BYU Football: Travel Back In Time As I Rank All Nine of the Cougars' Bowl Wins

It's time to travel back to the past and rank the BYU bowl victories from nine to one.

Although BYU's 9-17-1 overall postseason record is not one to write home about, the games they won were mostly unforgettable finishes.

From what may be the greatest comeback in the history of college sports to an historic first national championship, BYU's bowl past is thrilling to recall.

So let's get right to it, starting at number nine...

No. 9—2007 Las Vegas Bowl: BYU 17 - UCLA 16

It may have had one of the best endings but this one comes in at number nine, as No. 17 BYU (11-2) survived by blocking a field goal as time expired. It was Eathyn Manumaleuna who got his paw on a 28-yard field goal attempt to preserve the win over a 6-7 UCLA team.

BYU wide receiver Austin Collie was the MVP. Collie had six catches and 107 yards plus a TD.

No. 8—2006 Las Vegas Bowl: BYU 38 - Oregon 8

John Beck led the Cougs in a route of a pretty decent 7-5 Oregon Ducks squad. The win was the first since the '97 Cotton Bowl.

Johnny Harline was named the MVP.

No. 7—1994 Copper Bowl: BYU 31 - Oklahoma 6

John Walsh led BYU to the convincing win over a 6-5 Oklahoma team.

The Cougs came into the game at 9-3. After the win, John Walsh declared early for the NFL draft and has not been heard of since.

No. 6—1981 Holiday Bowl: BYU 38 - Washington St. 36

Led by QB Jim McMahon, BYU (10-2) jumped out to the early 31-7 lead and then hung on for a 38-36 win after Washington St. (8-2-1) came charging back.

Current Utah head coach, Kyle Whittingham, was the game MVP, with 10 tackles and one fumble recovery.

No. 5—1988 Freedom Bowl: BYU 20 - Colorado 17

This game made my top five for one solid reason: it was an unknown backup QB named Ty Detmer, who entered the game in the second half with BYU trailing, and rallied the 8-4 Cougars to the upset win over a very good 8-3 Colorado team.

Detmer completed 11-of-18 passes for 129 yards in just the second half.

It was this breakthrough performance that solidified his starting job which eventually led to the Heisman trophy award in 1990.

No. 4—1983 Holiday Bowl: BYU 21 - Missouri 17

Missouri (7-4), led 17-14 with thirty seconds to play when BYU quarterback Steve Young handed the ball off to running back Eddie Stinnett. Stinnett then stopped and threw back across the field. The pass found Young, streaking for the end zone for the winning touchdown with 23 seconds remaining.

Young, who was named MVP, ended up throwing for one TD and rushing for another, finishing with 314 yards passing.

The Cougs were 10-1 coming into the game.

No. 3—1980 Holiday Bowl: BYU 46 - SMU 45

The 1980 Holiday Bowl was quite possibly the greatest come-from-behind win in the history of college sports.

BYU (11-1) trailed SMU (8-3) 45-25 with less than 4 minutes to go in the game, when quarterback Jim McMahon hit wide receiver Matt Braga with a 15-yard touchdown pass with 2:33 remaining. The two-point conversion failed.

BYU then recovered an onside kick at midfield and McMahon completed two passes to the 1-yard line before running back Scott Phillips ran it in with 1:58 remaining. McMahon passed to Phillips for the two-point conversion to make it 45-39.

BYU tried another onside kick, but it was recovered by SMU at the Cougars' 47-yard line. The Mustangs' drive stalled and a fourth down punt was blocked by BYU's Bill Schoepflin.

The Cougars were 41 yards from the end zone with 13 seconds remaining. McMahon threw two incomplete passes before arching a Hail Mary pass towards the end zone on the game's final play.

The ball came down in the hands of Clay Brown, who made the catch despite being surrounded by three SMU defenders. Kurt Gunther's extra point gave BYU its first bowl victory in five tries.

No. 2—1996 Cotton Bowl: BYU 19 - Kansas St. 15

In BYU's first ever New Year's Day Bowl, the 13-1 and No. 5-ranked Cougars came from behind to beat Big 12 champion Kansas St. (9-2), when QB Steve Sarkisian hit K.O. Kealaluhi in the the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown with three minutes, 39 seconds left.

Kansas St. would put together one last drive and reach the BYU 17-yard line, but a key interception for BYU secured the win.

No. 1—1984 Holiday Bowl: BYU 24 - Michigan 17

The number one ranked game is obvious, because it ended with BYU finishing in both polls as the number one ranked team in America. BYU finished the year at 13-0 and won their first and only National Championship.

Cougar quarterback and Holiday Bowl MVP Robbie Bosco passed for 343 yards and two touchdowns, despite playing most of the game on a severely injured ankle. Bosco's 13-yard touchdown pass to Kelly Smith was the game-winner with 1:23 remaining.