The 1985 Florida Citrus Bowl was the 40th held. It featured the

BYU Cougars The BYU Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. BYU fields 21 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity athletic teams. They are a member of the West ...

and the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

Background

Both teams were ranked coming into the Citrus Bowl, with BYU playing in their eighth consecutive bowl game. The Cougars appeared in nine more before the streak ended in 1994. Ohio State was playing their second bowl game in 1985, having played in the

1985 Rose Bowl The 1985 Rose Bowl Game was a postseason college football bowl game between the USC Trojans of the Pacific-10 Conference and Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference, held on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl in The game resulted in a ...

, in their 14th consecutive bowl season, that streak that ended in 1987.

Robbie Bosco Robbie Bosco (born January 11, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played college football at Brigham Young University (BYU). He is a native of Roseville, California. College career In 1984, Bosco took over as starting quarterb ...

had 338 of 511 passes for 4,273 yards and 30 touchdowns for BYU, and finished third in

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

voting. The game was to be predicted to be high scoring affair.

Game summary

The game was anything but high scoring for the offense. BYU lead at halftime 7–3 after

threw a touchdown pass to David Miles. Ohio State's offense could only muster a field goal by Rich Spangler late in the half. But it was in the third quarter when the game turned around for Ohio State. BYU was deep in their own territory at the 11-yard line when Bosco threw an interception to Larry Kolic, who returned it 14 yards for a touchdown and a 10–7 lead. BYU had three chances to rally in the fourth quarter, but were stopped each time. Their last drive went 50 yards (in 46 seconds), but with 10 seconds remaining, Bosco threw his fourth interception of the day, this time to Terry White. Bosco went 26 for 50 with only 261 yards in a game that saw eight combined turnovers. The game was also known for an acrobatic sideline catch by Ohio State receiver

Cris Carter Graduel Christopher Darin Carter (born November 25, 1965) is an American former American football, football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles (1987–1989), the Minnesota Vikings (1990� ...

caught a ball, one-handed, on a pass quarterback

Jim Karsatos Jim Karsatos (born May 26, 1963) is an American football player, Starting lineup, starting at quarterback for two years with the Ohio State University, Ohio State Ohio State Buckeyes football, Buckeyes. He is of Greek-American origin from the isl ...

was meaning to throw away. Karsatos has claimed that catch by Carter was the greatest in the history of college football: "When I finally saw it on film, he was tiptoeing the sidelines and he jumped up and caught the ball left-handed by the point of the football at least a yard out of bounds. Then he somehow levitated back in bounds to get both his feet in bounds. I swear to this day he actually levitated to get back in bounds. When I saw it on film, it just blew me away."

Statistics

References

Florida Citrus Bowl Camping World Stadium is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, located in the West Lakes neighborhood of Downtown Orlando, west of new sports and entertainment facilities including the Amway Center, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, an ...

Citrus Bowl (game) BYU Cougars football bowl games Ohio State Buckeyes football bowl games

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