This was the first bowl appearance for both teams and West Virginia was attempting to secure their first ten-win season. From Spokane, the Bulldogs were on a four-game winning streak, all played in the state of Washington.
Game summary
West Virginia took a lead on Nick Nardacci's twelve-yard touchdown run, the only score in the first quarter. Russ Meredith returned an interception eighty yards to extend the lead to 14–0 at halftime. Jack Simons caught a touchdown pass from Nardacci in the third to make it 21–0. The Bulldogs narrowed the gap on two touchdowns from Matt Bross (one reception and one run), but that ended the scoring at 21–13, as the Mountaineers held on to win their first bowl game and gained a ten-win season.[2][3]