The 1986 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 30, 1986, 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

1986 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with Penn State winning the national championship. Coached by Joe Paterno, they defeated Miami (Fl) 14–10 in the Fiesta Bowl. This Fiesta Bowl was the first in the game's history to decide the na ...

. It featured the 19th-ranked

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

, and the unranked

San Diego State Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level. The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I ( FBS for foo ...

Scoring summary

Iowa scored first on a 5-yard touchdown run from

Rick Bayless Rick Bayless (born November 23, 1953) is an American chef and restaurateur who specializes in traditional Mexican cuisine with modern interpretations. He is widely known for his PBS series '' Mexico: One Plate at a Time''. Among his various acco ...

, taking a 7–0 lead. San Diego State answered on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Todd Santos to running back

Chris Hardy Chris Hardy (born June 6, 1972 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a former professional Canadian Football safety. He was drafted by the Edmonton Eskimos in the sixth round of the 1997 CFL Draft. He played CIS Football at Manitoba. and Jamestown College in ...

to make it 7–6 Iowa, closing the 1st quarter of scoring. In the second quarter, Santos fired a 44-yard bomb to Matt Jakson, as SDSU took a 14–7 lead. Iowa's

Mark Vlasic Mark Richard Vlasic (born October 25, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons. During this time, he played for the San Diego Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buc ...

scored from 1 yard out, and SDSU led 14–13. Todd Santos threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Monty Gilbreath, giving San Diego State a 21–13 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, Gilmore scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 28–13 SDSU. Iowa responded when Hudson scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, making it 28–21 SDSU. In the fourth quarter, Chris Hardy scored on a 6-yard run, and SDSU went up 35–21. Iowa responded with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Vlasic to Cook, making it 35–29. Iowa then took the lead on a 4-yard score from Vlasic to Flagg. San Diego State's kicker Kevin Rahill kicked a 21-yard field goal with 47 seconds left to put the Aztecs up 38–36. Iowa's

Kevin Harmon Kevin Anthony Harmon (born October 26, 1966) is a former American football running back. He was fourth round draft pick and played for the Seattle Seahawks from 1988 to 1989. He is the younger brother of former NFL players Derrick Harmon Derri ...

returned the ensuing kickoff 48 yards to the SDSU 37-yard line. Iowa kicker

Rob Houghtlin Rob Houghtlin (January 4, 1965) is a former kicker for the University of Iowa's football team from 1985 to 1987. He made four game-winning field goals in his career, the most memorable of which led Iowa to a victory over Michigan in 1985. Early ...

kicked a 41-yard field goal, as Iowa won 39–38.

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 Iowa Hawkeyes football bowl games San Diego State Aztecs football bowl games December 1986 sports events in the United States

1980s in San Diego {{California-sport-stub