| Game Name: | Freedom Bowl |
| Subheader: | Freedom Bowl VIII |
| Date Game Played: | December 30 |
| Year Game Played: | 1991 |
| Football Season: | 1991 |
| Home Name Short: | San Diego State |
| Home Nickname: | Aztecs |
| Home Record: | 8–3–1 |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 7 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 3 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Tulsa |
| Visitor Nickname: | Golden Hurricane |
| Visitor Record: | 9–2 |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 22 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 25 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 7 |
| Us Network: | Raycom |
| Us Announcers: | Phil Stone and Dave Rowe |
| Mvp: | RB Ron Jackson (Tulsa) |
| Type: | bg |
| Attendance: | 34,217 |
The Freedom Bowl featured the San Diego State Aztecs and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane as their postseason bowl game to end the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season for both teams.[1]
While the Aztecs finished second in the Western Athletic Conference, they were invited to their first bowl game since the 1986 Holiday Bowl. They were led by Marshall Faulk, who in his freshman year ran for 1,429 yards rushing and scored 23 total touchdowns. Meanwhile, this was Tulsa's 2nd bowl appearance in three seasons.
Ron Jackson scored all of Tulsa's touchdowns four in total with three of them giving Tulsa the lead and the final being the exclamation point. He rushed for 211 yards on 46 carries. Faulk gave the Aztecs the lead with a touchdown run, though Tulsa responded with by scoring two straight touchdown runs by Jackson. Lowery made the game tied at halftime with a touchdown run. But the Aztecs were stuffed in the second half, being held to a field goal with 83 total yards as Tulsa scored twice more and never looked back. A key moment in the game happened when quarterback/punter Gus Frerotte punted the ball to T. C. Wright with Tulsa leading 21–17. Wright was at his own eight when he fumbled the ball, and Billy Cole recovered for Tulsa. Two plays later, the Hurricane scored on Jackson's final touchdown to give Tulsa their first bowl win since 1964.[2]
The Hurricane went into a slump from that point on, going 26–57–1 under Rader in the eight years after the game before being fired, in contrast to his 26–26 record before this game. The Freedom Bowl would play three more games before disbanding after 1994.
| Statistics | Tulsa | SDSU |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 23 | 21 |
| Yards Rushing | 256 | 189 |
| Yards Passing | 122 | 164 |
| Total Yards | 378 | 353 |
| Punts-Average | 5-34.4 | 5-35.2 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 4-1 | 3-2 |
| Interceptions | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 2-20 | 6-38 |