1986 Liberty Bowl

Though they did not repeat as SEC champions like they did the previous season, the Volunteers won four straight games to overcome a 2-5 start, finishing 6th in the SEC. This was their six straight bowl appearance and first Liberty Bowl appearance since 1974. As for the Golden Gophers, this was their second straight bowl appearance, the first time they had gone to bowl games in consecutive appearances since 1961-62. One highlight in the season was beating #2 ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor. This was their first ever appearance in the Liberty Bowl.

Game summary

Joey Clinkscales caught an 18 yard touchdown pass from Jeff Francis to give Tennessee a 7-0 lead. Fullback William Howard caught a 23 yard pass from Francis to make it 14-0. Chip Lohmiller made it 14-3 on his 27 yard field goal. In the second half, Ricky Foggie scored on an 11 yard touchdown run. Fullback Darrell Thompson scored on the conversion attempt to make it 14-11. Lohmiller added another field goal to tie the game at 14 with 13:23 left in the fourth quarter. But the Vols went on a five-play, 66-yard drive that culminated with a Clinkscales catch from 15 yards out to give them a 21-14 lead with 11:21 left that sealed the victory as the Gophers failed to respond from there. Francis went 22 of 31 for 243 yards, and he was named MVP. Clinkscales had seven catches for 72 yards. For the Golden Gophers, Foggie went 10 of 25 for 136 yards. ^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Statistics

Statistics	Minnesota	Tennessee
First Downs	20	17
Rushing Yards	238	81
Passing Yards	136	243
Total Yards	374	324
Kickoff Return Yards	44	69
Punt Return Yards	11	(-1)
Penalties-Yards	5-30	5-49
Fumbles-Lost	2-2	4-1

Aftermath

Neither team has appeared in the Liberty Bowl since this game.

References

1986–87 NCAA football bowl game season

California (Dec. 13) Independence (Dec. 20) Hall of Fame (Dec. 23) Sun (Dec. 25) Aloha (Dec. 27) Gator (Dec. 27) Liberty (Dec. 29) Holiday (Dec. 30) Freedom (Dec. 30) Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) All-American (Dec. 31) Peach (Dec. 31) Rose (Jan. 1) Florida Citrus (Jan. 1) Cotton (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) Fiesta (Jan. 2)

Liberty Bowl

History & conference tie-ins	History Philadelphia Municipal Stadium Convention Hall Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Broadcasters Big 12 Conference Southeastern Conference American Athletic Conference

Games	1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2009 2010 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2016

Notes	There was no Liberty Bowl in 2008 or 2015. There was a Liberty Bowl in January and December in 2010.

Minnesota Golden Gophers bowl games

1961 Rose Bowl 1962 Rose Bowl 1977 Hall of Fame Classic 1985 Independence Bowl 1986 Liberty Bowl 1999 Sun Bowl 2000 MicronPC.com Bowl 2002 Music City Bowl 2003 Sun Bowl 2004 Music City Bowl 2005 Music City Bowl 2006 Insight Bowl 2008 Insight Bowl 2009 Insight Bowl 2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas 2013 Texas Bowl 2015 Citrus Bowl 2015 Quick Lane Bowl 2016 Holiday Bowl

Tennessee Volunteers bowl games

Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game.

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