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The Road To The 1980 Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State & Penn State

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The 1980 Fiesta Bowl marked a threshold moment for both teams involved, Penn State and Ohio State, as well as the bowl game itself. Here’s a look back on the road the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes took through the 1980 college football season, the Fiesta Bowl itself and the aftermath for the teams and the bowl.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

Ohio State came into the season riding high. They had narrowly missed sharing the national title in 1979, the first year under coach Earle Bruce. The Buckeyes entered 1980 as the preseason #1 team in the country.

Junior quarterback Art Schlicter posted the second of three straight top 6 finishes in the Heisman Trophy voting. His 1,980 passing yards were third in the Big Ten behind only Purdue’s Mark Herrman and Illinois’ Dave Wilson, both of whom played in pass-happy attacks. Schlicter’s 8.5 yards-per-attempt were second in the conference and his 15/9 TD-INT ratio was good by the standards of the time.

Schlicter had two solid receivers in Doug Donley and Gary Williams and the offensive line was led by guard Joe Lukens, who got some All-American recognition. But perhaps no one mattered more to the offense than running back Calvin Murray.

Murray churned out over 1,200 yards and won the Big Ten rushing title. Even more impressive, he did it with efficiency, averaging a conference-best 6.5 yards-per-rush. And when Murray needed a break, Tim Spencer stepped in and produced 577 yards.

The defense wasn’t quite as decorated, but still had All-American linebacker Marcus Marek. Ohio State came out of the gate fast with a 31-21 win over Syracuse and a 47-0 blasting of Minnesota.

Those were wins over mediocre teams, but you couldn’t say the same about Arizona State. The Sun Devils came to Columbus ranked #20 and ended the season with seven wins. Both offenses cut loose, combining for over 1,000 yards and over 50 first downs. Schlicter threw two touchdown passes to Donley and another to Williams. The final was 38-21 and the Buckeyes remained atop the polls.

Another Pac-10 foe came to the Shoe a week later though, and the offense disappeared. UCLA, ranked #11, pressured Schlicter constantly. The Bruins sacked him five times and the quarterback had to leave early in the fourth quarter due to a combination of a light concussion and poor play. A 17-0 loss sent Ohio State down to #9 in the rankings.

The Big Ten wasn’t very good this year and the next six games saw just one opponent with a winning record and that was Indiana who finished 6-5. The Buckeyes beat the Hoosiers 27-17 and on November 8 they had to survive a shootout with Illinois, 49-42.

Otherwise, the conference schedule leading into the finale with Michigan didn’t offer any challenges. There was 63-0 blasting of Northwestern, a 48-16 rout of Michigan State, a 41-7 demolition of Iowa and a historic 21-0 shutout at Wisconsin. The latter game was history-making, because as a ten-year-old growing up just outside Madison, it was the first college football game I ever attended. I also learned that when attending an outdoor sporting event in cold weather, wear multiple pairs of socks.

Purdue was a legitimate challenger for the Big Ten title, but they were the one conference foe not on the Ohio State schedule. The Boilermakers lost to Michigan, so the traditional finale between the Buckeyes and Wolverines had the clarity of being for the undisputed conference title.

Ohio State had moved up to #5 in the rankings. Michigan was #10. But the Wolverines were coming on strong after two early losses and their defense completely dominated the game. The Buckeyes D was awfully good in its own right, but Ohio State lost 9-3. They settled for the Fiesta Bowl, ranked #11 at the end of the regular season.

Penn State had their own recent miss of a national title, although that was now two years ago, back in 1978. The Lions slipped to a 7-4 season in ’79 and were looking to get trending back upward in 1980.

Joe Paterno had two good sophomore quarterbacks on his roster. He opted for Todd Blackledge. The numbers in 1980 weren’t very impressive—48% completion rate (though that was more tolerable in 1980 than it would be today) and a meager 6.5 yards-per-attempt. But Blackledge would be the leader of coming excellence in Penn State football.

The backup? Jeff Hostetler transferred out of Happy Valley after the season and did okay for himself, enjoying a good two years at West Virginia and a long NFL career, mostly as a backup, and highlighted when he stepped in for Phil Simms and led the 1990 New York Giants through the playoffs to a Super Bowl title.

Your program is in good shape when you can let a Hostetler walk and have no regrets. And this Penn State program was in good shape. They had a talented sophomore running back in Curt Warner, who rushed for over 900 yards. Booker Moore pounded out over 700 more, and both backs ran behind a good line that had All-Americans in guard Sean Farrell and tackle Bill Dugan.

Penn State opened the season ranked #18. They opened with a tuneup game, blowing out Colgate. Two weeks off allowed them to rise to #12 by the time they played at Texas A&M. The Aggies weren’t very good and the Lions won 25-9. But a visit to third-ranked Nebraska didn’t go as well, ending in a 21-7 loss and sending Penn State back down to #17.

The Lions played a third road game in as many weeks, going to ninth-ranked Missouri. Blackledge threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Brad Scovil early on, but Penn State trailed 21-16 at the half. The defense began to take over in the second half and a pair of third-quarter field goals gave the Lions a one-point lead. Blackledge then scrambled 43 yards for a touchdown that clinched a 29-21 win.

Penn State continued to be road warriors, playing their fourth straight road game and again playing a good team in Maryland. The Lions’ future Big Ten East rival would win eight games in 1980. Mike Tice, the future head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, was the Maryland quarterback and running back Charlie Wysocki rolled up over 1,300 yards in a ground-heavy attack. Penn State still muscled out a 24-10 win.

Wins over mediocre teams from the East followed, 24-7 over Syracuse and 20-15 at West Virginia. A Miami Hurricane program that was getting close to the breakthrough that would transform college football three years later came north to Happy Valley. These ‘Canes won eight games, but the Lions dispatched them 27-12.

The steadily competitive schedule continued with a home date against N.C. State, who won six games. Penn State won that won 21-13 and then crushed lowly Temple 50-7. The Lions were rolling, at #7 in the polls but they ran into an outstanding team in archrival Pitt. The Panthers would finish the season with just one loss and ended up #2 in the country. They came into Happy Valley and won 14-9. Penn State finished the regular season ranked tenth.

So both Ohio State and Penn State took the field in Tempe the day after Christmas having lost to their biggest rivals, but still coming off 9-2 seasons and having a Top 10 finish at stake.

It was the Lions who struck first. On their first offensive play, Warner bolted 64 yards for a touchdown. The rest of the first half mostly belonged the Buckeyes and especially to Schlicter. The quarterback went 15/22 for 214 yards and threw three first-half touchdown passes. Two went to Donley and another to Williams. The only downer for Ohio State was two missed extra points, and the game went to halftime at 19-10.

The Penn State defense responded the way they had at Missouri, and that’s by taking over the football game after halftime. In the second half, Schlicter went only 5/13 for 58 yards and threw two interceptions. Ohio State had net zero total yards in the third quarter. Penn State cut the lead to 19-17.

Meanwhile, the Nittany Lion running game was gashing the Buckeye defense. Penn State ended up with 351 rushing yards for the game. They got another touchdown on the ground to take a 24-19 lead and then Moore sealed the deal with a 37-yard jaunt. Penn State won 31-19. Warner got Offensive Player of the Game, while defensive lineman Frank Case got honors on that side of the ball. It was an appropriate recognition of a game where the Lions ran the football at will and the defensive front stopped Ohio State.

The Lions ended up ranked #8 while the Buckeyes slipped to #15. This was the game that marked the two programs passing each other like ships in the night, at least for much of the 1980s. Ohio State’s three-loss season started a trend. They lost at least three each year through 1986. Those years included a Rose Bowl trip and victories here at the Fiesta Bowl and the Cotton Bowl, but that wasn’t the Buckeye goal. Bruce was fired at the end of a 6-4-1 season in 1987.

Penn State came back to the Fiesta Bowl one year later and shut down USC’s Heisman Trophy-winning running back Marcus Allen, a win that got the Lions to third in the nation. In 1982, Paterno won his first national championship. Penn State played for titles again in 1985 and 1986, winning the ’86 crown.

And the Fiesta Bowl? Big things were afoot here too. The following year’s game between Penn State and USC was on January 1, marking the bowl’s entry to “major” status. The Fiesta hosted the Penn State-Miami national title game following the 1986 season and has continued to be one of the sport’s elite postseason games. The 1980 game was the last year the Fiesta Bowl spent on the December undercard.

The Road To The 1986 Fiesta Bowl: Michigan & Nebraska

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The 1986 Fiesta Bowl brought together two traditional powers, Michigan and Nebraska, who had narrowly missed being in position to play for a national title, but still had a top-five national finish on the line when they met. Here’s a look back on the road the Wolverines and Cornhuskers took through the 1985 college football season and to their ultimate meeting on New Year’s Day in Tempe.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

Michigan was coming off the most disappointing season of Bo Schembecler’s tenure in Ann Arbor. They had gone 6-5 in 1984 and then missed a chance at redemption when they lost the Holiday Bowl to undefeated BYU, the eventual national champion. After having gone to a major bowl in eight of the ten seasons prior to ’84, including five Rose Bowls, Bo wasn’t going to take this lying down.

He had few believers though, and the Wolverines opened the season unranked. The key to their revival would be defense. They had two All-Americans, defensive tackle Mike Hammerstein and Brad Cochran in the secondary, and collectively, the unit was one of the best in the country.

Schemebecler produced his traditional strong running game, as Jamie Morris ran for over 1,000 yards, and Gerald White provided a good change of pace with over 500 more. There were quality receivers, starting with Paul Jokish, who caught 37 balls and 18.4 yards-per-catch was third-best in the Big Ten. Tight end Eric Kattus was effective underneath, catching 38 passes for 582 yards.

Overseeing it all, was a quarterback that would go on to achieve some notoriety, both here, in the NFL and as a head coach in both college and the pros—that would be Jim Harbaugh. The current Michigan head coach was an underrated quarterback in his day. He wasn’t highly regarded, like conference rival Chuck Long at Iowa. But Harbaugh completed 64 percent of his passes, got 8.7 yards-per-attempt and posted an 18/6 TD-INT ratio.

The Wolverines opened the season at home with Notre Dame. It was the final year for Irish head coach Gerry Faust and ND would struggle to a 5-6 finish. They were ranked #13 when they came to Ann Arbor and Michigan won 20-12. The Wolverines then played another ranked team that would disappoint and finish 5-6, that being #15 South Carolina. The result here was a 34-3 win and Michigan was now up to #12 in the polls.

No one could ever accuse Schembecler of ducking non-conference competition. He lined up his third straight preseason Top 20 team in the Maryland Terrapins and this was a team that would stay good throughout the season, winning the ACC title and their only losses—outside of this game—were to Miami and Penn State, both of whom had title shots on New Year’s Night.

Harbaugh was efficient, going 16/20 for 196 yards, regularly finding Kattus. The tight end caught six passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns. The defense picked off Terps quarterback Stan Gelbaugh four times and Michigan posted a 20-0 shutout.

The Big Ten schedule was set to begin and the Wolverines were back in familiar territory as a Top 10 team. They blew out mediocre Wisconsin 33-6 and vaulted all the way to #3. A 31-0 rout at Michigan State, a good bowl-bound team with a 2,000-yard rusher in Lorenzo White, pushed Michigan to #2. It was time to go to Iowa.

The Hawkeyes were ranked #1 in the country and all of Big Ten Country was jacked up for this game. Long was a Heisman contender (he would finish an extremely close second to Auburn’s Bo Jackson). Michigan never got anything going offensively, but a couple big special teams play combined with great red-zone defense had them ahead 10-9. Then Long was able to mount a last-second drive and win with a field goal on the game’s final play. Michigan paid a very small price in the polls, only dropping to #4. But a Rose Bowl return was now a tough row to hoe.

Michigan bounced back and blew out a bad Indiana team, 47-15, but then played their worst offensive game of the season in a 3-3 tie to Illinois. The positive was that Ohio State had beaten Iowa, opening up the conference race. The Buckeyes and Hawkeyes were tied atop the league at 4-1, with the Wolverines and Illini in hot pursuit at 3-1-1.

The Michigan offense got unleashed the next two games, blowing out mediocre teams in Purdue and Minnesota by a combined 95-7. In the meantime, Iowa had blasted Illinois, narrowing the race to three teams. On the season’s final week the stakes were simple—if the Hawkeyes lost to Minnesota, then the Michigan-Ohio State winner would go to Pasadena. And even if Iowa won, the stakes for a major bowl invite were high.

Michigan and Ohio State were tied 10-10 at the half in Ann Arbor, but Harbaugh was playing brilliantly. He finished 16/19 for 230 yards and three touchdowns. The Wolverines clung to a 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter and were on their own 23-yard line. Harbaugh found John Kolesar down the sidelines for a 77-yard touchdown pass that put the game out of reach. The 27-17 win moved Michigan to #5 in the polls and ticketed them for Tempe.

Nebraska had gone to nine major bowls since Tom Osborne became head coach in 1973. The last two years were marked by heartbreak at the goal-line—a legendary failed two-point conversion in the Orange Bowl that cost them a national title in 1983 and a failed fourth down at the goal line against Oklahoma that cost them a #1 ranking going into the bowls.

The 1985 edition of the Cornhuskers didn’t have the same kind of overwhelming talent, but they still had an honorable mention All-American on each side of the line of scrimmage—center Bill Lewis and defensive end Jim Skow. The lead running back was Doug DuBose, whose 1,161 yards were second in the old Big Eight.

Nebraska also had Tom Rathman at fullback, who rushed for nearly 900 yards and would end playing with Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers in his NFL career. Paul Miles ran for nearly 700 more, rounding out an exceptionally deep stable of backs.

The depth at running back was needed, because the QB tandem of McCathorn Clayton and Travis Turner was problematic at best. Neither quarterback completed even 40 percent of his passes and they combined to throw only 133 passes all season long.

Nebraska was ranked #9 to start the season and a 17-13 home loss to an eight-win team in Florida State quickly sent the Cornhuskers down to #18. They had a week to lick their wounds and welcome Illinois into Memorial Stadium.

The Huskers jumped out to a 17-0 lead, but the Illini came back and cut it to 17-10 in the second quarter. Clayton then hit a 64-yard pass—a single play that amounted to more than 10 percent of his passing yards on the season—that set up a DuBose touchdown. Nebraska would outrush Illinois 456-98, with DuBose going for 191. They took over the second half and rolled to a 52-24 win.

Expected routs of mediocre Oregon and woeful New Mexico were by a combined 101-7 and moved Nebraska back into the Top 10. The next game up was at Oklahoma State, where the Cowboys were ranked #5 and hungry to break into the Nebraska-Oklahoma duo that ruled the Big Eight.

Okie State also had Thurman Thomas, the future NFL MVP, whose 1,650 yards rushing easily led this conference. The Nebraska defense met the challenge and held Thomas to 71 yards, while DuBose ran for 139. After a scoreless first quarter, the Cornhuskers spotted the Cowboys a field goal, then ripped off 20 straight points by early in the third quarter.

Just as they had against Illinois though, the defense led Oklahoma State off the mat and the lead was cut to 20-17. It took touchdown runs by Rathman and Clayton to re-extend the lead and finally put the finishing touches on the 34-24 win. Wide receiver Rob Schintzler was an unexpected hero, catching four balls for 119 yards.

Nebraska had a bit of a letdown at woeful Missouri the next week, escaping 28-20, but they still nudged up to #5 in the polls. The Cornhuskers beat a pretty good Colorado team 17-7, and then rolled through the first three games of November. Nebraska beat Kansas State, Iowa State and Kansas by a combined 146-9, and were sitting pretty at #2 in the nation.

It was already known that top-ranked Penn State was going to the Orange Bowl to play the Nebraska-Oklahoma winner, so the Cornhuskers controlled their own destiny. What they couldn’t control, or do anything with, was the Sooner defense. The Cornhuskers were completely shut down in a 27-7 loss, where their only touchdown came on a long fumble return in the game’s final minute. They would settle for a Fiesta Bowl bid as a consolation prize, going to Tempe ranked #7.

Nebraska looked in control in the first half. DuBose ran for two touchdowns and the lead was 14-3 at halftime. The Cornhuskers would ultimately win the rushing battle 304-171, and the passing edge Michigan had with Harbaugh never materialized all game long.

But the Wolverines were the ones who made all the plays in the third quarter. They blocked a punt to set up one score. The Cornhuskers turned it over twice, setting up more gift points. Jamie Morris took off on an 88-yard touchdown run. A shocking 24-point third-quarter explosion gave Michigan a 27-14 lead.

Nebraska wasn’t done. They turned to Steve Taylor at quarterback, the man of the future turned into the man of the present. He ran for 76 yards, including a touchdown that cut the lead to six points. Michigan voluntarily took a safety that made it 27-23. Nebraska got one final chance at a desperation pass to the end zone, but Wolverine corner Garland Rivers picked it off with 28 seconds left.

Both programs would continue to be on the national stage and their more important links in history would come when they shared the national title in 1997, and later as conference rivals after Nebraska moved to the Big Ten for the 2011 season. But the 1986 Fiesta Bowl is one of those hidden little gems in college football history, when Michigan completed a redemption tour of a season that ended with them ranked #2 in the nation.

The Road To The 1985 Fiesta Bowl: UCLA & Miami

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Miami was the defending national champion, while UCLA had won back-to-back Rose Bowls. Both teams slipped from those lofty heights during the 1984 college football season. But they both made their way back to the New Year’s Day stage and met in the 1985 Fiesta Bowl. Here’s a look back at the paths the Bruins and Hurricanes traveled.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

UCLA opened the season ranked fifth in the nation and had a future NFL quarterback in Steve Bono. The numbers weren’t dazzling for Bono, but his 54 percent completion rate was second-best in a Pac-10 that had good quarterbacks, and his six interceptions were the fewest among conference starters. It was the kind of high-efficiency work that kept him in the NFL.

Bono had a field-stretcher at receiver in future first-round draft pick Mike Sherrard, who finished with 38 catches for 635 yards. Mike Young was a quality second wideout, and Danny Andrews was a versatile running back who could also catch the ball.

The running game itself wasn’t great—Andrews only ran for a little over 600 yards—and the defense didn’t have any All-American talent. The weaknesses showed in the first three games. UCLA was unimpressive in beating weak teams in San Diego State and Long Beach State. Then they hosted top-ranked Nebraska and were physically manhandled in a 42-3 loss that dropped the Bruins to #17.

A 33-16 win at lowly Colorado didn’t prove much, and it was followed by a 23-21 upset loss at home to Stanford, against a Cardinal team that would finish sub-.500. UCLA then pulled out a couple more narrow escapes, 27-24 over Washington State and 17-14 over Cal.

The win over WSU was pretty good, considering the Cougars were a winning team that had the Pac-10 MVP in running back Reuben Mayes and a future Super Bowl MVP at quarterback in Mark Rypien. But Cal only went 2-9. UCLA had still yet to do anything impressive.

The Bruins went to Arizona State, and while the Sun Devils were a subpar team, they had a prolific passing attack. Jeff Van Raaphorst never made it at the next level, but he was one of the league’s best in 1984. The UCLA defense stood tall in a 21-13 win.

Another disappointing effort at home resulted in a 20-18 loss to mediocre Oregon and eliminated the Bruins from the Rose Bowl chase. They beat two-win Oregon State 26-17 and got set to face USC. Their archrival had already wrapped up the Rose Bowl spot and was doing some trash-talking. Trojan quarterback Tim Green promised a “whipping.” UCLA had bulletin-board material and the added enticement of the Fiesta Bowl spot if they could win.

Donahue’s team delivered its best performance of the season. They picked off Green three times and forced five turnovers in all. Andrews left the game with an injury in the second quarter and freshman Gaston Green entered to rush for 134 yards. UCLA was an easy 29-10 winner and after being unranked since the Stanford loss in early October, the Bruins were #14 when the Fiesta Bowl arrived.

Miami had a new coach coming off its miracle national championship. Howard Schnellenberger left and Jimmy Johnson took over. The ‘Canes were ranked 10th to start the year and opened the season against Auburn in the Kickoff Classic held in the Meadowlands.

Auburn was not only the #1 team in the country, but the Tigers felt (correctly) that they, and not the Hurricanes should have been voted national champs the previous January.

 

But Miami was ready. Alonzo Highsmith rushed for 140 yards, outperforming the great Bo Jackson, who ran for 96. Bernie Kosar threw for 329 yards, repeatedly connecting with Eddie Brown, who caught eight passes for 157 yards.

Kosar threw an early 17-yard touchdown pass to Stanley Shakespeare to give Miami the lead. Auburn tied it, and then got a safety when the Miami punter muffed a snap. The ‘Canes trailed 15-14 in the third quarter and both teams traded field goals. One more field goal by Miami with 6:08 left got them out of New Jersey with a 20-18 win.

Another tough game with an SEC opponent awaited. Seventh-ranked Florida would come to Miami. The Gators would win the SEC this season, though probation would prevent formal recognition of the title. They were the only team to have beaten Miami in the 1983 season and the Gators nearly did it again.

Kosar played well again, going 25/33 for 300 yards and Miami led 19-13 in the fourth quarter. Florida drove to the brink of the goal line, but Hurricane safety Ken Calhoun, who made the defensive play that had preserved the national championship win the previous year, recovered a fumble on the one-yard line. Miami continued to have problems with the punting game, with another muffed snap giving Florida a chance at a field goal…which they missed.

Finally, the Gators broke thorugh and took a 20-19 lead with 41 seconds left. Kosar went to work, and when he hit tight end Willie Smith on a 36-yard pass, it got the ‘Canes into field goal range. It was Smith’s 11th catch of the game and he finished with 152 total yards. Kosar found Brown on a 12-yard touchdown pass with seven seconds left. On the game’s final play, a Florida desperation pass was intercepted and brought back for a score, making the final a deceptive 32-20.

Because Miami’s season got an early start in the Kickoff Classic, they played two games before the next poll was taken and they were appropriately moved up to the #1 spot. But they played a very demanding schedule and a road trip to Michigan—even a team that would be mediocre by Wolverine standards—ended up in a 22-14 loss.

The Hurricanes bounced back with a 28-17 win at Purdue and future NFL quarterback Jim Everett, but Miami was then embarrassed by archrival and 15th-ranked Florida State. The 38-3 win sent the ‘Canes plummeting to #16.

A bounceback win over lowly Rice was followed by a trip to #16 Notre Dame. The Irish had their share of problems in the early 1980s, but this was still a team that would win seven games. Miami’s 31-13 win was impressive and got them back into the Top 10. They followed it up with three straight easy wins over bad teams in Cincinnati, Pitt and Louisville.

Miami was having no problems moving the football. Kosar threw for over 3,600 yards on the season, completed 63% of his passes and got 8.8 yards-per-attempt, all numbers that are good today and were positively dazzling in the world of 1984. He finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

The sophomore Highsmith rushed for over 900 yards and caught 37 passes out of the backfield. Brown was an All-American receiver with over 1,100 receiving yards, while Smith caught 66 passes for 859 yards in the tight end slot.

No, scoring wasn’t the problem in Coral Gables. Defense was, and it would be the reason that, with a #6 ranking, the season suddenly took a wrong turn of historic proportions.

Miami hosted a good eight-win Maryland team. The Hurricanes came out smoking and were up 31-0 at halftime. Then came the biggest collapse in college football history and they lost 42-40. After licking their wounds on that game, came an even bigger defensive debacle against Boston College on Black Friday. Miami scored 45 points at home, with Kosar throwing for 447 yards. And they lost 47-45, on Doug Flutie’s legendary desperation pass on the final play.

The Hurricanes were reeling, going into the Fiesta Bowl ranked #13 and looking for some way to find some defense.

There wasn’t a lot of defense to be found in Tempe on New Year’s Day and the back-and-forth action made for great television. UCLA took a 7-0 lead, but Miami responded with three straight touchdowns, including a 68-yard punt return from Brown.

The Bruins responded with a 72-yard touchdown run from Green, a safety and a pair of field goals—including a 51-yarder from Lee—to take a 22-21 lead into the locker room.

Bono threw two touchdown passes in the second half and UCLA took a 36-24 lead. But while Miami might not be able to hold a lead, they could still overcome this kind of fourth-quarter deficit. The Hurricanes scored two quick touchdowns of their own, but a missed two-point conversion in the process kept the lead at one point, 37-36, rather than stretching it to three.

It proved to be the difference. UCLA got the ball with 2:58 left, drove it down and won the game with a short field goal by Lee.

The 39-37 win marked the third straight major bowl win for UCLA, a streak they would continue at the following year’s Rose Bowl. As for Miami, they would most definitely be back. Johnson’s program would lose just four games over the next four years and win a national championship, all keyed by staff changes and massive improvements on defense.

The Road To The 1984 Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State & Pitt

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Ohio State came into the 1984 Fiesta Bowl on a low note, having finished third in the Big Ten and losing to Michigan. Pitt came to the Fiesta Bowl with every reason to feel good about themselves, having gone 8-2-1 in their first year post-Dan Marino. Let’s take a look back on the road these Rustbelt teams took through the 1983 college football season to make it to Tempe.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

The honeymoon was over for Earle Bruce in Columbus. After taking Ohio State to an undefeated season in his first year in 1979, Bruce had lost the Rose Bowl that year and then failed to make any major bowl game—much less the coveted Rose—in the ensuing three years.

Bruce had good skill position talent on hand for 1983, and it started with running back Keith Byars. The big back ran for nearly 1,200 yards and one year later he would finish second to Doug Flutie in the Heisman Trophy voting. Byars was the workhorse of the Big Ten in carries and still finished a solid fourth in yards-per-attempt. His 20 touchdowns also led the conference.

Mike Tomczak had a long NFL career ahead of him, including quarterbacking some playoff teams. In 1983 at Ohio State, Tomczak completed a respectable 55 percent of his passes for a solid 8.2 yards-per-attempt. His top target with tight end John Frank, while wide receiver Cedric Anderson was a big play threat and Thad Jemison a solid third target.

The Buckeyes weren’t loaded defensively, but defensive back Kelvin Bell intercepted five passes. The high expectations that have been in Columbus seemingly forever were in place in 1983, as they were ranked ninth in the preseason poll.

If Ohio State and Oregon played a season-opener today, it would be a nationally televised affair, the rematch of the championship game in the first-ever College Football Playoff. In 1983, Oregon was still a subpar team and they came into Columbus for a perfunctory 31-6 trouncing that got the Buckeyes for their trip to second-ranked Oklahoma.

Frank made a key decision before the game—an observant Jew on Rosh Hashanah weekend, he would play. Whether it was the right move isn’t something for a non-Jew to comment on, but it was a big help for the football team. Frank caught two first-half touchdown passes and Ohio State stunned the crowd in Norman by taking a 21-0 lead by the third quarter. They won 24-14 in a game not as respectable as the score makes it sound.

Oklahoma would prove to be a four-loss disappointment, but for now, Ohio State was riding high and moved up to #3 in the national rankings.

But the start of Big Ten play brought problems and the Buckeyes dropped a tough 20-14 decision at seventh-ranked Iowa. Ohio State slipped to #8, before rebounding with wins over bad Minnesota and Purdue teams, scoring 102 points in the process. The Buckeyes were #6 going into Illinois on October 15.

The Illini were in the midst of a year that would see them reach the Rose Bowl and when they beat Ohio State 17-13, the Buckeyes were realistically out of contention. Not only would they miss the Rose Bowl again, they wouldn’t even play for the prize at Michigan on November 19.

Ohio State posted a pedestrian 21-11 win over a sub-.500 Michigan State team. Wisconsin was up next. The Badgers had beaten the Buckeyes each of the last two seasons and were in the mix to finish in the top three of the conference. The potential for a disappointing conference season to turn even worse was there when Bucky came to Columbus on October 29.

The running of Byars saved the Buckeyes. An up-and-down first half had Ohio State ahead 28-21, but Wisconsin immediately drove for a touchdown to start the third quarter, before missing the extra point. The Buckeyes took the game over from there.

Byars finished with 174 yards, while Tomczak was sharp and efficient, 12/14 for 162 yards. Ohio State controlled the line of scrimmage and pulled away to a 45-27 win. They followed it up with thumpings of lowly Indiana and Northwestern by a combined 111-24.

The Buckeyes might have been out of the Rose Bowl mix, but they were back in the Top 10 and the Sugar Bowl announced it planned to invite the winner of the OSU-Michigan as the foil for third-ranked Auburn.

Another opportunity was met with disappointment though. Ohio State lost 24-21 and Bruce’s decision to try a trick “fumble-rooskie” play (where the quarterback sets the ball on the ground and an offensive lineman scoops it up and goes running) blew up in his face, creating a turnover when the Buckeyes were driving to tie or take the lead.

It was Ohio State’s good fortune to be given another chance for redemption, as the Fiesta Bowl passed over 10-1 and sixth-ranked SMU for the marquee program out of Columbus. Now the Buckeyes needed to make the most of it.

Pitt was unranked to start the season, a departure from what had been expected of this program over the previous seven years when they had either Tony Dorsett at quarterback or Marino at quarterback, won a national title in 1976, been ranked #1 at various points and had two straight major bowl appearances on their resume.

John Congemi stepped in at quarterback, and while he didn’t fling it around like Marino had, the future Hall of Famer had endured an interception-prone senior season. Congemi had a sparkling TD-INT ratio of 16-8, while completing 59 percent of his passes. While there’s no comparison between these two quarterbacks in the bigger picture, Pitt was better off in 1983.

One reason was the running game, with consensus All-American offensive tackle Bill Fralic leading the way for Joe McCall, who ran for 961 yards. The receiving corps was balanced, with Bill Wallace and Dwight Collins. And the first game of the season made it apparent that Pitt wasn’t going to go quietly into the night.

The Panthers went to Tennessee to play former coach Johnny Majors, who had departed after winning the ’76 title. The Vols had one of the best defensive tackles of all-time in Reggie White.  Pitt coach Foge Fazio knew something about defense himself and the game was low-scoring battle. Collins caught the game’s only TD pass and Pitt had a 13-3 road win over a team that would go on to an 8-3 season.

It still didn’t get the Panthers any love in the national rankings, although a 35-0 whitewash of Temple got Pitt up to #16. They suffered their first loss of the season, 13-7 at Maryland and moved out of the rankings. But it was another strong defensive outing against a Terps team that had Boomer Esiason at quarterback and would win the ACC.

The defense didn’t come through against Jeff Hostetler and seventh-ranked West Virginia in a 24-21 road loss. But the season began to turn decisively in Pitt’s favor at home against Florida State. It was the first of several games against top-flight running backs, in this case FSU’s Greg Allen, who got some All-American votes. Pitt won 17-16.

They followed it up with two road wins. It started with a 55-0 blasting of lowly Louisville and then a 21-14 win over Navy, who had another back with some All-American recognition in Napoleon McCallum. When Pitt edged an average Syracuse team 13-10 at home, it set up a November 5 trip to Notre Dame

It was another game against a top back in Allan Pinkett. The Irish were ranked #18 and making noises about the Fiesta Bowl spot themselves. But Pitt struck quickly. Congemi threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Wallace, the Panthers recovered a fumble, McCall scored and it was 14-0.

McCall went to rush for 116 yards and scored one more touchdown. Pitt’s stingy defense intercepted four passes and they won 21-16, moving back into the polls at #20. They rolled over Army to nudge up to #17 and the season ended with a 24-24 tie against archrival Penn State, who struggled to a four-loss season.

At 8-2-1, it’s also fair to say that Pitt could have been passed over for SMU as easily as Ohio State could have. It’s also fair to say that Pitt was a lot happier about their season than Ohio State when the Fiesta Bowl arrived.

Congemi threw for a first-half touchdown, while both Tomczak and Byars ran in, and Ohio State led 14-7 at the half. The score held into the fourth quarter when suddenly things got crazy. Pitt tied the game, but Byars, who told the press afterward how much he wanted this game, took the kickoff back 99 yards for a touchdown.

Another touchdown pass by Congemi put Pitt into position to tie the game, but they opted for a two-point try that missed. No matter, the Panthers got the ball back and kicked a field goal with 2:39 left. Trailing 23-21 against a good defense, the Buckeyes looked ready to endure one more disappointment.

Tomczak, often underappreciated for his importance in the offense due to the excellence of Byars, responded to the moment. He pushed Ohio State just past the Pitt 40-yard line, closing on field goal range. But the field goal wouldn’t be necessary. The number 39 proved to be magic–Tomczak found Jemison a 39-yard touchdown strike with 39 seconds left and the Buckeyes had a 28-23 win.

For Ohio State, the road to redemption led to a Rose Bowl return a year later. For Pitt, the loss was the signal that the good years of their program were over, as they would not make a major bowl game until coming back to this same venue in 2004.

The Road To The 1983 Fiesta Bowl: Arizona State & Oklahoma

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The Fiesta Bowl had just become a major bowl following the 1981 season when they moved their game to January 1. The game following the 1982 college football season represented a modest step back for the bowl in some ways, when they paired up Arizona State and Oklahoma. Nonetheless, the 1983 Fiesta Bowl still brought together two good teams with a final Top 10 ranking on the line.

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I say the matchup was a step back because Arizona State played all its home games at the Fiesta Bowl and they were the program that usually got the invite in the game’s pre-January 1 period, as a way to juice up attendance. The Sun Devils played in five straight Fiesta Bowls from 1971-75 and won four of them.

ASU was also hungry for more than an invitation to play in their own backyard. With the Pac-10’s traditional power, USC, on probation and having started to show some modest cracks in recent years anyway, the hope in Tempe was for a Rose Bowl trip.

Head coach Darryl Rodgers was no less hungry for the trip to Pasadena—as the head coach at Michigan State he had won the Big Ten in 1978, but the program’s probation prevented the Rose Bowl reward.

This Arizona State team was built around a strong passing game led by quarterback Todd Hons. In a conference with several good quarterbacks, most notably John Elway at Stanford, Hons finished fourth in passing yards, completion percentage and yards-per-attempt.

Hons spread the ball around well, with no one particular receiver a standout, though Jerome Weatherspoon was the best big play threat. The running game was led by Darryl Clack, who was second in the Pac-10 in yards-per-attempt and tied for the lead in touchdowns.

But with the offense built around throwing the football, Clack still only went for a little over 600 yards. This offense was in Hon’s hands and the only problem was that the 14 interceptions were a lot, although in an era when turnovers were more frequent than they are today, it wasn’t a fatal flaw.

Defensively, Arizona State had two All-Americans in end Vernon Maxwell and defensive back Mike Richardson. Another defensive lineman, Jim Jeffcoat, would go on to a nice NFL career in Dallas. ASU was ranked #19 to open the season.

The Sun Devils opened with an easy win over a bad Oregon team, then handled mediocre opponents in Utah and Houston. ASU nudged up to #13 in the polls. They faced two teams with winning records in Cal and Kansas State and continued to win. That was followed by a 21-17 victory over Stanford, a team that only went 5-6, but had Elway in the fold.

Arizona State wasn’t dominating anyone, but the Stanford game was the only one that was really close and the pollsters moved the Sun Devils into the Top 10. They crushed woeful UTEP and were set to host 12th-ranked Southern Cal on October 30.

Hons connected with Clack for a 29-yard touchdown pass to give Arizona State a 7-3 lead, and after USC answered with a TD of their own, Sun Devil kicker Luis Zendejas hit a 52-yard field goal to tie it at halftime.

Cornerback Mario Montgomery made the biggest play in the third quarter, with an interception that both squelched a Trojan drive and set up a 54-yard TD march for Arizona State. The 17-10 win was preserved by a sack with 51 seconds left after USC reached the ASU 25-yard line. When the first rankings of November came out, Arizona State was at #4 and squarely in the national championship picture.

Arizona State nudged to #3 with a so-so 30-16 win against lowly Oregon State. The national title hopes in Tempe finally came to an end with a tough 17-13 loss at home against seventh-ranked Washington. It looked like the Rose Bowl was also dead, as the game gave the Huskies the edge in the conference race. But on November 20, Washington was stunned by rival Washington State and the door was open for Arizona State and Rodgers to get to Pasadena.

In-state rival Arizona was a pretty good team with a good head coach in Larry Smith, who would one day lead USC to three straight Rose Bowls. And the game would be in Tucson. But the Wildcats were still just 5-4-1 coming in, which makes the results on the Saturday after Thanksgiving as disappointing a game as the Arizona State program has ever played.

The secondary broke down, giving up long touchdown passes of 92 & 65 yards and the Sun Devils lost 28-18. They fell to #11 in the rankings and settled for the Fiesta Bowl trip.

Oklahoma’s presence in Tempe was another case of perhaps both the Fiesta Bowl and the team itself feeling disappointed. Certainly the Sooners were not happy with their 8-3 season.

And while it was great for the Fiesta to land a program that had been one of college football’s best, going 83-9-2 with a pair of national titles between 1973-80, it was also disappointing to take a team that had lost three-plus games for the second straight years.

Barry Switzer’s team wasn’t loaded with talent, like previous editions had been. They had only one consensus All-American in defensive tackle Rick Bryan. The poor passing numbers of quarterback Kelly Phelps weren’t unusual in Norman, but his lack of running ability were.

What Oklahoma did have was exceptional depth and talent at running back and it started with freshman Marcus Dupree, a magnificent combination of speed and size. Dupree finished with over 1,100 yards and his 7.8 yards-per-attempt was the best in the Big Eight.

Switzer’s stable of backs also included Stanley Wilson, with 910 yards, along with Fred Sims and Weldon Ledbetter, both of whom would have been the leading rusher on Arizona State. All four backs were in the top ten of the Big Eight in rush yardage and all were in the top six in yards-per-attempt.

OU was ranked #9 to start the season and they played a good West Virginia team at home to open the season. When the Sooners took a 14-0 lead it looked like business as usual in Norman. But the lead was cut to 21-20 by the third quarter and then Oklahoma fell apart in a 41-27 loss. They were punished harshly by the pollsters, falling completely out of the Top 20.

The Sooners beat Kentucky, but a 29-18 win over a team that ultimately finished winless wasn’t exactly inspiring. Nor was a home date with USC the following week—the Oklahoma faithful were hoping for a revenge for a 1981 loss in Los Angeles in the closing seconds, but instead watched as OU was shut out, 12-0.

Another unimpressive win against a weak team followed, 13-3 over Iowa State. There wasn’t a lot of reason for optimism on October 9 when the Red River rivalry with Texas came. The Longhorns were ranked #19

But the Oklahoma running game found its mojo on this day in Dallas. Dupree scored his first college touchdown on a 63-yard fake reverse and OU won the rushing yardage battle 384-163. The 28-22 win got the season back in track and a 38-14 blowout of lowly Kansas a week later got the Sooners back into the Top 20.

Decisive wins over Oklahoma State, Colorado and Missouri followed and Oklahoma was now ranked #11. More important, they were still undefeated in Big Eight play. They and Nebraska had again separated themselves from the rest of the conference and their Black Friday game in Lincoln would settle the league’s automatic Orange Bowl bid.

The season would end again in disappointment, as Oklahoma fell behind 21-10 and after closing to 28-24, a last-gasp drive ended with an interception. The Sooners would settle for the trip to Tempe ranked #12.

Fans got a good back-and-forth battle. Dupree was fantastic, going for 239 yards. Oklahoma led 13-11 at the half, with Arizona State scoring on a safety and also getting a 54-yard field goal from Zendejas. Clack and Sims traded touchdowns in the third quarter and Oklahoma still led 21-18.

The fourth quarter finally belonged to Arizona State, with a short touchdown run by Alvin Moore and 48-yard touchdown pass from Hons securing the 32-21 win. The Sun Devils finished #6 in the national polls, a ranking that had to soothe whatever residual hurt was there from missing the Rose Bowl. The Sooners ended at #16.

The Road To The 1982 Fiesta Bowl: Penn State & USC

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The 1982 Fiesta Bowl marked a new era for the Tempe-based bowl game. It represented the effort of the Fiesta to turn itself into a “major bowl”, as they moved their game to January 1. They certainly got two major opponents for the debut on the New Year’s stage. Penn State and USC were two proud programs, and the Trojans had Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Allen.

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Here’s a look back on the paths the Nittany Lions and Trojans each trod through the 1981 college football season to reach the Fiesta Bowl.

Penn State had gone 18-6 in the two years since 1978, when they came up a yard short of the national title in a Sugar Bowl clash with Alabama. Averaging three losses per year was high for PSU in this era, but they had finished in the Top 10 the year before and capped it off by beating Ohio State in a bowl—ironically the Fiesta, then played on Christmas Day.

The Lions’ offense was keyed by a strong running game led by 1,000-yard rusher Curt Warner, and supported by Jon Williams. Warner was the third-best back in the country, behind Allen and Georgia’s Herschel Walker and the Lion back would go on to a good pro career with the Seattle Seahawks. Warner’s offensive line was led by consensus All-American guard Sean Farrell.

Todd Blackledge was the quarterback, and his 50 percent completion rate was good enough by the passing standards of 1981, and his 7.5 yards-per-attempt was pretty good. The receiving corps was led by receivers Kenny Jackson and Greg Garrity, along with tight end Mike McCloskey.

Penn State didn’t have a defense with All-American talent, but this was still the core of a group that would win Joe Paterno’s first national title one year later. They began the 1981 season ranked #7 and promptly blew out a respectable Cincinnati team 52-0. A week off, combined with a series of upsets, had the Lions ranked #3 when they visited Nebraska on September 26.

The Cornhuskers would win the Big Eight title, but they had been one of the early upset victims and had already lost to Iowa. Nebraska needed this game and they led 24-20 after three quarters. But Warner was running at will and he finished with 238 yards in an amazing display. Penn State played like the hungrier team on the road and ended up with a 30-24 win.

Penn State rolled through Temple, Boston College and Syracuse, all teams that hovered around the .500 mark and when that stretch concluded the Nittany Lions were ranked #1 in the country. They followed it up with a home win over a good West Virginia team, 30-7. But one week later in Miami, the run at the top came to an end.

The Hurricanes had Jim Kelly at quarterback and head coach Howard Schnellenberger was building the dynasty that would eventually transform college football. Penn State lost 17-14 and slipped to #6.

An unimpressive road win at lowly N.C. State kept Penn State in the title chase, but was a warning sign as they prepared to host Alabama on November 14. The Crimson Tide were on their way to a Cotton Bowl bid and the Lions got manhandled, 31-16 on their homefield. A 24-21 win over fading Notre Dame, who ended the year 5-6, set up the season finale with Pitt.

Penn State was ranked #13, while the rivals from western Pennsylvania were undefeated, ranked #1 and had Dan Marino at quarterback. Playing at old Pitt Stadium, the Lions fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter and Marino was driving for more points. Roger Jackson then made the play of the season.

Jackson intercepted a pass in the back of the end zone to kill the threat. Penn State promptly drove down and scored. Warner, playing hurt, was able to rush for 104 yards, but the big story was that Blackledge played the best game of his career to date.

The Lion quarterback went 12/23 for 262 yards and twice hooked up with Kenny Jackson for touchdowns. The game was tied 14-14 by halftime and then the avalanche started in the second half. Penn State stunned the Pitt crowd and the entire nation with 34 more points and a 48-14 win.

In one fell swoop, Penn State moved back into the Top 10, won the Lambert Trophy as the top team in the East and destroyed the title hopes of their archrival. It was that wave of momentum that sent the Nittany Lions to Tempe.

USC had shared the 1978 national championship with Alabama and finished #2 in the country in 1979. They slipped a bit in 1980, losing twice and surrendering the Pac-10 crown to Washington. The Trojans were looking to come back and everything revolved around Allen.

The running back set an NCAA single-season record with 2,427 rush yards, averaged 5.6 yards-per-attempt and ran for 22 touchdowns. The line that blocked for him was anchored by consensus All-American Roy Foster—between USC’s Foster and Penn State’s Farrell—the Fiesta Bowl would showcase the nation’s top two guards.

USC’s defense was loaded with future NFL talent, starting with All-American linebacker Chip Banks, along with Joey Browner in the secondary and Keith Browner up front. The one thing USC didn’t do very well was throw the football—John Mazur completed 47 percent of his throws, which was tolerable at this time, but barely. But there were also no big plays, as he averaged just 5.8 yards-per-attempt.

The reputation of the USC program still had them ranked fifth in the country to start the year and they validated that standing by blasting a pretty good Tennessee team, 43-7 and vaulted quickly to #2. After shutting out Indiana, then coached by Lee Corso, the Trojans were atop the polls and ready to play a monster September game with second-ranked Oklahoma.

Oklahoma would end up having a down year, at 6-4-1 and 1981 was the first of three seasons of relative decline. But no one knew that when they arrived in the Los Angeles Coliseum and led 24-21 late in the game. USC had kept themselves alive by taking care of the football—no turnovers, while they recovered five OU fumbles. It put the Trojans in position for one last drive and with two seconds left, Mazur scrambled and found tight end Fred Cornwell for the winning touchdown.

All was right with the world in Los Angeles, especially after USC blasted lowly Oregon State the next week. But in a home game against Arizona—an average team that finished 6-5—the Trojans slipped up and lost 13-10, following to #7.

A home game with Stanford was more challenging than the Cardinal’s four-win season makes it appear. This Stanford team had junior quarterback John Elway, the top passer in the Pac-10 and running back Darrin Nelson was another future pro and finished second (albeit a very distant second) to Allen in rushing yards among Pac-10 backs. USC won 25-17 and nudged back to fifth in the polls.

The October trip to Notre Dame resulted in a 14-7 win, although the Irish were another program in temporary decline, and unlike Oklahoma, this one was apparent when the game was played. The next game was more impressive—Washington State had risen out of the Pac-10 basement and into contention. USC stomped the Cougars 41-17 in the Coliseum. A 21-3 win over lowly Cal had the Trojans up to #3 in the polls as they traveled to Washington.

Not only was the national championship race in chaos, so was the battle for the Rose Bowl berth in the Pac-10. USC and Arizona State each had 4-1 conference records, UCLA and Washington State were a half-game back at 4-1-1 and Washington State was 4-2. But the Trojan offense no-showed in Seattle and a critical special teams blunder cost them a touchdown in a 13-3 loss to the Huskies.

Coming into the final week, there were a lot of scenarios in play for the Rose Bowl, but USC was realistically out of that race. The only way they could make it is if Washington and Washington State played to a tie in this era before overtime existed. More realistically, the 10th-ranked Trojans were playing for national ranking and most especially to deny hated rival UCLA a Rose Bowl bid—if the Bruins won, they would go to Pasadena.

The game would prove to be a classic in the long history of this series. Allen was terrific, rushing for 219 yards, including a touchdown with 2:14 left that put USC ahead 22-21. UCLA answered by getting in position to try a 46-yard field goal on the game’s final play.

Defensive tackle George Achica was a 270-pounds, while UCLA’s long snapper only weighed 170. Achica simply bulled his way into the backfield on the field goal and blocked the kick. USC had denied its rival (Washington ended up in the Rose Bowl) and would go to the Fiesta Bowl ranked #8.

A spot in the final Top 10 was on the line when Penn State and USC met. There were also rumors flying as it was being reported—correctly—that the New England Patriots wanted Paterno as their head coach and that the Lion mentor was genuinely interested. In the end, Paterno of course decided to stay at Penn State and with a team like the one that took the field in this game, why not?

Fifteen seconds into the game, Allen fumbled and Penn State recovered. Warner ran in for a touchdown on the next play. It was the first blow in a day when Warner would completely outplay the Heisman Trophy winner, outrushing Allen 145-85. When USC threatened to make a game of it, Blackledge put it away with a long touchdown pass to Garrity. The final was 26-10.

Ironically that same formula—Warner outplaying a Heisman winner and a Blackledge-to-Garrity touchdown pass sealing the win—was what would play out one year later when Penn State beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl for the national championship.

For now, in Tempe, Penn State would be happy with a #3 national finish. Allen would be happy with an NFL career ahead of him that would include an MVP award, a Super Bowl MVP and eventual induction into the Hall of Fame.