1984 California Bowl
| 1984 California Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 15, 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Bulldog Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Fresno, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 21,741 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1984 California Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 15, 1984 at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, California. The game pitted the UNLV Rebels and the Toledo Rockets.
The Rebels rebounded from a 7–4 year in 1983 to win the Pacific Coast Athletic Association title with a perfect conference record, with their only losses being to Hawaii and SMU. This was UNLV's first ever bowl game appearance. The Rockets started the season 5–0–1, with victories over four conference opponents and a tie at Ohio. A loss to Kent State was their only conference loss, as they finished the season with three straight conference wins (and a loss against independent Temple) to win the Mid-American Conference for the second time in four seasons.
Randall Cunningham wnet 18-of-28 for two touchdowns, one interception and one touchdown run. UNLV had 127 rushing yards, 270 passing yards, and 77 return yards. Toledo had 203 rushing yards, 137 passing yards, and 96 return yards. UNLV turned it over three times, while Toledo turned it over once.
After the game, it was found that UNLV had allegedly used ineligible players during the season. Despite the fact that they were not used in the bowl game, the school forfeited the win, though the NCAA does not recognize the forfeit. Because of this, both teams treat it as a victory in a technical sense. Toledo was given the trophy from the game, though when the two teams met years later, the trophy was evidently lost. Both teams underwent bowl droughts after this game, with the Rebels not going to a bowl game again unil 1994 and the Rockets not going to a bowl game until 1995. Both teams won their games, which both took place in the Las Vegas Bowl, the successor to the California Bowl.
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