The1981 Holiday Bowl was acollege footballbowl game played on December 18 inSan Diego, California. It was part of the1981 NCAA Division I-A football season, and was the fourth edition of theHoliday Bowl.^[3] The Friday night game was the third of sixteen games in thisbowl season and featured the #20Washington State Cougars of thePac-10 Conference, and the 14th-rankedBYU Cougars, champions of theWestern Athletic Conference.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

It was the first bowl appearancein 51 years forWashington State,^[9] who used a two-quarterback system: juniorClete Casper was the passer and sophomoreRicky Turner the runner.^[10] Meanwhile, it was the fourth straight year in the Holiday Bowl for BYU. BYU's quarterback was consensusAll-American and futureSuper Bowl championJim McMahon, the fifth overall pick of the1982 NFL draft. He was backed up by sophomoreSteve Young, a future member of thePro Football Hall of Fame and also aSuper Bowl champion.

Favored BYU scored first on a 35-yard pass from McMahon to Dan Plater, the only scoring of the first quarter. McMahon threw a 7-yard pass toGordon Hudson to increase BYU's leadto 14–0. Washington State got on the board after quarterback Turner scored on a two-yard run. BYU's Kurt Gunther kicked a 20-yard field goal and Waymon Hamilton ran in from a yard out to give BYU a24–7 leadat halftime.^[5][6][7]

Early in the third quarter, BYU cornerbackTom Holmoe intercepted a Casper pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown, but WSU scored three unanswered touchdowns. Running back Matt LaBonne scored on an 18-yard run, Robert Williams scored on a 5-yard run, and Turner scored again on a 13-yard run to close the BYU lead to three points (31–28) at the end of thethird quarter.^[5][6][7]

McMahon fired an 11-yard touchdown pass to Scott Pettis to take the lead back to ten pointsat 38–28. WSU fullback Mike Martin scored from a yard out and Turner added a 2-point conversion to close the gap to two points(38–36) with five minutes remaining. Late in the game, McMahon fumbled a third-down snap but picked up the ball and ran for a first down that helped to clinch the victory for BYU.^[11]

The players of the game, both from BYU, were McMahon and middle linebackerKyle Whittingham,^[6] the future head coach atUtah. BYU evened its record in the bowlat 2–2,^[3][8] and played in the next three.

BYU moved up one spot to thirteenth in thefinal AP poll, and Washington State slipped out of thetop twenty;^[12] their next bowl appearance wasseven years later.

First quarter

• BYU – Dan Plater 35 pass fromJim McMahon (Kurt Gunther kick)

Second quarter

• BYU –Gordon Hudson 4 pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)
• WSU –Ricky Turner 4 run (Ward Leland kick)
• BYU – Field goal, Gunther 20
• BYU – Waymon Hamilton 1 run (Gunther kick)

Third quarter

• BYU –Tom Holmoe 35 interception return (Gunther kick)
• WSU – Matt LaBomme 18 run (Pat Beach pass from Clete Casper)
• WSU – Robert Williams 5 run (pass failed)
• WSU – Turner 13 run (Leland kick)

Fourth quarter

• BYU – Scott Pettis 11 pass from McMahon (Gunther kick)
• WSU – Mike Martin 1 run (Turner run)

Source:^[5][6][7]

Statistics	WSU	BYU
First Downs	23	22
Rushes–yards	53-245	32-69
Passing yards	106	368
Passes	8-25-2	28–44–0
Total yards	351	437
Punts–average	8–41	8–37
Fumbles–lost	0–0	5–0
Turnovers by	2	0
Penalties-yards	5-45	9-86

Source:^[5][6][7]