Alamo Bowl invite brings second chance after 1994 loss to Washington State
Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor
By Daniel Wallace
Sports Writer
The Bears will have the luxury of staying in Texas to play in their second bowl in 2 years. The Valero Alamo Bowl will be played at San Antonio’s Alamodome, in San Antonio which has a capacity of 66, 000.
This is only the second Big 12 vs. Pac-12 match-up in Alamo Bowl history, with the first coming last year when Oklahoma State upended Arizona 36-10.
The Big Ten and the Big 12 were the conferences competing in the bowl from 1995-2010. In 1993 and 1994, the match-ups featured the Southwest Conference and the Pac-10.
This year’s selection into the Alamo Bowl for the Bears is the second time in school history.
In 1994, Baylor was a member of the Southwest Conference and earned a bid into the Alamo Bowl.
The Bears did not come out on top in that game, however, as they fell to Washington State 10-3 in a defensive battle.
That year’s Baylor squad set a then-school record of 359 points but was unable to generate much offense against the nation’s second-ranked team.
The Bears’ defense, however, did hold Washington State to just seven rushing yards in that game.
Since its inception in 1993, the Alamo Bowl has featured some of the most thrilling finishes and intriguing match-ups.
The 2008 Valero Alamo Bowl saw No. 23 Missouri top No. 20 Northwestern in the second overtime game in Alamo Bowl history.
The MVP of that game was the current offensive star wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, Jeremy Maclin. He had the game-winning touchdown and returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to lead his Tigers past the Wildcats 30-23.
The 2000 Sylvania Alamo Bowl was an offensive explosion, where 83 points were scored. The Nebraska Corn Huskers scored 66 of those points and proved too powerful offensively for Northwestern. The Cornhuskers offense put up 636 total yards, 467 of which were rushing yards, which both are Alamo Bowl records.
The No. 18 Texas A&M Aggies were dominated by the No. 13 Penn Sate Nittany Lions in the 1999 Sylvania Alamo Bowl.
The Aggies lost 24-0, never recovering from quarterback Randy McCown’s first two pass attempts that were intercepted, including a 34-yard touchdown return for the first points of the game.
In a rematch in 2007, the Aggies fell again to the Nittany Lions 24-17 despite grabbing an early two-touchdown lead.
In 1998, the No. 4 ranked Kansas State Wildcats trailed 30-20 with 6:44 remaining in regulation against the Purdue Boilermakers. They rallied for two touchdowns to take a 34-30 lead with 84 seconds left on the clock after a touchdown from Wildcat quarterback Darnell McDonald to tight end Justin Swift. That was too much time for the 1998 Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year and future Superbowl MVP, Drew Brees.
In an 80-yard drive that only took 54 seconds to complete, Brees found Isaac Jones for the game-winning touchdown to stun the Wildcats and put the finishing touches on a wild, comeback victory. The 1998 Wildcats’ No. 4 rank is the highest of any team to play in the Alamo Bowl.
The Big 12 is 7-7 all-time in the Alamo Bowl and the Pac-10 is 2-1.
