The 1987 Astro-

Bluebonnet Bowl The Bluebonnet Bowl was an annual college football bowl game played in Houston, Texas. A civic group was appointed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce Athletics Committee in 1959 to organize the bowl game. It was held at Rice Stadium from 1959 ...

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 ...

postseason

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 ...

between the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

and the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

. The game was played in the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

on December 31, 1987, and was the twenty-ninth edition of the bowl which had been played in Houston since 1959. Texas won the game 32-27. This edition of the Bluebonnet Bowl, which added "Astro" to its title every year it was played in the Astrodome, proved to be its last.

Background

The Longhorns finished tied for second in the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

with Arkansas, who played in the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City ...

that year. This was Texas' sixth Bluebonnet Bowl. Pittsburgh was an Independent in their first bowl game since

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. This was Pittsburgh's only Bluebonnet Bowl.

Game summary

Brett Stafford Brett derives from a Middle English surname meaning "Briton" or "Breton", referring to the Celtic people of Britain and Brittany, France. Brette can be a feminine name. People with the surname * Adrian Brett (born 1945) English flutist and writer ...

connected with Jones for a 77-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage to give the Longhorns a 7-0 lead. Pittsburgh started off their retaliation well, when Billy Owens returned the kickoff 45 yards. Billy Osborn then Reggie Williams for 45 yards, and lastly Craig Heyward tied the score with a four-yard run. But six plays later, the Longhorns took the lead again with a Stafford pass to Tony Jones on a short pass that evolved into a 60-yard touchdown to make it 14-7. The Longhorns added a field goal to make it 17-7 at halftime. Texas was outscored 20-15 in the second half after three touchdowns by Wanke, the Pittsburgh quarterback, with two late in the fourth quarter that cut the Longhorns’ lead to five, though they could not score after that as the Longhorns won the final Bluebonnet Bowl. Brett Stafford finished with 364 yards, including 202 in the first quarter, setting the record for most passing yards in a Bluebonnet Bowl. Jones set records for receiving yards and longest reception.

Aftermath

Bluebonnet Bowl organizers had intended to keep the game going and scheduled the 1988 game for December 31. However, on October 13 of that year, the officials for the bowl announced that the 1988 game would not be played. Citing low funding and a lack of a corporate sponsor (by 1988, most of the yearly bowls were carrying some form of sponsorship), the initial idea was to take the 1988 season off and return in 1989. This, however, never would materialize and the 1987 game would stand as the last.

References

Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl Bluebonnet Bowl Pittsburgh Panthers football bowl games Texas Longhorns football bowl games Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub