| Year Game Played: | 1992 |
| Game Name: | Copper Bowl |
| Football Season: | 1992 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Utah |
| Visitor Nickname: | Utes |
| Visitor School: | University of Utah |
| Home Name Short: | Washington State |
| Home Nickname: | Cougars |
| Home School: | Washington State University |
| Visitor Record: | 6–5 |
| Visitor Conference: | WAC |
| Home Record: | 8–3 |
| Home Conference: | Pac-10 |
| Visitor Coach: | Ron McBride |
| Home Coach: | Mike Price |
| Home Rank Ap: | 18 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 18 |
| Home Rank Bowlcoalition: | 18 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 0 |
| Home 1Q: | 21 |
| Home 2Q: | 7 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 3 |
| Date Game Played: | December 29 |
| Stadium: | Arizona Stadium |
| City: | Tucson, Arizona |
| Mvp: | Drew Bledsoe (QB, WSU) Kareem Leary (DB, Utah) |
| Odds: | Washington State by 8 points [1] [2] |
| Referee: | Steve Usechek (Big Eight) |
| Attendance: | 40,826 |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers Link: | List of announcers of major college bowl games |
| Us Announcers: | Ron Franklin and Mike Gottfried |
The 1992 Copper Bowl featured the unranked Utah Utes and the #18 Washington State Cougars, as part of the 1992–93 NCAA football bowl season. It was played on the night of Tuesday, December 29, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona.[3] [4] [5] [6]
Washington State scored first on a 3-yard touchdown run by running back Shaumbe Wright-Fair, then junior quarterback Drew Bledsoe fired an 87-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Phillip Bobo, increasing the lead to 14–0. Bledsoe would finish the game 30-for-46 passing for 476 yards. Wright-Fair scored on a 3-yard touchdown run for a 21–0 Cougar advantage at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Utah's Frank Dolce threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Shaun Williams, and Keith Williams scored on a 25-yard touchdown run to make the score 21–14. Bledsoe found Bobo for a 48-yard touchdown pass as Washington State led 28–14 at halftime. In a planned move by WSU head coach Mike Price, Bledsoe was briefly replaced by backup Mike Pattinson in the second quarter.[3]
In the third quarter, Dolce threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Henry Lusk, and Pierre Jones' 8-yard touchdown run tied the game at 28. The only fourth quarter score was a field goal: Aaron Price, the son of the head coach, converted from 22 yards out with less than six minutes left and the favored Cougars escaped with a 31–28 victory,[7] [8] [9] and climbed to fifteenth in the final rankings.
This was the final collegiate game for the 20-year-old Bledsoe; he was the first overall pick of the 1993 NFL draft.[10] [11] [12]
| Statistics | Utah | WSU | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 20 | 28 | |
| Rushes-yards | 39-179 | 41-144 | |
| Passing yards | 316 | 492 | |
| Passes, Comp-Att-Int | 21-40-0 | 32-48-1 | |
| Return yards | 27 | (-2) | |
| Punts-average | 6-43 | 6-37 | |
| Fumbles-lost | 3-1 | 4-2 | |
| Penalties-yards | 7-55 | 18-136 | |
| Time of Possession | 30:08 | 29:52 | |
| Attendance | |||