cheered for was ranked third in the country but could win the national championship if they won the Orange Bowl.

That turned out to be as cool as I had hoped. However, the Rose Bowl once again had some memories for me as I tuned in to the bowl games on New Year’s Day of 1986.

National champions
Ever since I saw J.C. Watts lead the Oklahoma Sooners to two straight Orange Bowl wins I liked the Sooners. By 1985, Watts was firmly established in the Canadian Football League and the mantle of leadership had passed to quarterback Jamelle Holieway, who ran the wishbone offence as well or even better than Watts did.

The Sooners would face the number one ranked Penn State Nitany Lions in the Orange Bowl, and absolutely had to win that game. The number two ranked Miami Hurricanes were playing Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl. Even if the Sooners won, Miami would win the national championship if they won the Sugar Bowl. You see, Oklahoma’s only loss was to Miami. So the Sooners needed to win and hope for Tennessee to pull the upset.

Beyond Holieway, the Sooners still had tight end Keith Jackson who was getting better and better; runningbacks Lydell Carr, Patrick Collins, and Spencer Tillman; and returning receiver Derrick Shepard and freshman Anthony Stafford. On defence they were still led by nose tackle Tony Casillas, linebackers Brian Bosworh and Dante Jones; and defensive backs Sonny Brown and Tony Rayburn

Penn State was led by quarterback John Shaffer; runningbacks D.J. Dozier and Blair Thomas; and on defence by linebacker Shane Conlan.

Oklahoma took care of business. I remember this game really well, because I watched it with such passion and interest. Penn State led 7-0 after the first quarter, but Oklahoma got untracked in the second quarter. After Tim Lashar kicked a field goal, Holieway hit All-American tight end Keith Jackson with a long pass for a touchdown.

It was completely out of character because the Sooners ran all the time, and a pass just was not common. Interstingly, Jackson was considered one of the best tight ends in the country but he only caught less than 20 passes all year. Yet he could be explosive, as he was in the Orange Bowl, going more than 70 yards for that touchdown. Lashar tacked on two more field goals, while Penn State had one of their own, to make the score 16-10 at halftime. Lashar added one more field goal in the third quarter, the only scoring of the period, and Lydell Carr rounded out the scoring with a 60-plus yard touchdown run to make the final score 25-10.

Meanwhile in New Orleans, the Volunteers were demolishing Miami, repeatedly intercepting Miami quarterback Vinny Testatverde on the way to a 35-17 rout. Not only had Miami lost, but they lost badly, and Oklahoma was voted national champion.

This again showed I was missing out on peasant vision, because the Sugar Bowl always seemed to be interesting. Oh well, there were other interesting games that day.

Rose Bowl battle
The 1986 Rose Bowl featured a battle between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the UCLA Bruins, who were returning after a year away when they appeared in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Hawkeyes were led by quarterback Chuck Long who was actually playing his fifth year of college football, and runningback Ronnie Harmon. UCLA was led by quarterback Matt Stevens who had split time with David Norrie, but Norrie was hurt for the Rose Bowl. They also had runningback Gaston Green, receivers Mike Sherrard and Karl Dorrell, and two-time All-American kicker John Lee. On defence I remember Ken Norton Jr., because of the continuous references to his dad, a former world heavyweight boxing champion.

Iowa was favoured, but seemed to break under the pressure. Long was harassed by the UCLA defence and sacked four times. Harmon fumbled four times, while fumbling only once during the regular season.

The true star of the game was Bruin freshman runningback Eric Ball, subbing for Gaston Green, who was hurt during the game. Ball rushed for 227 yards and four touchdowns to earn most valuable player honours. Interestingly, Green pulled the same feat the previous year in the Fiesta Bowl, subbing in as a rookie, having a  big game and being named MVP.

After Iowa went up early, UCLA rebounded and never looked back, cruising to a 45-28 victory.

Lee would go on to play one year in the NFL with the St. Louis Cardinals and was the first Korean to play in the NFL. Green would play for the Rams, Raiders and Broncos; Ball would play for Oakland and Cincinnati; Long would play for Detroit and the L.A. Rams; and Norton would play for Dallas and San Francisco.

Cotton Bowl
The main reason I tuned into the 1986 Cotton Bowl was to see Bo Jackson, the Heisman Trophy winning runningback with the Auburn Tigers. He did not disappoint, but his team did. They played the Texas A&M Aggies who had some weapons of their own.

I will always remember the runningback tandem of Rod Bernstine and Keith Woodside, who had been dubbed “Woodside and Bernstine” after the two reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in “All the President’s Men”. The Aggies also had fullback Roger Vick and Kevin Murray, a quarterback who could get the ball to his talented backs.

Despite Jackson rushing for 129 yards and being named offensive most valuable player, the Aggies cruised to a 36-16 victory.

Jackson would be plagued by injuries but not before having some good seasons with the Los Angeles Raiders and also playing professional baseball with the Kansas City Royals.

Bernstine would play for San Diego and Denver; Vick would play for the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles; and Woodside played for Green Bay then made his way to Canada and played for Winnipeg in the CFL.

Kevin Murray is the father of quarterback Kyler Murray, who won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma and was selected first overall by the Arizona Cardinals in 2019.

Fiesta Bowl
The 1986 Fiesta Bowl pitted the Nebraska Cornhuskers against the Mochigan Wolverines. Again, I did not see much of this game because CTV picked up the NBC feed for the Rose Bowl when the Fiesta Bowl wasn’t quite finished.

The Wolverines ended up winning the game and, again, the offensive most valuable player had done the majority of his work before I was able to watch. It was runningback Jamie Morris of Michigan. His distinction back then had been that he was the younger brother of NFL runningback Joe Morris of the New York Giants. That would change quickly. The Wolverines also had Jim Harbaugh at quarterback, and offensive tackle Jumbo Elliott. Nebraska had runningback Doug DuBose and quarterback Steve Taylor.

Morris would go on to play for Washington and New England in the NFL; DuBose played for San Francisco; Elliott would win a Super Bowl with the New York Giants and also play for the Jets; and Taylor would play six years in the CFL with Edmonton, Calgary, Hamilton and Ottawa.

Harbaugh would play in the NFL with Chicago, Indianapolis, Baltimore, San Diego, Detroit and Carolina, coach the San Francisco 49ers, and is taking his Wolverines into tomorrow’s national championship game against the Washington Huskies as head coach. He also coached Stanford and the University of San Diego.

Parting thoughts
The 1986 Orange Bowl was a real highlight for me because I finally saw a team I cheered for win the national championship. That was so cool, I will never forget it.

There were some other interesting performances too such as Eric Ball coming out of nowhere, Bo Jackson living up to his billing, and the duo of “Woodside and Bernstine” making an impact.

All around it was a good day of football.