The 1986 Gator Bowl (December) game was a post-season college football bowl game between the Stanford Cardinal and the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) s ...

, played on December 27, 1986, at Gator Bowl Stadium in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. It was the 42nd edition of the bowl game. Through a sponsorship agreement announced in November, the bowl was officially known as the

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

Gator Bowl.

Teams

Stanford Cardinal

Under third-year head coach

Jack Elway Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

, Stanford was making its first bowl appearance since the

1978 Bluebonnet Bowl The 1978 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl (December) game was a post-season college football bowl game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Stanford Cardinals, and was played on December 31, 1978, at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas. It was the twe ...

. The Cardinal was led by running back

Brad Muster Bradley William Muster (born April 11, 1965) is a former American football fullback. He played college football at Stanford. He was selected in the 1st round (23rd overall) of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. College career Muster atten ...

, who was only the second Cardinal back to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season. Stanford's starting quarterback, John Paye, was sidelined for the game due to a shoulder injury and backup Greg Ennis was named the starter.

Clemson Tigers

The champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Clemson had recorded ties in its last two regular season games. Under head coach

Danny Ford Danny Lee Ford (born April 2, 1948) is a former American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Alabama from 1967 to 1969. He served as the head football coach at Clemson University from 1978 to 1989 and at th ...

, the Tigers were led by tailbacks

Kenny Flowers Kenny Flowers (born March 14, 1964) is a former National Football League (NFL) running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs fro ...

and

Terrence Flagler Robert Terrence Flagler (born September 24, 1964) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers and Phoenix Cardinals. He played college football at Clemson University. ...

Game summary

Clemson completely dominated the first half of the game, recording 291 yards of offense and 15 first downs, and scored touchdowns on runs from quarterback Rodney Williams and backs Chris Lancaster and Ray Williams.

David Treadwell David Mark Treadwell (born February 27, 1965 in Columbia, South Carolina) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League for the Denver Broncos (1989-1992) and the New York Giants (1993-1994). He played college footbal ...

added two field goals to put the Tigers up 27–0 at halftime. Stanford recovered in the second half, holding the Tigers scoreless while gradually bringing the score closer. Muster scored on a one-yard run in the third quarter, and then twice more on fourth quarter passes from Ennis. The Cardinal had several chances to tie or win the game, but Ennis was intercepted inside the 10-yard line on one drive, and turned the ball over on downs with less than two minutes remaining.

Scoring

First quarter

* Clemson - Chris Lancaster 5-yard run (

kick)

Second quarter

* Clemson - Rodney Williams 1-yard run (Treadwell kick) * Clemson - Treadwell 22-yard field goal * Clemson - Ray Williams 14-yard run * Clemson - Treadwell 46-yard field goal

Third quarter

* Stanford -

1-yard run (David Sweeney kick)

Fourth quarter

* Stanford - Muster 13-yard pass from Greg Ennis (Sweeney kick) * Stanford - Muster 37-yard pass from Ennis (Sweeney kick)

Aftermath

This was Coach Elway's only winning season with the Cardinal. This was the first of a run of three straight ACC titles for Danny Ford's Clemson teams. Muster and Rodney Williams shared Most Valuable Player honors. Muster would go on to play for the NFL's Chicago Bears. Junior Clemson kicker David Treadwell was named a 1987 consensus All-American and would go on to a successful NFL kicking career with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

and New York Giants. Through the first 75 editions of the Gator Bowl (1946–2020), Stanford's appearance in 1986 was the only time that a Pac-10 or Pac-12 team played in the bowl.

References

{{Stanford Cardinal bowl game navbox Gator Bowl Gator Bowl Clemson Tigers football bowl games Stanford Cardinal football bowl games 20th century in Jacksonville, Florida December 1986 sports events in the United States 1986 in sports in Florida