Not What Ty Had in Mind : Deadlock: With BYU in range for game-winning field goal, Detmer is intercepted by Iowa’s Carlos James. Game ends 13-13.

SAN DIEGO —  With less than half a minute left to play Monday, the Holiday Bowl was fit to be Tyed.

Instead, with Brigham Young inside the 20 and driving for a winning touchdown or field goal, the last pass of Cougars quarterback Ty Detmer ended up in the hands of Iowa defender Carlos James, and the game ended it a 13-13 tie.

It was the first deadlock in the 14-year history of the Holiday Bowl, and the defensive battle was probably the farthest thing from the minds of the 60,646 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Even the players and coaches on both sides said they expected more points. But they came to Western Athletic Conference country and a Big Ten game broke out.

Iowa (10-1-1) failed to score in the second half after taking a 13-0 lead, and the Hawkeyes were caught by surprise by uncharacteristic aggressive stunts and blitzes from the BYU defense.

“All they did was stunts,” said Iowa quarterback Matt Rodgers, who hit 19 of 28 passes for 221 yards, mostly in the first half. “After first down they brought the house. You’ve got to take advantage of that and get some big plays. We had a few but not enough.”

BYU (8-3-2) finished unbeaten in its last 10 games, with both ties coming in San Diego. The Cougars tied San Diego State in November, 52-52, in a game more befitting past wild Holiday Bowls.

Erratic kicking on both sides were costly. Each team missed an extra point, and BYU kicker Keith Lever missed a 33-yard field goal attempt with 7:45 to play. Teammate Earl Kauffman missed from 41 yards in the first half.

Iowa’s Jeff Skillett missed a 40-yarder that might have won it with 4:19 to play.

“After coming in here twice and winning on last-second kicks (in 1986 and ‘87) it came down to the kicking game again, and this time we missed,” Iowa Coach Hayden Fry said. “Our kicker pulled a groin muscle four days ago. . . . I’m sure his timing or lack of timing had a lot to do with it. I feel so sorry for the young man, ‘cause he’s heartbroken.”

Skillett’s miss gave Detmer and BYU the ball with 4:19 left and 77 yards to go. Detmer opened with an 11-yard pass to Eric Drage. His next pass was long and nearly intercepted, but he came back with an eight-yarder to running back Jamal Willis.

The Cougars drove into Iowa territory, Detmer finding Drage again for 11 yards and dumping a pass under sever pressure to running back Peter Tuipulotu for 13 yards. On third-and-one Detmer ran a two-yard sweep to the 18.

On what turned out to be the last play of his storied college career, Detmer rolled left, looked for a receiver in the end zone, then tried to go across the middle to tight end Byron Rex. The pass was a little high, off Rex’s fingers and intercepted by James in the end zone.

“It shouldn’t have been thrown,” Detmer said. “I know better than to throw a pass like that at that point of the game. Keep the ball in the middle of the field, kick a field goal and we win the game.”

Despite the ending, Detmer was named the outstanding offensive player of the game, with 350 yards on 29-for-44 passing.

Iowa’s James and BYU defensive back Josh Arnold, who spearheaded BYU’s defense, were named defensive players of the game.

Iowa established its running game at the start, Mike Saunders breaking off an 18-yard gain on the second play, then went to the pass.

Rodgers completed his first eight passes, and the Hawkeyes drove 74 yards after the opening kick to take a methodical 6-0 lead on Saunders’ 13-yard burst, but missed the extra point.

Iowa built the lead to 13-0 early in the second quarter, driving 89 yards as Saunders bulled his way through the final five for the touchdown. In that series, Rodgers began to look deep, completing a 39-yard pass to Jon Filloon for a first down deep at the BYU 16-yard line. Saunders finished with 103 yards to lead all rushers.

Rodgers kept the drive alive with a two-yard keeper on fourth-and-one near midfield.

BYU muffed its first two chances to score. After stalling on their first possession, the Cougars held Iowa to three downs and got the ball at the 50. With the ball on the 11, the Cougars faced a fourth-and-one and after a timeout, Detmer rolled right under pressure and tried a pass into the end zone that was well defensed.

On their next possession, Detmer drove the Cougars to the Iowa eight-yard line before a holding penalty and a blind-side sack pushed them back to the 24. Kauffman’s 41-yard field goal attempt was well short.

Detmer, who completed 12 of 17 passes for 161 yards in the half, finally got the Cougars into the end zone on their final drive before the break, driving 78 yards capped by a nine-yard scoring pass to running back Tuipulotu with 52 seconds left.

The key play was a pass up the middle that Detmer--who’s not supposed to have a strong arm--zipped 43 yards to Tim Nowatzke. Kauffman missed the extra point, and BYU trailed at the half, 13-6.

Except for the drive that ended in Skillett’s missed kick, Iowa never mounted another serious drive.

“We really played a chess game to keep (Detmer) off balance--anytime you hold Brigham Young to 13, you should win the game,” Fry said. “Everybody’s real sad and heartbroken in our locker room.”

Saunders echoed the sentiments of the Iowa side when he said, “Thirteen points is not enough to win the game. I’s definitely disappointed (in the offense). Nobody’s happy with a tie.”

BYU, at least, seemed to be able to live with it. “It didn’t entirely surprise me we played well defensively,” said BYU Coach LaVell Edwards. “It surprised me we didn’t take advantage of our scoring opportunities. Ty said it best--after thinking about it a while we’ll feel good about tying a great team like Iowa.”

To that Detmer added, “I’m not gonna lose sleep over tie. But I will over that last pass.”