| Game Name: | Copper Bowl |
| Subheader: | Bowl Game |
| Title Sponsor: | Weiser Lock |
| Date Game Played: | December 27 |
| Year Game Played: | 1995 |
| Football Season: | 1995 |
| Stadium: | Arizona Stadium |
| City: | Tucson, Arizona |
| Visitor Name Short: | Air Force |
| Visitor Nickname: | Falcons |
| Visitor Record: | 8–4 |
| Visitor Coach: | Fisher DeBerry |
| Visitor Conference: | WAC |
| Visitor 1Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 6 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 15 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 13 |
| Home Name Short: | Texas Tech |
| Home Nickname: | Red Raiders |
| Home Record: | 8–3 |
| Home Rank Ap: | NR |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 25 |
| Home Coach: | Spike Dykes |
| Home Conference: | SWC |
| Home 1Q: | 21 |
| Home 2Q: | 10 |
| Home 3Q: | 7 |
| Home 4Q: | 17 |
| Mvp: | Zebbie Lethridge (QB, Texas Tech) & Mickey Dalton (CB, Air Force) |
| Referee: | Gordon Riese (Pac-10) |
| Attendance: | 41,004 |
| Payout: | 750,000 per team[1] |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers: | Brad Nessler (play-by-play) Gary Danielson (color) |
The 1995 Copper Bowl was an American college football bowl game play on December 27, 1995, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona. It was the seventh edition of the annual bowl Copper Bowl—now known as the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. The game featured the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and the Air Force Falcons.
The Red Raiders were 1-2 against ranked opponents, losing to #4 Penn State and #13 Texas but beating #8 Texas A&M. They finished tied for 2nd in the Southwest Conference with Texas A&M and Baylor. This was Texas Tech's third bowl game in two seasons. Air Force finished as co-champion of the Western Athletic Conference in a rare four-way tie, with Colorado State, BYU, and Utah. Air Force had beaten BYU to begin the season, but they lost to Colorado State and Utah. However, they were the only one of the four to be invited to a bowl game, their 7th in 10 seasons.
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
Texas Tech scored first on a 38-yard pass from quarterback Zebbie Lethridge to Stacy Mitchell. Air Force countered with a 2-yard run from Nakia Addison to tie it 7–7, but Texas Tech scored the next three touchdowns, amassing a 31–13 lead by halftime. In the second half, Air Force came within a field goal of the lead at 31–28 with a 60-yard run from Danta Johnson, but Texas Tech running back Byron Hanspard came alive with 201 yards and two of his four touchdowns in the second half, leading the Red Raiders to a 55–41 victory. Byron Hanspard rushed for 260 yards on 24 carries and four touchdowns while also catching two passes for 18 yards.[2]
| Statistics | Texas Tech | Air Force |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 28 | 25 |
| Rushing yards | 361 | 431 |
| Passing yards | 245 | 83 |
| Total offense | 606 | 514 |
| Passing | 22–41–1 | 7–13–0 |
| Punts–average | 3–43.3 | 3–39.3 |
| Return yards | 12 | 42 |
| Fumbles–lost | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Penalties–yards | 11–90 | 6–51 |
Both teams went to two more bowl games before the decade ended, although Texas Tech did not win another bowl game until 2002 while Air Force won in 1998.