Cougars toppled in Holiday Bowl, 65-14
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BYU closed the book on its 1990 football season Dec. 29 with a 65-14 loss at the hands of Texas A&M.
The loss, in the Sea World Holiday Bowl, marked BYU's greatest margin of defeat ever."We just got beat, and that's going to happen, I don't care who you are," said BYU Coach LaVell Edwards. "We've done our share of it."
Indeed. As recently as November, BYU was still playing the role of the blowout artist, concluding a string of six wipeout wins with defeats of Utah and Utah State.
Then came the 59-28 Hawaii disaster, which seemed as bad as it could get, only to be topped by the Aggie assault.
Texas A&M used an all-out blitz to pressure BYU quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer. When they weren't causing him to make mistakes, the Aggies were pounding him into the turf, ultimately causing separations to both of his shoulders.
"Soon as I went down I knew I was in trouble," Detmer said. "I felt it popping in there."
Detmer left the game, along with any chance BYU had of making another miracle bowl comeback. He had completed just 11 of 23 passes for 120 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.
Even a Heisman Trophy winner might not have been enough to bring BYU back, however. Aggie quarterback Bucky Richardson played the game of his career in leading A&M to 680 yards total offense. Richardson did something that only one other quarterback in Holiday Bowl history - BYU's Steve Young - had done in scoring touchdowns running, passing and receiving.
Richardson ended up completing nine of 11 passes for 203 yards, while carrying the ball 12 times for 129 yards. He got a lot of help from All-America tailback Darren Lewis, who gained 109 yards on 25 carries.
On the positive side for BYU, Detmer still maintains that he will be back for his senior season rather than turn professional. The Cougars lose 15 starters to graduation, but they have a number of talented underclassmen waiting to fill their positions.
