Holiday Bowl

1992

Hawaii 27

Illinois 17

Hawaii Fight Song

Head Coach Lou Tepper ended his first full year at the helm of the Illini by leading the team to its fifth-consecutive bowl appearance, the longest such streak in school history. The Rainbow Warriors experienced arguably their finest season in school history. The team, known as the 1992 Miracle, won the school’s first WAC title, opened the season with consecutive road victories over Oregon and Air Force and defeated archrival Brigham Young. UH needed a victory over Wyoming to clinch a share of the WAC title. They won, 42-18 and entered the Holiday Bowl ranked #24 in the nation, their highest ranking ever.

Illinois' offense got off to a quick start against Hawaii, marching 73 yards in nine plays to take a 7-0 lead on Jason Verduzco's 14-yard touchdown pass to John Wright after the first quarter. Hawaii responded witha 6 yard Travis Sims touchdown run and the game was tied at 7. Chris Richardson added a 19-yard field goal and Illinois led 10-7 at the half. Hawaii's explosive offense was held to only 87 first-half yards.

Hawaii stormed out of the locker room in the second half. They gained control of the game for good at the 9:29 mark of the third quarter on running back Sims' second touchdown, a 1-yard run, following an 80 yard drive. A Jason Elam field goal padded the lead before the end of the quarter. On its opening possession of th fourth quarter, a botched Illini lateral gave Hawaii the ball on the Illini's 21, but the UI defense held the Rainbows to only an Elam field goal. On Illinois' next possession, an interception gave Hawaii the ball once again, and the Rainbows proceeded to kill Illinois' hopes for a victory by cruising for another score on a 53 yard pass from Michael Carter to Darrick Branch (video). John Wright caught his second TD pass of the contest in the waning minutes for Illinois to make the final score 27-17.

Sims ran for 113 yards. Hawaii quarterback Michael Carter, the game's offensive MVP, rushed for 105 yards and threw for 115. Illinois quarterback Jason Verduzco completed 26 of 34 passes for 248 yards.

The WAC earned its second Holiday Bowl win against the Big Ten in eight tries. The Rainbow Warriors completed the best season in school history at 11-2. It was another disappointment for Illinois, which lost its third straight bowl game and fourth in its last five bowl appearances.

Illinois' Jason Verduzco.

Attendance- 44,457
 

Scoring Summary

First Quarter
UI- Wright 14 pass from Verduzco (Richardson kick)

Second Quarter
UH- Travis Sims 6 run (Jason Elam kick)
UI- Richardson 19 FG

Third Quarter
UH- Sims 1 run (Elam kick)
UH- Elam 45 FG

Fourth Quarter
UH- Elam 37 FG
UH- Darrick Branch 53 pass from Michael Carter (Elam kick)
UI- Wright 18 pass from Verduzco (Richardson kick)

Individual Statistics

Rushing
UI- Boyer 11-39, Steve Feagin 7-31
UH- Sims 29-113, Carter 21-105

Passing
UI- Verduzco 34-26-248
UH- Carter 16-6-15

Receiving
UI- Wright 7-82
UH- Branch 1-53

Home

Next