| Game Name: | Bluebonnet Bowl |
| Date Game Played: | December 31 |
| Year Game Played: | 1985 |
| Football Season: | 1985 |
| Home Name Short: | Texas |
| Home Nickname: | Longhorns |
| Home Record: | 8–3 |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 0 |
| Home 3Q: | 3 |
| Home 4Q: | 6 |
| Mvp: | Pat Evans, FB, Air Force |
| Visitor Name Short: | Air Force |
| Visitor Nickname: | Falcons |
| Visitor Record: | 11–1 |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 10 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 7 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 3 |
| Type: | bg |
| Referee: | Courtney Mauzy (ACC) |
| Attendance: | 42,000 |
| Odds: | Air Force by 6 [1] |
The 1985 Bluebonnet Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Texas Longhorns and Air Force Falcons, played on December 31 at Rice Stadium in
The Falcons ran the wishbone offense and had the most regular season victories in program history with eleven, but a conference loss to defending national champion BYU at Provo on November 16 cost them a shot at the national title and an outright Western Athletic Conference This was the fourth consecutive bowl appearance for Air Force, the previous three were victories. Unranked Texas tied for second in the Southwest Conference (SWC) but had lost to rival Texas A&M to end the regular season; it was their ninth straight bowl appearance and first Bluebonnet Bowl in five years.
This Bluebonnet Bowl was the first at Rice Stadium since 1967; the previous seventeen editions were at the Astrodome. Nearly a dozen years earlier, Rice Stadium hosted Super Bowl VIII (January 1974).
Kickoff was at 1:45 pm CST.[2]
Air Force fullback Pat Evans had 18 carries for 129 yards in an MVP effort.[3]
| Statistics | Air Force | Texas | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First downs | 17 | 14 | |
| Rushes | 53 | 49 | |
| Rushing yards | 189 | 214 | |
| Passes | 1–5 | 9–18 | |
| Passing yards | 5 | 88 | |
| Punts–average | 11–49.2 | 6–44.5 | |
| Fumbles–lost | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| Interceptions | 0 | 2 | |
| Penalties–yards | 6–45 | 8–67 |
The Falcons finished in the top ten in both major polls (fifth in Coaches, eighth in AP), which remains their highest ranking ever. Texas lost its fourth straight bowl and did not make a bowl game the following season and head coach Fred Akers was soon fired.