The 1982 California Bowl was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

played on December 18, 1982 at

Bulldog Stadium Valley Children's Stadium, also known as Jim Sweeney Field at Bulldog Stadium, is an outdoor college football stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of California State University, Fresno in Fresno, California. It is the home ...

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

. The game pitted the

Bowling Green Falcons The Bowling Green Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowling Green State University (BGSU), in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The Falcons compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Divi ...

and the

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

Background

The Falcons opened their season with three straight conference wins (over Ohio, Central Michigan and Western Michigan). A loss to Miami (OH) stopped the streak, though they did beat Northern Illinois the week after. A loss to Toledo was their last conference loss as Bowling Green won the next three games over Kent State, Ball State, and Eastern Michigan. They closed their season out with losses to Long Beach State and North Carolina. This was Bowling Green's first

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

title since 1965 and first ever bowl appearance. Fresno State started the season with five straight wins (two of them being PCAA opponents), before a loss to Nevada. After that loss, the Bulldogs closed the season out with five straight wins to close out the season with 10 victories and 6 conference wins. This was their first

Pacific Coast Athletic Association The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

title since

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

. This was their first bowl appearance since the charity

Mercy Bowl The Mercy Bowl was the name to two one-off charity bowl games played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. The first was played between Fresno State University and Bowling Green State University on November 23, 1961, as a ...

in 1971 along with their first true bowl appearance since

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

Game summary

*Bowling Green - Chip Otten 4 yard touchdown run (Youssef kick), 11:17, 2nd qtr. 7-0 BGSU *Bowling Green - John Meek 1 yard touchdown pass from

Brian McClure Brian McClure (born December 28, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League for the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Bowling Green. College career McClure played for the Falcons from 198 ...

(Youssef kick), 2:47, 2nd qtr. 14-0. BGSU *Bowling Green - Shawn Potts 5 yard touchdown pass from Brian McClure (Youssef kick), 8:47, 3rd qtr. 21-0 BGSU *Fresno State -

Stephone Paige Stephone Paige (born October 15, 1961), is a former professional American football player who played for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1983 to 1992. A 6'2" 185 lb. wide receiver undrafted free agent from California State University, Fresno, ...

11 yard touchdown pass from

Jeff Tedford Jeffrey Raye Tedford (born November 2, 1961) is an American football coach and former player who is currently serving as the head coach at Fresno State, a position which he also previously held from 2017 to 2019. From 2002 to 2012, Tedford was th ...

(Darrow kick), 7:25, 3rd qtr. 21-7 BGSU *Bowling Green - Shawn Potts 6 yard fumble recovery (Youssef kick), :42, 3rd qtr. 28-7 BGSU *Fresno State - Stephone Paige 4 yard touchdown run (Darrow kick), 12:11, 4th qtr. 28-14 BGSU *Fresno State - Stephone Paige 27 yard touchdown pass from Jeff Tedford (Tedford-Carter pass), 3:16, 4th qtr. 28-22 BGSU *Fresno State - Vince Wesson 2 yard touchdown pass from Jeff Tedford (Darrow kick), :11, 4th qtr. 29-28 FSU The Bulldogs, playing in their home stadium, scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback. Fresno State gained 220 yards in the fourth quarter while Bowling Green had just 26. They had trailed by 21 points on two occasions, coming back both times. They had 27 first downs to Bowling Green's 17. The Falcons had 126 rushing yards while the Bulldogs had 80. Fresno State had 373 passing yard while Bowling Green had 246. The Bulldogs turned the ball over seven times while the Falcons turned it over once, along with being outpossessed 35:40 to 24:20. For Fresno State, Jeff Tedford threw 31-of-50 for 373 yards for three touchdowns and four interceptions. Stephone Paige caught 15 passes for 246 yards. For Bowling Green, Brian McClure threw 22-of-32 for 246 yards along with two touchdowns and one interception. Chip Otten rushed for 136 yards on 31 carries.

Aftermath

The two teams met up twice more in the California Bowl (

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

), with the Bulldogs winning the first game and the Falcons would win the second. Fresno State made one other California Bowl appearance, in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, which they won.

References

{{Fresno State Bulldogs bowl game navbox

California Bowl The California Bowl (later the California Raisin Bowl) was a post-season college football bowl game played annually at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, California, from 1981 to 1991. The game featured the champions of the Big West Conference (known p ...

California Bowl Bowling Green Falcons football bowl games Fresno State Bulldogs football bowl games