1995 Las Vegas Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date | December 14, 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Season | 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Stadium | Sam Boyd Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Whitney, Nevada | |||||||||||||||||||||
MVP | Wasean Tait | |||||||||||||||||||||
Payout | US$175,000 per team | |||||||||||||||||||||
The 1995 Las Vegas Bowl was an American college football bowl game player on December 14, 1995 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada. It was the fourth edition of the annual Las Vegas Bowl. The game was a bowl rematch of the Toledo Rockets and Nevada Wolf Pack who had played in Reno during the regular season. Toledo came into the game undefeated at 10–0–1. This game is the first Division I-A football game to go into overtime, as the overtime rule was adopted starting with the 1995 bowl season. It is also the only Las Vegas Bowl game to go to overtime, with Toledo winning 40–37 and capping an undefeated season.
In the first quarter, quarterback Ryan Huzjak scored on a 31-yard rushing touchdown, giving Toledo an early 7–0 lead. Nevada's Ken Minor scored on a 2-yard touchdown run, making it a 7–7 tie. In the second quarter, Wasean Tait scored on touchdown runs of 18 and 31 yards as Toledo claimed a 21–7 lead. With a minute left in the first half, Minor scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, as Nevada cut the deficit to 21–14 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Damon Shea kicked a 34-yard field goal to make the score 21–17 in favor of Toledo. Dwayne Harris of Toledo scored on a 16-yard touchdown run, but a missed extra point kept the score at 27–17. Nevada's Eric Bennett came back to score on a 4-yard touchdown run, to make the score 27–24 Toledo at the end of three quarters of action.
In the fourth quarter, Tait scored on a 36-yard touchdown run to push the lead back up to 34–24 for Toledo. Minor answered with his third rushing touchdown of the game, a 1-yarder to make it 34–31 Toledo. Shea kicked a 26-yard field goal to tie the game, which headed to overtime. In overtime Shea kicked his third field goal of the game, a 22-yarder that gave Nevada its first lead of the game at 37–34. Tait rushed for his fourth touchdown of the game, a 2-yarder, as Toledo won in dramatic fashion, 40–37 in overtime, to cap an undefeated season.