1988 California Bowl


The 1988 California Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 10, 1988 at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, California. The game pitted the Fresno State Bulldogs and the Western Michigan Broncos.

Background

The Broncos started the season with a non-conference win over Wisconsin, and they promptly won the next four games before a loss to Kent State. It was their only conference loss, closing out the season with a 23–16 win over Ohio. This was their first Mid-American Conference title since 1966, though it was their first non shared titled since 1929. It was also their first bowl game since 1961. Fresno State had a perfect conference record once again en route to their third Big West Conference title in seven seasons.

Game summary

Darrell Rosette rushed for 149 yards as the Bulldogs scored 21 points in the third quarter to outplay the Broncos.

Aftermath

Western Michigan, despite having numerous seasons over.500 in the next few years, they were not invited to a bowl game until 2007. They did not win a bowl game until 2015, nor win the conference again until 2016. Fresno State won the conference the following year and faced off in the California Bowl, winning once again.