The 1981 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl was a college footballbowl game, played on December 31, 1981. It was the 23rd Bluebonnet Bowl game. The Michigan Wolverines defeated the UCLA Bruins by a score of 33–14. This was the first bowl game meeting of a Big Ten team and a Pac-10 team outside the Rose Bowl Game and was labeled the "mini Rose Bowl".[2] Both teams were in the running to meet in the 1982 Rose Bowl, but had their seasons spoiled on November 21, 1981, by their arch-rivals.
The defending 1981 Rose Bowl champion Wolverines, who were the preseason #1, opened with a loss to Wisconsin. This led to the Badgers being ranked afterwards. Also, losing the #1 ranking led to the Clemson Tigers winning their first consensus national championship. The Wolverines responded the next week by beating Notre Dame 25-7. Wins over Navy and Indiana led to a cross state showdown at Michigan State, where the Wolverines downed the Spartans 38–20. The next week, Michigan hosted Iowa and lost 9–7. Michigan would win the next four games leading up to the Michigan–Ohio State rivalry football game on November 21. Michigan lost to Ohio State 14–9. Ohio State and Iowa were tied for the Big Ten conference championship. Iowa would go on to the 1982 Rose Bowl, as Iowa and Ohio State did not play each other, and Ohio State had been to the 1980 Rose Bowl.
The Bruins opened the season with wins at Arizona and at #20 Wisconsin. They lost at Iowa, the eventual Big Ten champion 20–9. Even with a 26–23 loss at Stanford and a tie at Washington State, the Bruins were in position to win the Pacific-10 after four straight wins. Going into the UCLA–USC rivalry football game, The Rose Bowl was on the line for the third time for Terry Donahue's UCLA Bruins teams against USC. UCLA lost to USC in a 21–20 nailbiter, which put Washington into the 1982 Rose Bowl. Washington had defeated USC just the week before in what would prove to be the other conference deciding game.
^Attendance of 50,107 according to the Michigan football media guide, 40,309 according to the UCLA football media guide. From 1965 to 1983, the Astrodome had a capacity of 50,000 for football.
^Michigan Bowl History, 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl. University of Michigan Athletic Department
External linksedit
Summary at Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Athletics History
January 01, 1970
1981, astro, bluebonnet, bowl, college, football, bowl, game, played, december, 1981, 23rd, bluebonnet, bowl, game, michigan, wolverines, defeated, ucla, bruins, score, this, first, bowl, game, meeting, team, team, outside, rose, bowl, game, labeled, mini, ros. The 1981 Astro Bluebonnet Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31 1981 It was the 23rd Bluebonnet Bowl game The Michigan Wolverines defeated the UCLA Bruins by a score of 33 14 This was the first bowl game meeting of a Big Ten team and a Pac 10 team outside the Rose Bowl Game and was labeled the mini Rose Bowl 2 Both teams were in the running to meet in the 1982 Rose Bowl but had their seasons spoiled on November 21 1981 by their arch rivals 1981 Astro Bluebonnet BowlUCLA Bruins Michigan Wolverines 7 3 1 8 3 14 33Head coach Terry Donahue Head coach Bo SchembechlerAPCoaches1916 APCoaches16131234 TotalUCLA 0077 14Michigan 100320 33DateDecember 31 1981Season1981StadiumHouston AstrodomeLocationHouston TexasMVPButch WoolfolkNational anthemMichigan Marching BandRefereeDixon Holman SWC Halftime showUCLA Band and Michigan Marching BandAttendance50 107 1 United States TV coverageNetworkMizlou Television NetworkAnnouncersRay Scott and Lee CorsoAstro Bluebonnet Bowl lt 1980 1982 gt Contents 1 Teams 1 1 Michigan 1 2 UCLA 2 Game summary 2 1 Scoring 2 1 1 First quarter 2 1 2 Second quarter 2 1 3 Third quarter 2 1 4 Fourth quarter 2 2 Aftermath 3 References 4 External linksTeams editMain article 1981 NCAA Division I A football season Michigan edit Main article 1981 Michigan Wolverines football team The defending 1981 Rose Bowl champion Wolverines who were the preseason 1 opened with a loss to Wisconsin This led to the Badgers being ranked afterwards Also losing the 1 ranking led to the Clemson Tigers winning their first consensus national championship The Wolverines responded the next week by beating Notre Dame 25 7 Wins over Navy and Indiana led to a cross state showdown at Michigan State where the Wolverines downed the Spartans 38 20 The next week Michigan hosted Iowa and lost 9 7 Michigan would win the next four games leading up to the Michigan Ohio State rivalry football game on November 21 Michigan lost to Ohio State 14 9 Ohio State and Iowa were tied for the Big Ten conference championship Iowa would go on to the 1982 Rose Bowl as Iowa and Ohio State did not play each other and Ohio State had been to the 1980 Rose Bowl UCLA edit Main article 1981 UCLA Bruins football team The Bruins opened the season with wins at Arizona and at 20 Wisconsin They lost at Iowa the eventual Big Ten champion 20 9 Even with a 26 23 loss at Stanford and a tie at Washington State the Bruins were in position to win the Pacific 10 after four straight wins Going into the UCLA USC rivalry football game The Rose Bowl was on the line for the third time for Terry Donahue s UCLA Bruins teams against USC UCLA lost to USC in a 21 20 nailbiter which put Washington into the 1982 Rose Bowl Washington had defeated USC just the week before in what would prove to be the other conference deciding game Game summary editScoring edit First quarter edit Michigan Ali Haji Sheikh 24 yard field goal Michigan Anthony Carter 50 yard pass from Steve Smith Haji Sheikh converts Second quarter edit no scoring Third quarter edit UCLA Jojo Townsell 17 yard pass from Tom Ramsey Norm Johnson converts Michigan Haji Sheikh 47 yard field goal Fourth quarter edit Michigan Butch Woolfolk one yard run Run failed UCLA Tim Wrightman nine yard pass from Ramsey Johnson converts Michigan Smith nine yard run Haji Sheikh converts Michigan B J Dickey five yard run Haji Sheikh converts Aftermath edit The Bluebonnet Bowl was the first of three meetings between the schools in 367 days They met during the 1982 NCAA Division I A football season twice at Michigan Stadium where UCLA won 31 27 and in the 1983 Rose Bowl where UCLA earned a 24 14 victory References edit Attendance of 50 107 according to the Michigan football media guide 40 309 according to the UCLA football media guide From 1965 to 1983 the Astrodome had a capacity of 50 000 for football Michigan Bowl History 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl University of Michigan Athletic DepartmentExternal links editSummary at Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan Athletics History Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1981 Astro Bluebonnet Bowl amp oldid 1174227396, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
