1995 Copper Bowl

Last updated

1995 Weiser Lock Copper Bowl
7th Copper Bowl
1234Total
Air Force76151341
Texas Tech211071755
DateDecember 27, 1995
Season 1995
Stadium Arizona Stadium
Location Tucson, Arizona
MVP Zebbie Lethridge (QB, Texas Tech) & Mickey Dalton (CB, Air Force)
Referee Gordon Riese (Pac-10)
Attendance41,004
Payout US$750,000 per team [1]
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN
Announcers Brad Nessler (play-by-play)
Gary Danielson (color)
Copper Bowl
 < 1994   1996 > 

The 1995 Copper Bowl was an American college football bowl game play on December 27, 1995, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona. It was the seventh edition of the annual bowl Copper Bowl. The game featured the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and the Air Force Falcons.

Contents

Background

The Red Raiders were 1-2 against ranked opponents, losing to #4 Penn State and #13 Texas but beating #8 Texas A&M. They finished tied for 2nd in the Southwest Conference with Texas A&M and Baylor. This was Texas Tech's third bowl game in two seasons. Air Force finished as co-champion of the Western Athletic Conference in a rare four-way tie, with Colorado State, BYU, and Utah. Air Force had beaten BYU to begin the season, but they lost to Colorado State and Utah. However, they were the only one of the four to be invited to a bowl game, their 7th in 10 seasons.

Game summary

First quarter

Second quarter

Third quarter

Fourth quarter

Texas Tech scored first on a 38-yard pass from quarterback Zebbie Lethridge to Stacy Mitchell. Air Force countered with a 2-yard run from Nakia Addison to tie it 7–7, but Texas Tech scored the next three touchdowns, amassing a 31–13 lead by halftime. In the second half, Air Force came within a field goal of the lead at 31–28 with a 60-yard run from Danta Johnson, but Texas Tech running back Byron Hanspard came alive with 201 yards and two of his four touchdowns in the second half, leading the Red Raiders to a 55–41 victory. Byron Hanspard rushed for 260 yards on 24 carries and four touchdowns while also catching two passes for 18 yards. [2]

Statistics

StatisticsTexas TechAir Force
First downs2825
Rushing yards361431
Passing yards24583
Total offense606514
Passing22–41–17–13–0
Punts–average3–43.33–39.3
Return yards1242
Fumbles–lost1–03–1
Penalties–yards11–906–51

Aftermath

Both teams went to two more bowl games before the decade ended, although Texas Tech did not win another bowl game until 2002 while Air Force won in 1998.

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References

  1. "24 X 7". infoplease.com. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  2. "Auto PDF p hotos s chools text sports m footbl auto PDF 05mediaguide bowlhistory - Texas Tech Athletics". Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2017.