Take a moment and picture it: Christmas time 1990. The San Diego sun kisses the blue Pacific coast as it gently lowers its head to rest beneath the waves, ready to slumber until the cool winter’s morning awakens it for another trip across the sky.

You revel in the moment you decided to follow your Texas A&M Aggies to their bowl game across the country, knowing you’re in for a treat as the Holiday Bowl has quickly become one of the most entertaining games of the college football postseason.

The California coast paints a peaceful picture, yes, but a war is coming to nearby Jack Murphy Stadium, and the sun’s absence will bring a nighttime showdown complete with bands, All-Americans and action-packed football. The Maroon and White’s odds are stacked against them, as the competition is none other than quarterback Ty Detmer and the No. 13 BYU Cougars.

Detmer, a Texas native, is fresh off winning the 1990 Heisman Trophy and the Western Athletic Conference. With over 40 NCAA records to his name, it won’t be an easy task to wrangle the Cougars, but luckily for the Aggies, they have themselves a not-so-secret weapon: the Wrecking Crew defense.

“[Winning the Heisman Trophy] for me was pretty surreal,” Detmer said. “Growing up in Texas, obviously, football is pretty big down there, and with my dad being a high school coach, it’s something you never think could even happen.”

But it did happen, as Detmer put together a legendary 1990 season that included taking down the reigning national champion, Miami, winning the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien Awards and, of course, the Heisman Trophy.

Additionally, the WAC had a contract with the Holiday Bowl, in which the conference champion would play in that bowl game every year, and 1990 saw the Cougars in San Diego for the second straight year.

“The goal going into every year was to be able to go to San Diego and play in the Holiday Bowl, and you knew you were going to play a quality team,” Detmer said.

Enter A&M, a gritty, defense-heavy squad headed by second-year head coach R.C. Slocum, who had previously served as the Aggies’ defensive coordinator. The mastermind behind the Wrecking Crew, Slocum’s unit had faced four Heisman winners before Detmer, besting all but Oklahoma State’s nearly unstoppable running back Barry Sanders.

When asked if there was any chip on his shoulder entering the contest against the Aggies, Detmer said laughingly, “No, actually, it was probably the other way around, like, ‘Oh, crap, we got to play A&M’ because I’ve seen them play Heisman winners. I’m from South Texas, you know?”

A well-placed sentiment, as the Aggies became the Heisman hunters of the late 80s and early 90s, taking on and defeating Auburn RB Bo Jackson in 1986, Notre Dame wide receiver Tim Brown in 1988, Houston QB Andre Ware in 1989 and finally Detmer in 1990, as they secured three bowl victories.

“I knew about A&M and their defense, and they got some really good players,” Detmer said. “And then our tight end leading up to the game makes a statement, I believe it was something like, ‘Well, we wish we were playing a higher-ranked team,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, man, you just killed us right here.’”

As it turned out, Detmer was right, because the Aggies were hungry to prove themselves more than capable of handling another one of the nation’s finest. 

“Like, these [Aggies], I know what they’re about, and it’s not gonna sit well,” Detmer said. “And so it was, it was probably the other way around because I didn’t have a chip on my shoulder, I knew they were going to have that chip on their shoulder and sure enough, they did.”

A&M, led by linebacker William Thomas, was more than ready for the challenge against BYU. Thomas, one of the most feared defenders in the Southwest Conference, came into the Holiday Bowl with double-digit sacks and was eager for more against the Cougars. His final stat line of six tackles, two sacks and an interception earned him Defensive MVP honors as the Aggies kept their opponent on their heels all night.

Detmer humbly acknowledged the talent he knew the Cougar offense would face in the Holiday Bowl, with cornerback Kevin Smith and LB Quentin Coryatt being among the names he saw bright NFL futures coming from.

“Well, I believe at the time, they had Quentin Coryatt, William Thomas, and Kevin Smith was a corner,” Detmer said. “They had guys who were going to the NFL and had long careers, you know. So it wasn’t really like one guy. There were multiple guys.” But the biggest thing with them, like playing Miami, they were really basic. With A&M, it was multiple blitzes, people coming from all over the place, and the speed seemed faster than Miami. I just remember, like, man, they’ve got their ears pinned back, and here they come.”

The Cougars and Aggies traded blows in the first quarter, with the latter hanging on to a slim one-score lead heading into the second quarter. From then on, however, was when the Wrecking Crew really clocked in for their shift against another Heisman Trophy-producing team.

BYU, which had entered the game averaging 565 yards per game, was held to just 185 as Thomas and his Maroon and White compatriots handed the ball back to QB Bucky Richardson time and again. When the dust settled, the Aggies returned to College Station victorious, defeating the Cougars by a then-Holiday Bowl record margin of 65-14.

Despite a disappointing end to his junior season, Detmer rebounded in his final year in Provo, Utah, and enjoyed rousing success once again. He placed third in 1991’s Heisman voting while winning the Davey O’Brien Award for the second time, as well as earning consensus first-team All-American honors for the second straight year.

After 14 successful seasons in the NFL, Detmer now gives back to the game of football as the head coach of the American Leadership Academy, Gilbert North program, following in the footsteps of his late father, Sonny Detmer.

“It’s been great,” Detmer said. “I love it. I feel like following in your dad’s footsteps and doing what he started, as he coached for over 50 years, you’re molding young men and trying to teach them football, but more importantly, some life lessons in what they’re doing. You know, they come in 14-year-old knuckleheads and pretty soon, they’re young men at 18 ready to go take on the world. So it’s fun to see them come in and grow, learn and have different experiences along the way that are molding them to who they’re going to be.”

As for the Aggies, the precedent set by the infamous Wrecking Crew gave way to legendary defenders beginning their Hall of Fame careers in College Station. Outside linebacker Von Miller used his time post-A&M to fire off seven All-Pro selections and two Super Bowl titles, and the indomitable defensive end Myles Garrett just recently broke the NFL’s single-season sack record.

A lasting legacy, indeed, but it all started when one blue-collar coach made a rowdy bunch of Maroon and White into the feared Heisman-killers of the late 20th century.