The 1979 Holiday Bowl was a college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 bowl game

Bowl game

In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...

 played December 21, 1979 in San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

. It was part of the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season

1979 NCAA Division I-A football season

The 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season saw the Alabama Crimson Tide bring home a national title with a perfect 12-0 season. The title was Alabama's 11th claimed, though the number is disputed. It was their 6th Associated Press awarded title....

. It featured the Indiana Hoosiers

Indiana Hoosiers football

The Indiana Hoosiers football program represents Indiana University Bloomington in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and in the Big Ten Conference.-Bowl games:...

 against the BYU Cougars. Indiana won 38–37.

Game summary

The game, which featured an 11-0 BYU team going against a 7-4 Indiana team coached by future ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 college football analyst Lee Corso

Lee Corso

Leland "Lee" Corso is a sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN. He has been featured on ESPN's College GameDay program since its inception and he appeared annually as a commentator in EA Sports' NCAA Football through NCAA Football 11...

, went back and forth from start to finish. The Cougars held a 37-31 lead late in the fourth quarter when Tim Wilbur took a 62 yard punt back for the go-ahead score to squeak out the upset victory.