Holiday Bowl
1979
Indiana 38
BYU 37
SAN
DIEGO — Brent Johnson stood by himself on the field, hands on hips,
staring at the bright yellow goal posts that rose into the black night.
With seven seconds left in Brigham Young's most glorious football
season, he alone was left to decide the outcome of the Holiday Bowl. The
Cougars trailed 38-37 and all they needed was for Johnson to kick the
ball through the posts 27 yards away.
Johnson had been kicking straight and true all evening. His kickoffs
were high and long and already he had hit all three of his field goal
attempts, one from 46 yards. But not this time. The kick was never
close. The snap was quick, the hold good, but the kick floated off to
the left.
A half-hour later he was in the locker room, still fighting back tears,
sometimes unsuccessfully, but trying to answer questions politely,
sometimes with a smile. "I knew the minute I hit it what I did wrong,"
he said. "I didn't follow through. I punched at the ball. It was the
worst I've ever missed in my life. That's what makes it so hard." Then,
after a pause, "I hate to have it come down to my senior year and have
it end like this."
It seemed unfair that Johnson would bear the burden of defeat forever
despite the outpouring of affection and sympathy from fans, teammates
and coaches. That what he probably will remember most about a great
college career is The Miss. That moment he missed the kick will be
frozen forever in his mind. He'll replay it over and over.
It is unfair that his blunder alone, above all others, will be
remembered and cited as the reason for defeat. Forgotten will be the
interceptions, dropped passes and fumbles throughout the game. Always
the ending to any drama is remembered.
Indiana Coach Lee Corso unwittingly caught the situation best. He was
walking briskly to a post-game press conference when suddenly he wheeled
and ran back to the locker room through a trailing crowd of reporters,
yelling, "I'll be right back. I gotta go say a prayer with my team."
Truly, Corso had much to be thankful for.
BYU gave the Hoosiers several golden opportunities, and luck gave them
the right bounces and the clock. The Hoosiers didn't return the favor.
Marc Wilson threw a bullet so hard and accurately at Indiana's Steve
Mitchell that he had no choice but to catch it out of sheer
self-defense. Wilson apparently misread the pattern or receiver Lloyd
Jones.
Corso also can be thankful that time ran out in the first half just as
Jones was catching a 39-yard pass at the two-yard line, where he was
forced out of bounds.
When Corso counts his blessings, he'll want to include the third-quarter
fumble of a punt by Doug Francis at the 10-yard line. The ball rolled to
the one-yard line, where it was recovered, appropriately enough, by
Lucky Wallace. That led to a touchdown and a 28-24 lead. Moments later
Tim Wilbur intercepted another Wilson pass and the Hoosiers drove 22
yards for a field goal. Even then not without the aid of BYU's only
penalty of the night, a 15-yard personal foul.
But what Corso can be most thankful for is a fluke punt. Johnson's third
field goal and Indiana's lone turnover, an interception by Tim
Halverson that led to a 15-yard TD pass to Eric Lane, gave BYU a 37-31
lead. The Cougars seemed very much in control, but with eight minutes
left were forced to punt. The ball sailed upfield and hit Indiana's
Craig Walls on the back on the first bounce. The second bounce landed in
the hands of Wilbur, who happened to be running by at the time and kept
on running 62 yards for a touchdown (video).
So despite gaining 520 yards, compared to Indiana's 354, the Cougars
trailed by one point and it was left once more for Wilson to drive the
Cougars upfield. Despite the interceptions, Wilson played well,
completing 28 of 43 passes for 380 yards (video), and the offense was never
stopped except by its own mistakes. Trouble was, the Hoosiers kept the
ball away from Wilson as was their plan. The Hoosiers did just that,
keeping the ball 10 minutes more than BYU.
When Wilson got the ball for the last time with two minutes left, he
moved the team to within field goal range to set the stage for Johnson.
In the end it was left to Johnson, who never asked for such a job to
start with. Johnson asked for a tryout as a wide receiver five years
ago, and by his sophomore year he was given a scholarship — but as a
kicker exclusively. "I found my home in kicking," he said.
It was an anti-climactic end to BYU's dream season. The Cougars wanted
desperately to win their first bowl game in four tries and solidify
their top 10 ranking and unbeaten season. And they wanted to beat the
Hoosiers, who BYU players thought were taking them lightly because of
Indiana's Big 10 Conference membership. Even Corso's famous one-liners
during the week leading up to the game were interpreted as taking the
Cougars lightly.
Corso, not wasting any time nor the moment, said, "It's a great win for
the Big 10. If BYU's No. 9, then we're eighth."
The Hoosiers, too, had something to prove. They were deemed an unworthy
bowl opponent for BYU by many. The announcement of their selection to
the bowl was booed by BYU fans. "I hope people wonder about inviting
Indiana now," said Corso. "Don't forget that a certain amount of humor
is not a sign of weakness. We came here to win." So did the Cougars, who
after losing two straight must think this bowl isn't such a holiday
after all.
Lee Corso
Attendance- 45,415
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
BYU- Lane 1 run (Johnson kick)
IU- Stephenson 38 pass from Clifford (Kellog kick)
IU- Clifford 1 run (Kellog kick)
BYU- Wilson 3 run (Johnson kick)
Second Quarter
BYU- FG Johnson 46
IU- Clifford 1 run (Kellog kick)
Third Quarter
BYU- H. Jones 14 pass from Wilson (Johnson kick)
IU- Harkrader 1 run (Kellog kick)
IU- FG Kellog 26
BYU- FG Johnson 29
BYU- Lane 15 pass from Wilson (Johnson kick)
Fourth Quarter
BYU- FG Johnson 28
IU- Wilbur 62 punt return (Kellog kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
IU- Johnson 21-76, Harkrader 24-71, Bowres 5-36
BYU- Jones 8-55, Lane 9-26, Phillips 4-31
Passing
IU- Clifford 11-29-171
BYU- Wilson 28-43-380
Receiving
IU- Stephenson 5-91, Harangoody 2-31, Friede 2-43
BYU- Brown 9-142, Lane 9-79, Jones 4-35
