The 1985 Holiday Bowl was a

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 December 22, 1985, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. It was part of the

1985 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season saw the Oklahoma Sooners, led by head coach Barry Switzer, win the national championship. Oklahoma finished the season 11–1, with their only loss to Miami at home, in a game in which future NFL star Tr ...

. It featured the unranked

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

, and the 14th ranked

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

. It was the first Holiday Bowl game since its inception to not feature

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

Scoring summary

Arizona State scored first on a 47-yard field goal from

Kent Bostrom Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

taking a 3–0 lead. Arkansas's Derrick Thomas responded by rushing 9 yards for a touchdown, as the Razorbacks claimed a 7–3 lead. That would conclude the 1st quarter of scoring. Bostrom kicked a 22-yard field goal,

Jeff Van Raaphorst Jeffrey Richard Van Raaphorst (born December 7, 1963) is a former American football quarterback. After going to high school at Grossmont High School in La Mesa, California, Van Raaphorst attended Arizona State University. He led the Sun Devils foo ...

fired a 16-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Cox, and the 2-point conversion was successful, as Arizona State wound up taking a 14–7 lead to halftime. In the fourth quarter,

Bobby Joe Edmonds Bobby Joe Edmonds, Jr. (born September 26, 1964 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a former professional American football running back who played for the Seattle Seahawks, the Los Angeles Raiders, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1986 to 1989 and 19 ...

scored on a 17-yard rushing touchdown, and the 2-point conversion try was successful, as Arkansas took a 15–14 lead. Bostrom kicked a 28-yard field goal to put the Sun Devils in front 17–15. Arkansas placekicker

Kendall Trainor Kendall Trainor (born July 8, 1967) from Fredonia, Kansas is a former All-American placekicker for the University of Arkansas in 1988. He led the nation in field goals per game as a senior in 1988 under head coach Ken Hatfield. Trainor, in ad ...

kicked a 37-yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining to give the Hogs the lead, 18–17. Bostrom's field goal attempt at the end of the game for the Sun Devils fell short, and Arkansas held on to win the game. Arkansas running back Bobby Joe Edmunds was the Offensive MVP, and Arizona State linebacker Greg Battle was the Defensive MVP. The Razorbacks improved to 10–2 for the season, while the Sun Devils fell to 8–4.

References

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has b ...

Holiday Bowl Arizona State Sun Devils football bowl games Arkansas Razorbacks football bowl games

December 1985 sports events in the United States {{California-sport-stub