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Sugar Bowl history

1980 College Football Season: The Road To The Major Bowls

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The biggest development in the 1980 college football season was the arrival of a freshman running back that would define the sport for the next three years. Herschel Walker made Georgia must-see television at the outset of the decade and in his first year he led the Bulldogs to an undefeated season and a national championship.

Two more traditional powers played important parts in the drama of the season. Georgia had to displace two-time defending national champion Alabama in the SEC. The Crimson Tide slipped a bit this year, but were still good enough to reach the Cotton Bowl and get what would prove to be the final major bowl victory for the great Bear Bryant.

Notre Dame was looking to return to the top and to do it for outgoing coach Dan Devine. The Irish made a serious run at #1, highlighted by a dramatic head-to-head win over Alabama. A late season loss ultimately ended those dreams, but Notre Dame got a crack at Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

Another pair of traditional powers didn’t make a serious run at a national title, but they impacted the season and won major bowl games. Oklahoma survived a challenge from Nebraska and won its third straight Big Eight title, earning the automatic ticket to the Orange Bowl. Michigan won the Big Ten, which by itself wasn’t unusual. But they also won the Rose Bowl and that was outside the norm—in fact, for current head coach Bo Schembecler it was unprecedented.

Outside, the world of the “Bluebloods”, Florida State showed that their run to the Orange Bowl in 1979 was no fluke, by doing it again this year and this time matching up much better with Oklahoma. And Pitt, with a who’s who of future NFL talent up and down its lineup, made a run at the top and settled for the #2 spot in the final polls. 

This articles below take you on a season-long run through the seven most consequential teams in college football’s 1980 season: 

READ ABOUT 1980 GEORGIA
READ ABOUT 1980 NOTRE DAME
READ ABOUT 1980 MICHIGAN
READ ABOUT 1980 PITT
READ ABOUT 1980 OKLAHOMA
READ ABOUT 1980 FLORIDA STATE
READ ABOUT 1980 ALABAMA

The Road To The 1986 Sugar Bowl: Tennessee & Miami

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Miami and Tennessee played a game with national championship implications at the 1986 Sugar Bowl, with the Hurricanes looking to get win and get help, while the Volunteers were out to play spoiler. Here’s a look back at the road both teams took through the 1985 college football season before their paths converged in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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Tennessee had not reached the Sugar Bowl, the SEC’s contract game, since 1970. But they were winning consistently, having reached nine straight bowls, including four in succession under Johnny Majors, who came to Knoxville after winning a national championship at Pitt in 1976.

Tony Robinson opened the season at quarterback and played well, completing 64% of his passes and getting 8.7 yards per attempt before an injury ended his year. Darryl Dickey stepped in and posted even better numbers, albeit narrowly.

Dickey connected 65 percent of his passes with an 8.9 YPA. And though Dickey attempted almost as many passes as Robinson (131 to 143), the former only had one interception against seven for the starter.

Whomever was at quarterback enjoyed the benefit of All-American receiver Tim McGee a future part of the 1988 Cincinnati Bengals’ Super Bowl team. In 1985, McGee led the SEC in both catches and receiving yards, with 50 and 947 respectively. The running game was led by Keith Davis, who ran for 684 yards and on the other side of the ball Chris White, a running back converted to the secondary, intercepted nine passes.

Tennessee was unranked to open the season, and they would be tested immediately. UCLA, ranked #10 and the eventual Pac-10 champs, came to Knoxville. The game ended in a 26-26 tie. Two weeks later, the Vols hosted top-ranked Auburn.

The first possession let the Tigers know they had trouble. Tennessee marched 76 yards for a score, keyed by a 37-yard pass to McGee. Robinson was brilliant, going 17/30 for 259 yards and four touchdowns. The defense kept the future Heisman Trophy winner, Auburn’s Bo Jackson, under control, allowing him 80 yards and 17 carries. The Vols led 24-0 in the third quarter and won 38-20.

They moved into the polls at #16 and then did not play well in a 31-29 win over a weak Wake Forest team. A 17-10 loss at seventh-ranked Florida sent Tennessee to #20 in the rankings and made an October 19 visit to Alabama must-win for any SEC title hopes.

Tennessee was motivated to win for defensive coordinator Ken Donahue, who had been on the staff for the great Bear Bryant at Alabama. The defense would have to play an outsized role in this game because Robinson broke his leg. The Vols clung to a 16-14 lead and hung on for the win when ‘Bama’s 61-yard field goal missed at the gun.

A non-conference date with a good Georgia Tech team was next—give Majors credit for taking on tough opponents in addition to his SEC slate—and another tie was the result, this one 6-6. Tennessee bounced back with wins over bad teams in Rutgers and Memphis, by scores of 40-0 and 17-7 respectively.

It was mid-November and Tennessee and Florida were tied in the loss column in the SEC race, with one loss apiece. Even though the Gators had the tiebreaker, they had something else—NCAA probation and were ineligible to go to the Sugar Bowl. So the Vols had a half-game lead for the berth in New Orleans over Alabama, LSU and Georgia, with Auburn a game back.

Tennessee blew out mediocre teams in Ole Miss and Kentucky by a combined 76-14. Then the Vols finished the season with a 30-0 win over lowly Vanderbilt. Tennessee shared first place with Florida and moved into the Top 10, at #8 in the polls, as they headed for the Sugar Bowl.

Miami had exploded onto the national stage in 1983 when they won a stunning national title over Nebraska. The mastermind behind it, Howard Schnellenberger, had immediately left to the United States Football League, a fledgling organization that had a brief splash in challenging the NFL.

Jimmy Johnson took over and 1984 was a little more trying. The Hurricanes made a major bowl, the Fiesta, but defensive problems down the stretch led to high-scoring losses against Maryland, Boston College and to UCLA in the Fiesta Bowl. The ‘Canes lost respect nationally and were unranked to start the 1985 season.

Vinny Testaverde took over at quarterback for the departed Bernie Kosar. Testaverde threw for over 3,200 yards, averaging 9.2 YPA, completing 61 percent of his passes and finished with a 21/15 TD-INT ratio in leading the most pass-oriented offense of all ten teams that reached major bowl games.

Sophomore Michael Irvin is the big name among the receivers, and he finished with 840 yards and joined Brian Blades as big-play threats on the outside. Irvin averaged over 18 yards a catch, while Blades was almost at 22 yards per catch.

But the best target in 1985 was tight end Willie Smith, who caught 48 passes for 669 yards and was a consensus All-American selection. In the backfield, Alonzo Highsmith and Warren Williams gave some balance to the attack.

Miami still lost 35-23 to Florida to open the year and there was no reason to think this would be a big year in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes got themselves back on track with a rout over lowly Rice 48-20. Miami blew out Boston College 45-10, which was nice payback for Doug Flutie’s legendary desperation pass a year earlier, but Flutie was gone and BC wasn’t very good. Miami beat two more sub-.500 teams in East Carolina, 27-15 and Cincinnati, 38-0.

October 19 would be one of the most significant days in football history. Miami, still unranked, traveled to Oklahoma to play the third-ranked Sooners.

Midway through the first quarter, Testaverde hit Irvin with a touchdown pass. Oklahoma answered, when their sophomore quarterback Troy Aikman hit tight end Keith Jackson on a 50-yard pass that set up the tying touchdown. Later in the second quarter came the play that altered the course of history.

Hurricane defensive tackle Jerome Brown broke through and sacked Aikman. The quarterback broke his ankle and was gone for the year. Because of this, Oklahoma would revert to its wishbone, option-oriented attack of years past. Aikman would transfer to UCLA and play in a pro-style scheme, turning into the #1 pick in the draft.

He would picked by the Dallas Cowboys and their rookie head coach in Jimmy Johnson. Aikman won two Super Bowls for Johnson, playing with Michael Irvin. Then he won a third, after Switzer took over the Cowboys. And all the while, Jerome Brown was with the division rival Philadelphia Eagles, playing several big games against Johnson, Aikman and Switzer.

In the short-term, Oklahoma was a mess for the rest of this game. Testaverde threw for 270 yards and Miami pulled away to a 27-15 win. They moved to #15 in the polls.

A 45-7 win over lowly Louisville set up a trip to 10th-ranked Florida State. Miami trailed 24-14 at the half and 27-21 with a little more than eleven minutes left. Testaverde was in the groove though, throwing for 339 yards. He threw the go-ahead touchdown with 9:55 to go, and then added another TD pass with three minutes left. Miami won 35-27 and cracked the Top 10, at #8.

The ‘Canes traveled to Maryland, to whom they had blown a 31-0 lead and lost a year earlier. This was a good Terps team, one whose only other losses were to Penn State—who would conclude the regular season undefeated—and Michigan, who lost just once.

Add Miami to the list of excellent teams that beat Maryland, this one 29-22. It moved the Hurricanes to #4. They beat Colorado State 24-3 and then brought a miserable end to the Notre Dame coaching career of Gerry Faust, beating the Irish 58-7 and drawing a national media backlash for running it up (something Faust does not blame Johnson for and for which the charge is unfair). Either way, the negative media coverage didn’t’ prevent Miami from being ranked #2 going into the Sugar Bowl.

The buildup to New Year’s Night had Johnson on the campaign trail. Penn State was #1, the nation’s only undefeated team and would be a clear #1 if they won the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma. The Sooners were #3 and the media hype was saying that OU would vault to the top spot if they beat the Nittany Lions.

How could that be, Johnson wanted to know, given the head-to-head result in Norman? The odds are good that in such a scenario there would have been a split national title, something that makes no sense in light of Miami’s decisive win over Oklahoma. But there was never a chance to find out. Because all of Johnson’s campaigning was finding a receptive audience—in the Tennessee locker room, where they found the presumptiveness of a Hurricane bowl win to be insulting.

Miami started well, taking a 7-0 lead on the first possession, keyed by a successful fake punt conversion. Then Tennessee and their fans took over. The Superdome was packed to the brim with gaudy orange, and the crowd noise, along with Tennessee’s constant blitzing, something Testaverde had not been subjected to all year, gave this game an unexpected turn.

Tennessee tied the game early in the second quarter and took the lead 14-7 with five minutes to go before halftime. The defense intercepted Testaverde four times and completely shut down the Miami running game, with the ‘Canes only able to get 32 yards on the ground. It was a game heavy on penalties, with each team drawing double-digit flags and being charged over 100 penalty yards.

The Vols were the ones who could run the football. Jeff Powell ran for 104 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown jaunt in the third quarter that made the score 28-7 and all but sealed the deal. The game ended 35-7. Oklahoma would beat Penn State in a game that was playing at the same time, but it wouldn’t matter to anyone here.

Tennessee’s Sugar Bowl win announced that they were more than just a bowl team, they were now a regular contender. Majors brought them to three more major bowls, all in succession from 1989-91 and turned the reins over to Philip Fulmer who eventually won a national title in 1998. Miami, of course was not going away. They would win a national title in 1987 and come within one play of doing so in 1986 and 1988. Johnson would go to the NFL and win Super Bowls. Everything turned out well for all involved in the 1986 Sugar Bowl.

The Road To The 1985 Sugar Bowl: Nebraska & LSU

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Nebraska arrived at the 1985 Sugar Bowl on a down note. LSU was thrilled to be there. Here’s a look back at the paths the Cornhuskers and Tigers took through the 1984 college football season to a New Year’s Day meeting that marked the second time in three years they played each other on January 1.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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Tom Osborne’s Nebraska program was coming off the heartbreak to end all heartbreaks, when they came within one play of winning a national title in 1983 before an upset loss to Miami in the Orange Bowl, a game where Osborne eschewed playing for a tie and a sure national title to try and two-point play and go for the win.

Even with the crushing 31-30 loss ending the dream, the Cornhuskers were still riding high. After futilely chasing Oklahoma from 1974-80, Nebraska had won three straight Big Eight titles and had a 27-game conference winning streak. They were the team to beat in their own backyard and they were ranked #2 in the nation to start the 1984 season.

Nebraska had its trademark powerhouse offensive line, led by consensus All-American center Mark Traynowicz. Guard Harry Grimmings also got some All-American mention. The Cornhuskers had a 1,000-yard back in Doug DuBose, and Jeff Smith almost got there with 935 yards.

DuBose and Smith were 1-2 in the Big Eight in rushing, and their path was paved by fullback Tom Rathman, who would have a better NFL career than anyone, going to the San Francisco 49ers and playing with Joe Montana.

Osborne alternated quarterbacks, with Craig Sundberg and Travis Turner splitting duty. Sundberg was the more effective of the two, with a superior completion percentage (65-49) and yards-per-attempt (8.8 to 7.2), but Turner would step up at some key moments in the 1984 season. Defensively, Bret Clark got All-American mention in the secondary, but otherwise no one stood out.

Nebraska pounded mediocre Wyoming 42-7 to start the season and when top-ranked Miami lost at Michigan, the Cornhuskers moved to the top of the polls. They blew out subpar Minnesota 38-7, and then traveled to play eighth-ranked UCLA.

The Bruins had won the previous two Rose Bowls and would make the January 1 Fiesta Bowl this season. The Cornhuskers simply leveled them. Smith and DuBose each cleared the 100-yard threshold, the defense held UCLA to 41 rush yards, got eight quarterback sacks and the final was 42-3. It looked like another steamroller was coming out of Lincoln this season.

But the next week a letdown came and Nebraska dumped a 17-9 decision to a Syracuse team that would only win six games. The Cornhuskers were down to #8 and a coming home date with Oklahoma State to start conference play would be anything but easy.

Oklahoma State was ranked #9 and they would get into the top five and contend for the national title themselves before the season was over. Nebraska couldn’t get its offense in gear, as Sundberg threw three interceptions and was lifted for Turner. The Cornhuskers trailed 3-0 in the fourth quarter.

After a tying field goal early in the final period, punt returner Shane Swanson stepped up with a 49-yard return for a touchdown. With Nebraska playing great defense, they got the ball back and Turner threw a clinching touchdown pass. Nebraska had escaped 17-3. The following week’s 33-23 win over a poor Missouri team wasn’t impressive, but it had the Cornhuskers back in the top five.

Nebraska then rolled through three straight bad teams, Colorado, Kansas State and Iowa State, by a combined score of 130-21. The Cornhuskers then rolled an average team in Kansas—one that had already beaten Oklahoma—by a 41-7 count on November 10. The same day, top-ranked Washington lost to USC and Nebraska had returned to the #1 spot.

Only one game remained and it was with Oklahoma, ranked #6, and it would be in Lincoln. Nebraska simply did not play well on this day, missing three field goals, committing four turnovers and being stopped on 4th-and-goal from the one-yard line with 5:32 left when they trailed 10-7. Once again, the Cornhuskers went for the win and came up short, although in this case, a tie would have been fatal to their national title hopes.

Nebraska slipped to #7 in the polls and when Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State in a 2 vs. 3 battle the following week, the Sooners got the Big Eight’s Orange Bowl bid. The Cornhuskers accepted the nod for the Sugar Bowl.

LSU’s 1983 season couldn’t have gone much different from Nebraska’s. The Tigers had fallen to 4-7, crushing the optimism that had come from their run to the Orange Bowl against the Cornhuskers following the 1982 season. The result was a new head coach.

Bill Arnsparger had been the defensive coordinator for the 1972 Miami Dolphins team that went undefeated. Arnsparger’s defenses helped the Dolphins win another Super Bowl the following year and a brief, but failed try as an NFL head coach, he had returned to the Fish as defensive coordinator and helped them win an AFC title in 1982. Now he was ready to try again as his own boss.

LSU’s offense was led by shifty Dalton Hilliard, whose 1,268 rush yards were second-most in the SEC. Wideout Eric Martin was fourth in the conference in both catches (47) and yards (668). Offensive guard Lance Smith was an All-American and there was a rising star on defense in sophomore linebacker Michael Brooks.

Jeff Wickersham was at quarterback and he threw the ball a lot—more than any other SEC team outside of Vanderbilt—but he didn’t necessarily throw it well. While the 57% completion rate was good, and the 6.9 yards-per-attempt at least decent, Wickersham’s 13 interceptions were the most among SEC quarterbacks.

LSU opened the season, as expected, unranked and started the year at Florida. The Gators were on their way to a big year and quarterback Kerwin Bell ended up as conference MVP. The fact LSU played Florida to a 21-21 tie in Gainesville was a good sign and it would loom large as the year rolled on.

After blowing out Wichita, the Tigers got ready for a Pac-10 parlay against Arizona at home and USC on the road. The Wildcats were a pretty good team that would win seven games. LSU led 3-0 early and was driving for more when an interception inside the 10-yard line got returned the other way and suddenly the Tigers were in a hole. They eventually reclaimed the lead and were hanging on 27-26 when the defense stopped a fourth-down quarterback sneak to preserve the win.

The trip to USC was even more impressive. This was a Trojan team on its way to a Rose Bowl victory and after spotting the home team an early field goal, LSU simply took over and won 23-3. They got onto the national radar, ranked #12 when the next polls came out.

A predictably high-scoring affair with Vandy followed, as LSU won 34-27 at home and nudged up to #10. The Tigers then blew out a good bowl-bound Kentucky team on the road 36-10 and moved up three spots to #7. LSU was undefeated, top teams were falling left and right in 1984 and a national title was a real possibility.

Then Notre Dame came to Baton Rouge. The Irish would end up a seven-win team and this was in the middle of the Gerry Faust era, when the program never reached a major bowl game. Faust was under constant fire, and his team responded for him at LSU’s expense. The Tigers lost 30-22 and then saw the victorious head coach end up on the cover of Sports Illustrated. They slipped to #15.

LSU bounced back with narrow road wins over Ole Miss (32-29) and Alabama (16-14). The Tide were slipping from their lofty perch of the Bear Bryant era and suffered a losing season in 1984. Even so, LSU trailed ‘Bama 14-10 when Brooks blocked a punt and set up an easy touchdown run from Hilliard. The Tigers went for two, knowing a tie would have been as damaging to their SEC title hopes as a loss.

The SEC race was tied at the top, with LSU and Florida both 4-0-1. But the Gators had been through chaos since the season-opener. NCAA violations resulted in head coach Charley Pell being fired in September and Florida would not be allowed to get the SEC’s Sugar Bowl bid. That meant the race for New Orleans was between LSU, and Auburn, who was 4-1 in conference games.

There were only six conference games on the schedule, so LSU needed only defeat a four-win Mississippi State team to secure the coveted bowl spot. They lost 16-14 and fell to #16. The Tigers closed the regular season on November 24 with a blowout win over Tulane, but their Sugar Bowl hopes were out of their hands.

Auburn and Alabama would play on December 1, and if the Tide won, LSU could still go to the Sugar Bowl, even if Florida had finished atop the league standings. Auburn trailed 17-15 in the fourth quarter and faced 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line.

For some reason, the Tigers went for the touchdown. Bo Jackson took the handoff, but ran the wrong way. The play was blown up and Arnsparger was taking his team to the New Year’s Day stage in his first season.

The way each team finished the season meant that Nebraska saw the Sugar Bowl as a consolation prize, while LSU was grateful to be here. That showed in the first half, as the Tigers stunned the Cornhuskers with 291 yards worth of total offense. But that only translated into ten points and when DuBose ripped caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Sundberg, the score was a manageable 10-7 at the half.

Nebraska found its bearings defensively in the second half, and got rolling on offense. Sundberg threw two more touchdown passes, the ground game finished with 280 yards on the night and the Cornhuskers won 28-10, securing their third straight Top 5 finish in the final polls.

The Road To The 1984 Sugar Bowl: Auburn & Michigan

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Auburn had a breakthrough year in the 1983 college football season, winning the SEC championship for third-year coach Pat Dye and getting the automatic berth to the Sugar Bowl. Michigan was making its first appearance in the New Orleans game. Here’s a look back at how both the Tigers and Wolverines got to January 2 and the 1984 Sugar Bowl…

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Dye had taken over in 1981 when Alabama’s Bear Bryant ruled the state, the SEC and was larger than life in the nation itself, including a recent run of national championships in 1978-79. Dye went 5-6 his first year, but improved to 8-3-1 a year later and was establishing his program as a legitimate challenger.

Auburn had a sophomore running back by the name of Bo Jackson and he ran for over 1,200 yards and got All-American recognition, paving the way for a Heisman Trophy by his senior year.

The running game didn’t stop with Bo. Lionel James was shifty and explosive, running for 728 yards. Tommie Agee provided the muscle, and he pounded out over 600 more yards. There wasn’t much of a passing game—Randy Campbell only threw for 873 yards, but he at least avoided mistakes, with just three interceptions all season.

Auburn’s growing respect nationally was seen in their #5 preseason ranking, and the Tigers beat a decent Southern Miss team 24-3 to start the year. They hosted third-ranked Texas after that, but the Longhorns outstanding defense stifled Auburn in a 20-7 loss. Texas would go on to an undefeated season. Auburn temporarily slipped out of the Top 10.

The Tigers didn’t allow a hangover to carry over though in a road trip to Tennessee a week later. The Vols were good, ultimately winning eight games and their dominant defensive tackle Reggie White would win SEC Player of the Year. It didn’t stop Auburn from ringing up a 37-14 blowout.

The schedule didn’t get a whole lot easier with a home date with Florida State, ranked #17 at the time, though the Seminoles would only finish 6-5. Auburn trailed 24-20 late in the game before Campbell threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to James with just under two minutes to play. Linebacker Greg Carr then came up with an interception to secure the 27-24 win.

Kentucky had a nice team, but Auburn went to Lexington and rolled the Wildcats 49-21 and moved back to #5. The Tigers beat two bad teams in Georgia Tech and Mississippi State to nudge to #4. It was time for the most demanding stretch of what had already been a demanding season.

Auburn was in a tough fight with Georgia and Florida for the SEC title, with all three teams being unbeaten in league play and Alabama just a game back. The Tigers would play the Gators and Bulldogs over the next three weeks and sandwiched in between was a non-conference game against seventh-ranked Maryland, with Boomer Esiason behind center.

Florida had the conference’s best passing quarterback in Wayne Peace. Bo and Peace provided the contrast in styles and each played well in an excellent football game. Jackson ripped off touchdown runs of 55 & 80 yards, piling up 196 yards on the day as Auburn built up a 28-7 third-quarter lead. Peace threw for 336 yards and led a rally that closed the gap to 28-21.

The Gators also had two future NFL running backs in Neal Anderson and John L. Williams, both starters on good teams in the pros. But Anderson lost a key fumble near the goal line in this game to help dig the early hole and when Auburn covered an onside kick with 2:54 left, they were able to close out the win.

A 35-23 win over Esiason’s Terps solidified Auburn’s position at #3 in the polls. They and Georgia were the only teams with perfect SEC records and they would meet in a 3 vs. 4 game in Athens on November 12. In a tough defensive fight, Auburn won 13-7 and clinched a tie for the conference championship. They got a sweet win over Alabama, 23-20, in Bryant’s final season to wrap up the SEC outright.

Playing in major bowl games was nothing new for Michigan under Bo Schembecler. They had won the Big Ten’s spot in the Rose Bowl five times in the previous seven years.

The Wolverines had lost wide receiver Anthony Carter, as the Big Ten Player of the Year moved on to the NFL, but Michigan could always run the football. Rick Rodgers was the conference’s second-leading rusher, with just over 1,000 yards. Quarterback Steve Smith was a mediocre passer, but ran for 667 yards. There were two All-Americans on the offensive line, in Stepfan Humphries and Tom Dixon.

Bo Schembecler’s team was ranked #10 to start the season and opened with two games against good Pac-10 teams from the state of Washington. The Wolverines edged Washington State 20-17 at home, but dropped a tough 25-24 decision at Washington to slip to #17 in the polls.

Another decent opponent in seven-Wisconsin was up next and Michigan went to Madison to get a 38-21 win. The schedule then got softer and the Wolverines blasted through sub-.500 opponents in Indiana, Michigan State and Northwestern by a combined 120-18 and got themselves back up to tenth in the national rankings.

A battle with #12 Iowa was nationally televised from Ann Arbor and it was worthy of the showcase. With the game tied 13-13, Michigan moved into field goal range and Bob Bergeron drilled a 45-yard field goal across his body from the hashmark to win on the final play.

Michigan and Illinois were the only teams perfect in Big Ten play, but the Wolverines lost the head-to-head game 16-6 on the final weekend of October. Illinois had a soft November schedule, so any hope for a Rose Bowl return was basically gone. But the Wolverines were still prominent on the radar of major bowl organizers.

They destroyed bad teams in Purdue and Minnesota, scoring a combined hundred points in the two games and it set up the season finale with Ohio State. It wasn’t winner-take-all for the Rose Bowl like it had been so often in the previous fifteen years. But it would have the next-best thing—the Sugar Bowl announced that the winner of the battle between 8-2 teams would get the invite to New Orleans.

Smith stepped up with his arm and his Triando Markray on a 67-yard touchdown strike, part of a building an early 10-0 lead. Ohio State came back and took the lead, but Michigan forced four turnovers and one of them set up a short touchdown run by Smith for a 17-14 edge early in the fourth quarter.

Ohio State drove to the Michigan 38-yard line and then called for a “fumble-rooskie” trick play, where the quarterback places the ball on the ground and an offensive lineman pulls around to pick it up and take off, since it’s technically a fumble. But in this case, it was more than a technicality. Defensive tackle Mike Hammerstein blew up the play, the ball began bouncing around and the Wolverines recovered.

Smith then led a 60-yard touchdown drive, accounting for 43 of the yards with either his arm or feet that all but sealed the game. The Buckeyes answered with a touchdown but a covered onside kick put the finishing touches on Michigan’s 24-21 win and their Sugar Bowl bid.

By the time the Sugar Bowl kicked off in prime-time, everyone knew that second-ranked Texas had lost. As the game unfolded, everyone knew that fifth-ranked Miami had #1 Nebraska in a fight for its life. Auburn was in the mix for a national championship.

The game was a defensive war. The Wolverines put up a touchdown midway through the first quarter, but would not score again. But penalties dogged Michigan the rest of the night, and Auburn slowly chipped their way back. Very slowly.

A Tiger field goal with 6:17 left in the third quarter got them on the board and another one cut the lead to 7-6 with nine minutes left. Auburn made its own share of mistake, from three turnovers, to bad pitchouts that lost yardage and denied Jackson the chance to make plays.

Finally, the Tigers reached the two-yard line with less than a minute left and kicker Al Del Greco booted a 19-yard field goal. Auburn won 9-7.

When Miami completed its stunning 31-30 upset of Nebraska, it should have opened the door for Auburn to be #1. The Tigers had beaten eight bowl teams. The Hurricanes had beaten two. While Miami’s bowl win had been drastically more impressive, there was no comparison between the overall body of work between these two teams.

But the sizzle of what happened the night of January 2 trumped the steak that was Auburn’s season-long performance. They settled for being #2. Auburn has had its share of frustrations in their pursuit of the national title that wouldn’t be fulfilled until 2010, from going undefeated and uncrowned in 2004 to being undefeated and on probation in 1994. The fact they got robbed in 1983 is often overlooked.

The Road To The 1983 Sugar Bowl: Penn State & Georgia

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The 1983 Sugar Bowl was a landmark game in college football history. Penn State and Georgia played a national championship battle that featured two of the country’s great running backs in Curt Warner and Heisman winner Herschel Walker, both with good NFL careers ahead of them. And above all, it brought the legendary Joe Paterno his first national title.

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Penn State had been in New Orleans before with a chance to win it all—four years earlier against Alabama. But a goal-line stand cost Paterno and the Nittany Lions that national championship battle and they stepped back from the national elite over the ensuing two years.

In 1981, a strong closing finish ended with a Fiesta Bowl win over Heisman winner Marcus Allen and a #3 national ranking.

Expectations were high, but not through the roof when the 1982 college football season began. Penn State was ranked eighth in the preseason polls.

Warner ran for over 1,000 yards in 1982, although with Walker and SMU’s Eric Dickerson leading up a great running back class, Warner did not make first-team All-American. Kenny Jackson did at wide receiver, part of a balanced Nittany Lion offense.

Todd Blackledge threw for over 2,200 yards, completed a 55 percent of his passes (an above-average number in 1982), averaged a solid 7.6 yards-per-attempt and the TD-INT ratio was a respectable—for the era—22/14.

Penn State’s defense wasn’t as loaded as previous editions had been, but they were still good and All-American defensive back Mark Robinson led the way.

The Lions opened the season with an easy win over a bad Temple team and then beat a good Maryland squad that had Boomer Esiason at quarterback, 39-31. A 49-14 blowout of Rutgers followed. The nation awaited the September 25 home game with third-ranked Nebraska.

It was a great—and highly controversial—football game. Penn State led 21-7 early in the third quarter, with Blackledge’s 83-yard touchdown pass to Jackson the big blow. But Nebraska began clawing its away back. They cut the lead to 21-17 and with Penn State driving for an insurance touchdown in the fourth quarter, Blackledge threw an interception in the end zone.

The Cornhuskers responded by driving 80 yards and taking the lead for the first time. On the ensuing kickoff, the Lions got a break when Nebraska committed a personal foul, moving the ball up to the PSU 35-yard line. Penn State steadily drove to the Nebraska 28-yard line, but faced 4th-and-11. Blackledge found Jackson for exactly the yardage needed and the drive continued in the closing minute.

Another 4th-and-long awaited from the 17-yard line. Blackledge found tight end Mike McCloskey at the 2-yard line in a play that lives in infamy. Video replay clearly showed McCloskey was out of bounds. I was cheering for Penn State as a 12-year-old fan at the time and remain happy in retrospect that they won. But the call was one of the worst we’ve ever seen in a truly big game.

Paterno and McCloskey later conceded the pass should have been ruled incomplete and video evidence makes it clear it would never have stood up to replay scrutiny today. Blackledge threw a touchdown pass with four seconds left to win the game and move up to #3 in the polls.

As quickly as the Lions had moved up to the polls, they dropped back to #8 just as fast, playing poorly in a 42-21 loss at fourth-ranked Alabama. Tide legend Bear Bryant was in his final year and his team would fade in the second half of the season. This was his last big win.

Penn State began to turn it back around with a 28-7 win over lowly Syracuse and then they hammered a good Boston College team that had Doug Flutie at the helm, 52-7. Another blowout of a winning team, N.C. State, moved the Nittany Lions backed into the top five. A week later they went to Notre Dame with the Irish on a high, having just upset top-ranked Pitt.

This was still an average Irish team and Penn State won 24-14. They vaulted to #2 in the polls, right behind Georgia and in line to play the Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl. But one big obstacle remained and it was a Black Friday visit to Pittsburgh, who had Dan Marino at quarterback, All-American talent on both sides of the line of scrimmage and were still ranked #5 in the country.

Penn State struggled early, turning the ball over three times in the first half in the game at old Three Rivers Stadium. The fact the Lions only trailed 7-3 was probably a good sign and things got better in the second half.

Warner rushed for 118 yards. PSU moved out to a 16-7 lead and came up with a big goal-line stand to hold Pitt to a field goal. The Lions added one more field goal of their own and won 19-10. They would get another chance to play an SEC champ in the Sugar Bowl for the national championship.

Georgia had already been where Penn State was trying to get. Two years earlier, led by the freshman Walker, the Bulldogs came into the Sugar as an undefeated #1 team and took care of business, beating Notre Dame for the national championship.

The Dawgs lost a game in 1981, but still reached the Sugar Bowl before losing a heartbreaker to Pitt. Georgia was ranked #7 for 1982 as Walker entered his junior year.

Herschel was one of the great backs in college football history and he ran for over 1,700 yards this season. He blew away the rest of the SEC in rush yardage, scored 16 touchdowns and grabbed the Heisman over a field that included Dickerson and Stanford quarterback John Elway.

Other All-American talent included defensive tackle Jimmy Payne and defensive back Terry Hoage. And even though Jeff Sanchez didn’t make All-American, the defensive back was one of the best ballhawks in the country, picking off nine passes.

John Lastinger didn’t have a lot put on him at quarterback, which was a good thing. Lastinger only completed 42 percent of his passes, only threw for 6.1 yards-per-attempt and still threw nine interceptions in spite of only throwing for 907 yards and eight touchdown passes. The Bulldog offense was all about Herschel.

The season opened on Labor Day Night against defending national champion Clemson. It was a defensive war, but Georgia was able to get a 13-7 lead and then come up with two key fourth-quarter stops to preserve the win. They continued to play a good non-SEC schedule with a home date against an eight-win BYU team five days later and survived it 17-14.

Georgia went to South Carolina—then an independent and not very good—and won 34-18. A so-so win over a so-so team followed, 29-22 at Mississippi State, but the Dawgs finally moved into the top five in early October.

A 33-10 blowout of a subpar Ole Miss team moved Georgia to #4 and then a 27-13 over a surprisingly good Vanderbilt squad got the Bulldogs to #3. Two games against terrible teams followed—Kentucky and Memphis only won a single game between them in 1982. The Bulldogs weren’t inspiring in a 27-14 win over the Wildcats, before beating the Tigers 34-3.

It was time for the rivalry game with Florida at a neutral site in Jacksonville, just as this game is today. The Gators were ranked #20, would ultimately win eight games and had the conference’s best quarterback in Wayne Peace. What followed was a complete demolition.

Georgia won 44-0 in their best performance of the year—indeed, probably their best game of the entire Walker era. On the same day, top-ranked Pitt was upset by Notre Dame, and Georgia moved to the top of the polls.

The Bulldogs were holding on to a half-game lead in the SEC over LSU, who had one tie. Auburn was in the mix with just one loss and Georgia had to play at Auburn on November 13. It was their final SEC game of the season, so a victory would wrap up the conference title.

Auburn took a 7-3 lead in the second quarter, but before Walker galloped 47 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. It was 13-7 in the third quarter, before Tiger back Lionel James answered with an 87-yard TD run to give Auburn the lead.

With the season on the line, head coach Vince Dooley put the ball in Walker’s hands. An 80-yard drive was highlighted by Herschel getting the football eight times. On the day, Walker ran for 177 yards and this drive ended with a go-ahead touchdown.

There were still anxious moments—the Dawgs missed the two-point conversion and the score stayed 19-14. Auburn drove it down to the Georgia 11-yard line with 2:39 left. The Tigers had a freshman running back who would eventually supplant Walker is the feared physical specimen in the entire country—Bo Jackson.

But Georgia stopped Bo on first down and then Dale Carver came up with a huge sack to put the Tigers in 3rd-and-26 and the Dawgs closed out the win. They closed out the undefeated season two weeks later with a 38-18 victory over a six-win Georgia Tech squad.

The stage was set for the Battle Of New Orleans. And Penn State came out swinging. After giving the ball to Warner on first down, Blackledge rifled four straight completions and put the Lions on the doorstep. Warner ran it in for a quick touchdown. It set the tone for most of the first half and Penn State roared to a 20-3 lead.

Georgia got a touchdown just prior to intermission to change the momentum and make the deficit manageable at 20-10. Lastinger did what most people thought he couldn’t do, and hadn’t done all season and it was rally the Dawgs. They cut the lead to 20-17 and were in position to tie or take the lead before Robinson intercepted a pass in the red zone.

Warner would rush for two touchdowns and for the second straight year outperform a Heisman winner in a bowl game, as Walker struggled to find running room. Blackledge gave the Lions breathing room when he hit Greg Garrity on a 47-yard touchdown strike down the left sideline.

Penn State return man Kevin Baugh had a huge night, with over 100 return yards, although his one mistake—a fumble in the fourth quarter—briefly gave Georgia some life. The Bulldogs scored a touchdown. A two-point conversion missed and the game stayed 27-23.

Dooley deserves credit for going for playing to win—a 27-27 tie would almost certainly have given Georgia the national title, but like Nebraska’s Tom Osborne a year later, the Georgia coach chose playing for the win over backing into a championship on a deliberately chosen tie.

Penn State converted a big third down throw and closed out the win. They would hold off 11-0-1 SMU in the final vote. Even with PSU having a loss, this was fair—SMU’s schedule was much weaker and they would have needed a perfect 12-0 to justify a #1 vote.

Although it was ironic—after having undefeated teams denied national titles in 1968, 1969 and 1973, Paterno finally got his crown over another unbeaten and unheralded team.

The Road To The 1982 Sugar Bowl: Pitt & Georgia

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The 1982 Sugar Bowl didn’t settle a national championship, but it had almost everything else. It offered two of college football’s signature players, each of whom had a huge impact on the NFL. It produced a great game decided by a last-minute touchdown. And as far as the national title went, there was at least the possibility of impact when the game began.

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That’s what Pitt and Georgia gave the country on January 1, 1982 in New Orleans. Here’s a look at the paths each team took through the 1981 college football season to get there.

Pitt was coming off a 1980 season where they finished #2 in the country, although the politics of the bowl games kept them out of a New Year’s Day game. The program was in the midst of real glory days, going back to its national championship run of 1976.

They had Dan Marino at quarterback and the junior completed nearly 60 percent of his passes and threw 37 touchdowns.

Marino’s top target was All-American receiver Julius Dawkins, who averaged 16.7 yards-per-catch. Tight end John Brown was reliable in short-yardage situations—and would make one particularly big catch from longer range before the season was over.

Bryan Thomas was a versatile back, who ran for over 1,100 yards and caught 46 passes out of the backfield. Wayne DiBartola was the #2 back, whose productivity both running and receiving exceeded that of most starters elsewhere in the country. Up front, Jimbo Covert, a future staple of Chicago Bears’ offensive lines, was an anchor at tackle and linebacker Sal Sunseri got some love in All-American voting.

The Panthers opened the season ranked #8 and opened with decisive victories over winning teams in Illinois and Cincinnati, by a combined 64-13 and they nudged up to #7. A 42-38 shootout win at mediocre South Carolina got Pitt to 3-0 by the time they went to West Virginia on October 10.

West Virginia was a good team, the third-best in the East behind Pitt and traditional power Penn State. What’s more, Marino was injured and Danny Daniels had to go in his stead. To say the Panthers found a new identity understates the case—Daniels did not complete a single pass. The defense delivered this one and Pitt won the heated “Backyard Brawl” 17-0. They were now up to third in the national polls.

Florida State came to town the following week and it was revenge time. One year ago, the Seminoles had been the only team to defeat the Panthers, en route to an undefeated season of their own. Florida State wasn’t as good this year—they would only finish 6-5—but that record came against a brutal schedule. In fact, when Bobby Bowden brought his team to the Steel City, they were fresh off wins at Ohio State and Notre Dame.

Pitt had to make a goal-line stand on the game’s first possession, but they took over after that. Marino was back in the lineup and he threw three touchdown passes. Sunseri took an interception in for a score and Tom Flynn brought a punt return back to the house, completing the trifecta as the Panthers scored in all three phases. The final was 42-14.

Over the next five weeks, Pitt played other Eastern independents rolling through Syracuse, Boston College, Rutgers, Army and Temple. None of the teams finished the year with winning records, though only Army was really bad. BC was the only team to challenge Pitt, with that game ending 29-24.

In the midst of the stretch the Panthers ascended to the top of the polls. They were undefeated when it was time to host Penn State on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Pitt jumped out to a 14-0 and was driving for more when Marino threw an interception in the end zone. To the disbelief of the crowd and quite probably the entire nation, the Panthers came unraveled. They never scored again and Penn State never stopped.

The result was a stunning 48-14 defeat. In one fell swoop, Pitt had lost a rivalry game, the Lambert Trophy as the best team in the East and any shot at a national title as they slipped to #10 in the polls. They would still go to the Sugar Bowl, but now it was to look for redemption rather than a championship.

Georgia was the defending national champions and had one of the country’s great running backs in sophomore Herschel Walker. The SEC Player of the Year, Walker rolled up nearly 1900 yards (the second-best back in the SEC finished with 622 yards), carried the ball 385 times (the second-best in the SEC was 166) and still finished fourth in the conference in yards-per-attempt at 4.9.

Walker finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting to USC’s record-setting back Marcus Allen, as the two runners were clearly head-and-shoulders above the field in the Heisman race.

Buck Belue did a decent job providing some air support for Walker. He attempted 188 passes, a moderate number in this era and completed a solid 61%. Even more important, was that completions counted for something, as Belue’s 8.5 yards-per-pass was the SEC’s best. His best weapon in that regard was Lindsay Scott, who finished third in the league in receiving yardage.

What the Bulldogs did not have was national respect. In spite of winning a championship and bringing Walker back, they were still perceived as the inferior to Bear Bryant’s Alabama. Georgia opened the season ranked #10 while ‘Bama was ranked fourth.

Georgia gave the pollsters something to think about in their opener at home against a pretty good Tennessee team. Walker rolled up 161 yards on the ground. Belue was 10/15 for 140 yards and twice hooked up with Scott for touchdown passes. The Bulldog offense churned out thirty first downs, 563 total yards and mauled the Vols 44-0 for their worst defeat in 58 years. After a win over lowly Cal the following week, the Dawgs were up to #4.

Then a road trip to Clemson brought Georgia back down to earth and proved to be one of the decisive moments in the national championship race. The Dawgs lost 13-3. Clemson would finish the season undefeated and ranked #1.

Georgia rolled through mediocre teams in South Carolina and Ole Miss by a combined 61-7, then blasted bad teams in Vanderbilt and Kentucky by a combined 74-21. After closing by October with a 49-3 demolition of Temple, the Bulldogs were back up to #4 and were making their annual trip to Jacksonville for the neutral-site rivalry game against Florida.

The Gators were a good team that would win seven games and had the conference’s best pure dropback passer in Wayne Peace. A year ago, they came the closest to defeating Georgia, with only an epic 93-yard Belue-to-Scott touchdown pass saving the Dawgs in a 26-21 win.

This one wasn’t quite as dramatic, but it came close. Walker put on show and had caught two touchdowns and ran for another, but Georgia still trailed 21-20, just as they had in 1980. This time they drove 95 yards to win it, with Herschel tacking one more rushing touchdown to close his day. He finished with 192 yards and once again, Georgia had escaped their rival in a 26-21 final.

The Bulldogs beat mediocre Auburn 24-13. The victory moved Georgia to #2 in the polls and also assured them of a share of the SEC title—they and Alabama were both unbeaten in league play, though the Tide had a loss and a tie in non-conference games.

Georgia would get the SEC’s Sugar Bowl nod and finished the year by trouncing an awful Georgia Tech team 44-7. Although we should note that the Yellow Jackets lone victory in 1981 did come at the expense of Alabama.

The Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl would both be in prime-time on New Year’s Night. Clemson was bound for South Beach, and the scenario—at least for Georgia–was simple. Beat Pitt, hope for Clemson to lose to Nebraska and claim a repeat national title.

This was the first year the Sugar Bowl played on prime-time on January 1 and they gave the nation a great show. Pitt’s defense came up with a strong outing, holding Walker to under 100 yards. But they made a critical special teams blunder, as Flynn fumbled a punt and set up a Georgia touchdown. Overall, each team was sloppy and after a game with nine combined turnovers, the Bulldogs were still clinging to a 20-17 lead, with the ball and only 5:29 left.

Walker was not able to close the deal and Pitt got it back quickly, giving Marino 3:46 to work with. He moved his offense methodically to the Georgia 33-yard line, but there were only 34 seconds left. A tie was as good as a loss for Georgia, and Pitt had nothing to gain by settling for a deadlock.

The Panthers needed a big play, and while Dawkins was a natural target, they called for Brown to go to the post. Marino fired a perfect strike, hit his tight end in stride near the goal line and Brown took it in.

For Georgia, the pain could be somewhat mitigated by the fact that Clemson ended up beating Nebraska anyway. For Pitt, Marino-to-Brown for the 24-20 win is one of the great moments in their football heritage.

The Road To The 1981 Sugar Bowl: Georgia & Notre Dame

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The Sugar Bowl had hosted the #1 team in each of the previous two years and the annul game following the 1980 college football season no different. The Georgia Bulldogs were undefeated and atop the polls. Notre Dame was playing the final game in the tenure of head coach Dan Devine. On New Year’s Day, the 1981 Sugar Bowl might have marked the end for Devine, but it was just the beginning for the great Georgia freshman, Herschel Walker.

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Georgia had been a consistent, competitive program, not unlike today. But they hadn’t won a major bowl game since 1966, nor appeared in one since their SEC title in 1976. The Bulldogs were coming off a 6-5 year in 1979, one that ended without a bowl appearance in the more stringent postseason world of the late 1970s.

Walker came blazing onto the scene and transformed the team immediately. He ran for over 1,600 yards in 274 attempts, at 5.9 yards-per-carry and scored 15 touchdowns—all of which were the best in the SEC.

Buck Belue at quarterback was far from a great passer, as the Sugar Bowl itself would demonstrate, but his 49% completion rate was still fourth in the conference, and with over 1,300 passing yards he was second in the SEC. And before the year was over he would complete the biggest pass in the history of Georgia Bulldogs football history.

Head coach Vince Dooley had a great secondary, with two All-Americans in Jeff Hipps and Scott Woerner. Kicker Rex Robinson also made All-American. Georgia had modest respect when the season opened and were ranked #16 in the first polls.

The Dawgs opened with a narrow win at Tennessee. Even though the Vols were on their way to 5-6, the 16-15 win moved Georgia up four spots in the polls. Then they crushed shaky Texas A&M 42-0 and got into the Top 10.

Georgia edged Clemson 20-16, a win that looks more important in retrospect than it was at the time. The Tigers were unranked and finished 6-5, but it was the core of a team that won the national championship the following season. Georgia then smoked hapless TCU 34-3 and were ranked sixth in the nation by the time October began.

Wins over three bad teams, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Kentucky followed. The former was close, 28-21, the latter two were blowouts, with a combined final of 68-zip. Now it was time for two big November tests, against South Carolina and Florida, with the Dawgs up to #4 in the nation.

Walker and South Carolina’s George Rogers were far and away the two best running backs in the nation. Rogers was a local boy who’d gone to Columbia and then beaten the Bulldogs in 1978 and 1979. Now he came to Athens with a worthy foe in Walker waiting.

Both running backs put on a show, with Walker going for 219 yards and Rogers rushing for 168 yards. Georgia ground out a 13-10 win. More good news came elsewhere in the SEC—Alabama, undefeated, ranked #1 and the two-time defending national champion had been upset by Mississippi State. The Bulldogs and Tide would not play each other and now Georgia had the inside track to the conference’s Sugar Bowl bid.

The annual trip to Jacksonville to play #20 Florida was up next. Walker picked up where he left off, bolting on a 72-yard touchdown run on the game’s third play. He rushed for 238 yards for the game and Georgia got out to a 14-3 lead.

But Florida had a good passing game with Wayne Peace at quarterback and a wide receiver named Cris Collingsworth, who was the best in the SEC. Even though Georgia still led 20-10 after three quarters, Florida rallied with a touchdown, two-point conversion, field goal and then got the ball with 5:53 left and a 21-20 lead.

The Bulldogs held and got their offense the ball back, but Georgia was on its own eight-yard line with 1:35 left. On 3rd-and-11 Belue dropped back and found Lindsay Scott over the middle. He got behind the secondary and the race was on. “Run Lindsay Run!” was the legendary call over the Bulldogs radio station. And run he did. Scott found the end zone and Georgia survived, 26-21.

Georgia closed the season with a 31-21 win at mediocre Auburn and then rolled woeful Georgia Tech 38-20 to complete the undefeated season. The Dawgs were 11-0. Walker didn’t get the Heisman Trophy—the bias against freshman was too strong and would not be broken until Johnny Manziel won it for Texas A&M in 2012—but the team was #1 in the country.

Notre Dame had won the national championship in 1977 and then won the Cotton Bowl following the 1978 season, but the first year after Joe Montana was a difficult one in ’79. The Irish had a comeback year, motivated by the desire to win for Devine after he announced his retirement.

The defense was anchored by All-Americans in the front seven, with defensive end Scott Zellek and linebacker Bob Crable. On the offensive side, John Scully at center also got All-American honors. A freshman quarterback, Blair Kiel, got the nod as the starter and Notre Dame was ranked #11 to start the year.

Notre Dame quickly sent a message they were on the way back with a 31-10 pounding of Purdue—a good team with the best quarterback in the country in Mark Herrman. It set up the rivalry game between the Irish and Wolverines and what would be one of the now-defunct rivalry’s great moments.

The Irish jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but by the time the final minutes arrived, they were trailing 27-26 and trying a last-ditch drive into a stiff wind. They reached the 34-yard line and sent kicker Harry Oliver out to try what seemed like a hopeless kick given the conditions. Unbelievably, Oliver made it, sending the South Bend crowd into a frenzy and sparking hope that this really could be Devine’s destiny year.

Between the 29-27 win over Michigan, and the end of October, Notre Dame relied on attrition to move up the polls. They beat Michigan State, Miami, Arizona and Army. On November 1, the same day Georgia was beating South Carolina and Alabama lost to Mississippi State, the Irish rolled Navy 33-10. Second-ranked UCLA also lost.

Notre Dame concluded the day at the top of the polls, with Georgia at #2. The Irish couldn’t handle prosperity though. Georgia Tech was awful and would finish the season 1-9-1, but their game with Notre Dame was the one tie, a 3-3 final. Notre Dame slipped to sixth.

There was still a trip to Alabama on tap, and even though each team had recent blemishes, there were still national title implications. In a defensive war, Notre Dame got the game’s only touchdown when they recovered a fumble inside the 5-yard line and Phil Carter went over the top for the score in a 7-0 win.

The Irish beat Air Force and moved back up to #2, back in control of their national championship destiny and the Sugar Bowl date with Georgia locked in. Notre Dame still had to beat USC if it was to be a 1 vs. 2 battle. But the Irish, facing a talented Trojan team with Ronnie Lott and Marcus Allen, lost 20-3 and slipped to #7. There was no national title in the cards, but Notre Dame could still send Devine out with a bowl victory over a #1-ranked opponent.

President Jimmy Carter was on hand in the Superdome to watch his home state Bulldogs, the last time an American president would attend a championship sporting event until Bill Clinton went to the 1994 Final Four to cheer on his alma mater, Arkansas.

Notre Dame got a 50-yard field goal from Oliver, and then Walker had to briefly leave the game with a separated shoulder. The freshman told the trainer to do what was necessary to get it back in place—“I didn’t come all this way to not play.”

The Irish started missing opportunities. Oliver missed three field goals, and they fumbled a kickoff on the 1-yard line, setting up an easy Georgia score. Walker was running well for the Dawgs, injured shoulder and all, but even without Belue completing a pass, Georgia still led 17-10 late in the game.

Notre Dame made one more drive, but Kiel threw an interception. All that was left was for the Bulldogs to run out the clock—and for Belue to complete that elusive pass. Georgia was national champions.

The Bulldogs haven’t won a national title since, but with Walker, they would continue to be the power of the SEC for the next couple years. The Irish would take a brief step back from national prominence until Lou Holtz arrived in 1986.

The Road To The 1980 Sugar Bowl: Alabama & Arkansas

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The 1980 Sugar Bowl saw a national title settled in New Orleans for the second year in a row and once again the team doing the claiming was Alabama. After a winning a co-national championship the prior year, the Crimson Tide won it all again. The team standing in their way was Arkansas, coached by Lou Holtz. Let’s look back on the paths Alabama and Arkansas took through the 1979 college football season to reach New Year’s Day 1980 in the Bayou.

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Alabama was ranked #2 in the nation to start the year, right behind USC, whom they had split the title with the year before. Tide head coach Bear Bryant changed out a lot of the spots at the skill position. Steadman Shealy took most of the snaps at quarterback and though he only threw 81 passes all season, Shealy was the team’s leading rusher with 791 yards.

The running backs were a cadre of Steve Whitman, Major Ogilvie, Don Jacobs, John Hill and Billy Jackson, whom Bryant kept moving in and out and constantly attacking defenses with a fresh back behind an offensive line led by All-American guard Jim Bunch.

The top receiver was Keith Pugh, and in this offensive system, his 25 catches for 433 yards seemed to make him look like an early version of Jerry Rice.

Defensively, Alabama only had one All-American, corner Don McNeal. But the whole was much greater than the sum of the parts—the Tide gave up just 5.6 points per game, the best in the land.

The title quest started at mediocre Georgia Tech with a 30-5 win. Alabama then hosted Baylor, a program that was started to move upward—in fact these teams would meet the following season in the Cotton Bowl. The Tide smacked down the Bears 45-zip, then crushed lowly Vanderbilt 66- and shutout overmatched Wichita State.

Florida was a hapless foe that would not win a game, even with future NFL wide receiver and TV analyst Cris Collingsworth in the lineup. ‘Bama beat the Gators 40-0. That same day, USC blew a three-touchdown lead and tied Stanford, vaulting Alabama into the top poll position.

One week later, 18th-ranked Tennessee provided a test. Alabama, playing at home, fell behind 14-0 early and trailed 17-7 at the half. Shealy then did something rare and made a big play with his arm, throwing a 33-yard touchdown pass. Ogilvie got rolling, going for 109 yards on the day and scoring two second half-touchdowns. Alabama took over in the second half and won 27-17.

Easy victories over losing teams in Mississippi State and Virginia Tech followed.  A trip to LSU was nearly fatal—the Tide mustered only a field goal worth of offense. Fortunately, their elite defense saved them, as they pulled off a 3-0 shutout over a team with future Super Bowl-starting quarterback David Woodley.

The defense spun another shutout against 5-6 Miami, and the offense picked up the pace in a 30-0 rout. One more opponent remained and it was archrival Auburn, ranked #14. The Tigers had the SEC Player of the Year, Joe Cribbs in the backfield. Cribbs and his backfield mate James Brooks would each go on to productive NFL careers and they gave Alabama everything the Tide could handle.

Auburn kicked an early field goal, but when Alabama scored two second-quarter touchdowns it looked like business as usual. But with Cribbs running for 93 yards, Auburn came back and took an 18-17 lead in the fourth quarter.

Alabama was getting a big game from Whitman, who carried 14 times for 107 yards, and Shealy, who rushed for 99. The quarterback capped off a drive with an eight-yard touchdown run and the Tide took a 25-18 lead. Auburn came right back, driving to the ‘Bama 24 before the Tide defense finally held.

The undefeated season and national title shot was preserved, but the AP poll moved Alabama down to #2. The Tide still controlled the UPI poll, but now they were again set to share honors with unbeaten Ohio State, bound for the Rose Bowl.

Arkansas had reached the top five of the final polls two years earlier in Holtz’s first year before taking a modest step back in 1978. The Razorbacks were built on the running game, with Roland Sales going behind All-American tackle Greg Kolenda. Quarterback Kevin Scanlan threw 139 passes, which was moderate for the time. Scanlan was reasonably effective, completing 66 percent and getting 8.7 yards-per-attempt.

The Hogs opened the season ranked #20 and had moved up three spots before they played their first game on September 15. Arkansas blew out Colorado State to open the year. The Razorbacks then hosted Oklahoma State. The Cowboys were led by a rookie coach with whom Holtz would one day have an epic battle with—Jimmy Johnson. Nine years before the legendary Catholics vs. Convicts battle of Notre Dame-Miami, Holtz got the best of Johnson. Arkansas won 27-7.

After an easy win over Tulsa and a surprising 16-13 escape of lowly TCU, Arkansas beat Texas Tech 20-6. That win moved them to #10 in the polls in time for their two biggest games of the year, both at home—fellow Southwest Conference rivals Texas and Houston.

Texas was ranked #2 in the country, behind only Alabama, before the Longhorns came to Little Rock. Arkansas won it 17-14 and vaulted to #4, now in the national title picture themselves. When they led sixth-ranked Houston 10-7 at the half the following week, the picture looked even brighter. But the Razorback offense faltered after intermission and they lost 13-10, moving back to #9.

Arkansas opened November with a rout of an awful Rice team and then got an impressive 29-20 win over 17th-ranked Baylor, 29-20. That same day, Texas beat Houston and the Razorbacks were in a three-way tie for first in the SWC, which had an automatic bid to the Cotton Bowl.

The Hogs beat Texas A&M and SMU to end the year and at least claim their share of the conference championship. Texas was upset by A&M in the final week, removing the Longhorns from the tiebreaking and giving the Cotton Bowl bid to Houston on the head-to-head tiebreaker. Either way, Arkansas was ranked #6, with a piece of a league championship and still going to a major bowl as they got set to challenge Alabama.

Arkansas’ challenge was credible for about one quarter. McNeal fumbled the opening kickoff, but Arkansas could get only a field goal out of it. The Tide defense and Major Ogilvie took over. The Hogs couldn’t move, while Ogilvie scored two touchdowns and also had a 50-yard punt return to set up a field goal.

The score was 17-3 by half and after Arkansas briefly made it a game at 17-9, ‘Bama went on a soul-crushing 98-yard drive for the touchdown that sealed the 24-9 win and at least a share of the national championship.

It wasn’t until 1982 that the Sugar Bowl began being played in prime-time, so this was the first game of New Year’s Day. The national championship’s other half would now go up for grabs in the Rose Bowl, where Ohio State was meeting USC. The Buckeyes led 16-10 in the fourth quarter and looked like they might stake their claim. But the Trojans scored a late touchdown, won the game and the national championship belonged exclusively to Alabama.

The Road To The 1979 Sugar Bowl: Alabama & Penn State

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Alabama spent time at #1 early in the 1978 college football regular season. Penn State stayed undefeated throughout and was #1 late in the season. On January 1, they were 1-2 in the polls and settled it with a great battle at the 1979 Sugar Bowl that was defined by one of the most memorable goal-line stands and tackles in college football history.

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The Crimson Tide finished #2 in 1977, and felt they had been robbed in the voting. Bear Bryant’s team was aiming for its first national title since 1965, though they had consistently dominated the SEC over the past several years.

Penn State produced unbeaten but uncrowned teams in 1968, 1969 and 1973. Much to the chagrin of the Nittany Lions, their rival Pitt was honored with a national title after a perfect season in 1976. After two years out of the major bowl picture, Joe Paterno’s team was ready to return to the national stage.

Alabama was ranked #1 in the preseason polls, with a balanced rushing attack led by Tony Nathan and Major Ogilvie, who were the SEC’s top two backs in terms of yards-per-attempt. Quarterback Jeff Rutledge didn’t have to throw a lot, but he had a long NFL future ahead of him and was effective when he had to. Rutledge’s 13 touchdown passes led the SEC.

Defensively, Alabama was anchored by defensive tackle Marty Lyons and linebacker Barry Krauss, each of whom made All-American. Cornerback Don McNeal would soon be an NFL starter on a Super Bowl team with the Miami Dolphins.

Penn State had a ferocious defensive line, led by Bruce Clark and Matt Millen. Millen would later convert to being an effective NFL linebacker and after that convert to being the worst general manager in the history of the NFL with the Detroit Lions. But that was for down the road. In the meantime, another future pro, Rich Milot, was at linebacker. And Pete Harris, the younger brother of Steeler/Penn State legend Franco Harris, intercepted ten passes in the secondary.

The Lions were no less stout on the offensive side of the trenches, with All-American tackle Keith Dorney, a top 10 pick in the coming NFL draft, and guard Eric Cunningham, who also chosen early in the draft.

Paterno was renowned for his conservative offenses, but Chuck Fusina put the ball up 242 times in 1978, a lot for a good team in that era and Fusina was a consensus All-American who finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting. The backfield combined the speed for Booker Moore with the power of Matt Suhey.  Penn State came into the season with high expectations, ranked #3 in the preseason poll.

Both the Tide and Lions challenged themselves early in the season. Alabama hosted 10th-ranked Nebraska to start the year. After trailing 3-0 in the second quarter, ‘Bama drove 99 yards for the lead touchdown and then took over. They outrushed the powerful Cornhuskers 264-110, forced four turnovers and won the football game 20-3. A win over a good Missouri team followed and set up Alabama to host seventh-ranked USC on September 23.

Penn State opened the season with a shaky win at Temple on a Friday night, and then were unimpressive in dispatching Rutgers the week after. Both teams had winning records, but Eastern football was not well-regarded and the failure of the Lions to post blowouts dropped them to #5 in the rankings when they visited #6 Ohio State on September 16.

It turned out that Ohio State was in for a tough year, one that would end up being Woody Hayes’ last, and Penn State was in command in a 19-0 win. They were back to #3 in the rankings, although another shaky win over SMU at home immediately dropped Paterno’s team back to #5.

Alabama had a rough day at home against USC and it wasn’t against an opponent good enough to escape against. Rutledge threw four interceptions and the normally stingy Tide defense was vulnerable to the attack led by running back Charles White and quarterback Paul McDonald.

The game was tight in the fourth quarter, with USC leading 10-7, but Alabama surrendered two straight touchdowns, kept turning the ball over and lost 24-7. Bryant’s team fell to #7.

Both Alabama and Penn State then started churning. The Tide blew out Vanderbilt, survived a trip west to face defending Pac-10 champ Washington and won decisively over Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Mississippi State and 10th-ranked LSU on November 11. That same day, top-ranked Oklahoma lost to Nebraska and ‘Bama moved up to #2 in the polls. They were back in the hunt for a national title.

Penn State beat TCU and Kentucky by a combined 88-0 and moved to #2 in the rankings. The Lions were free to play then-#1 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, so Penn State controlled their championship destiny. After beating up Syracuse and West Virginia and then impressively nailing fifth-ranked Maryland 27-3, the Lions took the top spot in the polls on November 11 after they survived nine-win N.C. State, 19-10.

Each team had one more hurdle, against their archrival. Penn State went on November 25, hosting Pitt. The Panthers were “in-between”, with Tony Dorsett being gone and Dan Marino not yet there, but they were a good team that would win eight games and were ranked #15 coming into this battle.

With 5:02 left in the game, Pitt was leading 10-7. Penn State faced a fourth-and-2 on the Pitt 4-yard line. Paterno eschewed going for a tie. It was probably a wise move. The Lions didn’t get a slack from the pollsters and even with being the only undefeated team in the country, a tie would risk dropping them behind not only Alabama, but any or all of USC, Nebraska and Oklahoma, and taking the Lions from controlling their national championship fate.

Paterno gave the football to fullback Mike Guman, a decision that would foreshadow one coming on New Year’s Day. Guman delivered with a touchdown run. Milot then intercepted a pass to set up a clinching field goal from All-American kicker Matt Bahr. Penn State’s 17-10 win had them going to the Sugar Bowl ranked #1.

One week later, Alabama made it official when they routed Auburn, an above-average team at best, 34-16 and set up the 1 vs. 2 showdown.

The game was a defensive classic. Penn State couldn’t move it all in the first half. Alabama could, but kept coming up empty. Finally, late in the first half, Rutledge rifled a bullet over the middle that was caught in the end zone by Bruce Bolton for a 30-yard touchdown catch. In the third quarter, Fusina tied the game with a touchdown pass of his own.

Penn State was driving for the tying touchdown in the fourth quarter when McNeal intercepted a Fusina pass. Then Rutledge gave it back with a bad pitchout and the Lions had the ball on the Tide 19-yard line. They ground it down to the goal line where they would have three chances from the one-yard line.

The first time up the middle was stuffed. The second time up the middle was stuffed. It was down to one play and even though six minutes still remained, it was realistically for a national title. Paterno opted to give the ball to Guman. The fullback tried to go up and over in the middle of the line, aiming to score the winning/tying touchdown of each his team’s final two games.

Krausse was ready. He leapt and met Guman head on, inches from the goal line. A Sports Illustrated cover caught the collision head-on in a photo for the ages. Alabama had held and they won the game 14-7.

There was one fly in the ointment for Alabama’s national title hopes. USC was ranked #3, but had the head-to-head win over the Tide—at Alabama no less. ‘Bama argued that they had beaten the #1 team on the field—the same rationale used to vault Notre Dame to the top spot a year ago over the Tide. USC, which would win the Rose Bowl, had the head-to-head argument.

In the end, the voters split. The writers went to Alabama and the coaches to USC. Either way, it was a national title for Bear Bryant. Paterno went back to the drawing board to try and get that elusive crown.

The Road To The 1977 Sugar Bowl: Pitt & Georgia

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The 1977 Sugar Bowl settled a national championship in front of the president of the United States, as Jimmy Carter attended to watch his home-state Georgia Bulldogs. President Carter didn’t get to see his home state team win, but he did watch an impressive display for the Pitt Panthers, who capped off a perfect season with a championship win.

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Pitt opened the year ranked #9 in the country, after coming off a strong 1975 campaign. The Panthers were giving signs of being ready to displace Penn State as the best team out of the East. Pitt had won a big season-opening game against these same Georgia Bulldogs—in Athens no less—and later beat Notre Dame. Pitt showcase a talented running back in Tony Dorsett and were on the rise.

Georgia didn’t have quite the same expectations. Even though they were ranked #16 in the preseason poll, the Bulldogs were coming off getting blown out by Arkansas in the previous year’s Cotton Bowl and the SEC was mostly the exclusive property of Alabama and Bear Bryant.

Pitt wasted little time in showing what they could do. They traveled to South Bend to play a revenge-minded Notre Dame team, but the Panthers demonstrated their superiority. Dorsett ran for 122 yards in the first half alone, kicking off a year in which he would clear 2,100 yards and win the Heisman Trophy. Pitt won easily 31-10 and on an opening week marked by upsets within the Top 10, they quickly moved up to #3.

The Panthers had a ballhawking secondary, with defensive backs Bob Jury, Jeff Delaney and Leroy Felder combining for 23 interceptions. Al Romano was a nose tackle who got All-American mention, and Matt Cavanaugh was quietly efficient at quarterback, making plays when he needed to and otherwise letting Dorsett and the defense.

Pitt tore through its next nine games, never challenged and got set to play Penn State on Black Friday.

Georgia had, even by the standards of 1976, a run-heavy offense, led by quarterback Ray Goff. The man who one day would be the Bulldog head coach, was the SEC Player of the Year in 1976 thanks to his running ability. He ran for 724 yards, and Kevin McLee was the top back, with over 1,000 yards. Mike Wilson and Joel Parrish, a pair of All-American offensive lineman, paved the way for the powerful ground attack.

The Dawgs opened the season at home with Cal, who was ranked #15, but proved to be overrated. Georgia quickly exposed that with an easy 36-24 win. After taking care of rivals Clemson and South Carolina, the Bulldogs were up to #6 in the country. Now Alabama was coming to town.

Big games between Georgia and Alabama have been rare over the years, with the 2012 SEC Championship Game being the rare exception. 1976 was another execption and the Bulldog defense delivered. The held the Tide to 86 yards on the ground and won 21-0.

A letdown followed at Ole Miss, a 21-17 loss and it took wins over Vanderbilt, Kentucky and 20th-ranked Cincinnati to get back into the Top 10. Another big rivalry game awaited, the battle with Florida at neutral-site Jacksonville.

Florida was not the perennial football power that it became in the 1990s, but their 1976 team was one of the best the school had seen to that time. They were undefeated in league play, ranked 10th in the country and the winner of this game had the inside track to the SEC championship and the automatic bid to the Sugar Bowl.

The Georgia defense couldn’t keep up early in the game and gave up 27 points in the first half, trailing by two touchdowns. Goff quickly got his team back in the game with a touchdown pass and then the defense, aided by some questionable Florida game management, stepped up.

It was 4th-and-1 for Florida on their own 29-yard line and head coach Doug Dickey opted to go for it. “Fourth And Dumb” is how the play lives in Gator infamy. The Dawgs made the stop, scored the touchdown and the momentum irrevocably shifted. Georgia won 41-27. Then they beat Auburn 28-0 to close out their conference championship, Sugar Bowl bid and were #5 in the nation.

Pitt matched up with Penn State in a game played at old Three Rivers Stadium in the Steel City. The Panthers had moved up to #2 in the country in early October when Ohio State lost, and then took the #1 spot in the polls in early November when Michigan lost. Pitt had what its traditional rival in Penn State never had in their own undefeated/uncrowned seasons of 1968, 1969 and 1973—a chance to control their national championship destiny.

On a rainy day, Pittsburgh intercepted three Chuck Fusina passes, Dorsett ran well in the second half and the Panthers won 24-7. They had already accepted the Sugar Bowl nod in any event, but now they would go to New Orleans ranked #1.

Georgia had no realistic path to win the national championship. The Rose Bowl featured the #2 and #3 teams in USC-Michigan. If the Dawgs won the Sugar Bowl, which was played in the early afternoon time slot, it would turn the mid-afternoon Rose into a national championship game.

When the game started, the Bulldogs sold out to stop Dorsett, stacking the box with as many as nine players. Cavanaugh showed what he could do if necessary, throwing for 192 yards—a lot, by the standards of the era. And Dorsett? Well, he still rushed for over 200 yards. Pitt coasted to a 27-3 win that sealed a national championship.