The1978 Holiday Bowl was the inauguralcollege footballbowl game of theHoliday Bowl. It was played on December 22, 1978, atSan Diego Stadium inSan Diego, California. The game was part of the1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. It featured theNavy Midshipmen against theBYU Cougars. Navy won 23–16.

1978 Holiday Bowl
A 1978 Holiday Bowl football, signed by BYU presidentDallin H. Oaks.
Navy Midshipmen BYU Cougars (8–3) (9–3) Independent WAC 23 16 Head coach:  George Welsh Head coach:  LaVell Edwards
1 2 3 4 Total Navy 0 3 7 13 23 BYU 3 6 7 0 16
Date	December 22, 1978
Season	1978
Stadium	San Diego Stadium
Location	San Diego, California
MVP	WRPhil McConkey (Navy) Tom Enlow (BYU)
Attendance	52,500[1]
Payout	US$218,645 per team[1]
Holiday Bowl   1979 >

Navy won their first seven games of the season, the most wins in a streak in years. A loss to Notre Dame sparked a losing streak that spanned to their games against Syracuse and Florida State, but the Midshipmen managed to rout Army 28–0 to win their eighth game, the most in a season since the nine win year in1963. The Cougars had won their third straightWestern Athletic Conference title (their fourth in five years), with a 5-1 conference record (their only loss being to Utah in theHoly War). BYU was making their 3rd bowl appearance in four years, after skipping the previous year (and their invite to theFiesta Bowl) due to the game falling on a Sunday.

• BYU – Brent Johnson 33 yard field goal
• Navy – Bob Tata 40 yard field goal
• BYU – Mike Chronister 10 yard touchdown pass fromJim McMahon (kick fail)
• BYU – McMahon 2 yard touchdown run (Johnson kick)
• Navy – Kevin Tolbert 4 yard touchdown run (Tata kick)
• Navy – Tata 28 yard field goal
• Navy –Phil McConkey 65 yard touchdown pass from Bob Leszczynski (Tata kick)
• Navy – Tata 27 yard field goal

For Navy, Bob Lesczynski threw 7-of-13 for 123 yards for one touchdown.Phil McConkey caught 4 passes for 88 yards and rushed for 42 yards on 2 carries, while being named MVP. For BYU, Jim McMahon threw 9-of-18 for 133 yards for one touchdown and one interception. Mike Chronister caught 3 passes for 60 yards and one touchdown.^[2][3][4]

This was the first in seven consecutive Holiday Bowl appearances for the Cougars, who won four of the seven they played, including one against Michigan in1984 that determined the national championship. Navy has not reached the Holiday bowl since this game, while they went on a bowl win drought of 18 years, not winning one until1996.