1978 Sugar Bowl

Teams

Main article: 1977 NCAA Division I football season

Alabama

Main article: 1977 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

Alabama finished the regular season as SEC champions with a record of 10–1; the only loss was at Nebraska (31–24) in week two. On November 19, bowl officials announced that Alabama would face Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. The appearance marked the eighth for Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and their 31st overall bowl appearance. It was the Tide's second game against a Big Ten opponent, the first was at Wisconsin in the 1928 regular season.

Ohio State

Main article: 1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Ohio State finished the regular season as co-champions of the Big Ten with a record of 9–2. Their only defeats were to Oklahoma by a point (29–28) on a disputed late field goal in week three and at rival Michigan Wolverines (14–6) to close the regular season. On November 19, bowl officials announced that Michigan would play in the Rose Bowl and that Ohio State would face Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

The appearance marked the first for Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, and their 12th overall bowl appearance. This was the first edition of the Sugar Bowl to feature a Big Ten team. It was the Buckeyes' first game against an SEC team since 1935, when they defeated Kentucky in the season opener.

Game summary

The game kicked off at around 1 pm CST, as did the Cotton Bowl.

After a scoreless first quarter, Alabama scored on a one-yard Tony Nathan touchdown run to cap a 10-play, 76-yard drive. On their next offensive possession, Bama scored again on a 27-yard Jeff Rutledge touchdown pass to Bruce Bolton to take a 13–0 lead at the half.

In the third quarter, Rutledge had his second touchdown on a 3-yard pass to Rick Neal. Following a successful two-point conversion pass to Nathan, Alabama led 21–0, the score at the quarter's end. The Buckeyes scored their only points of the game early in the fourth when Rod Gerald threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jim Harrell, but failed on the two-point try and the score was 21–6. Bama closed the game with a pair of touchdown runs, the first from one yard by Major Ogilvie, and the second by Johnny Davis on a seven-yard run to make the final score 35–6.

Source:

Statistics

:{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !! Alabama !! Ohio State |- |First downs || 25|| 13 |- |Rushing yards|| 68–280|| 38–160 |- |Passing yards|| 109|| 103 |- |Passing ||8–11–0 ||7–17–3 |- |Total offense || 79–389|| 55–263 |- |Punts–average ||1–33.0|| 4–37.5 |- |Fumbles–lost ||0–0|| 10–2 |- |Turnovers|| 0 || 5 |- |Penalties–yards ||1–5|| 4–40 |} :Source:

Aftermath

While #3 Alabama won easily, top-ranked Texas and #2 Oklahoma were both upset by large margins in their bowl games. Fifth-ranked Notre Dame's 38–10 rout of #1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl gained them the top spot in both final polls; Alabama was the runner-up and Orange Bowl winner Arkansas was third.

Notre Dame finished ahead of Alabama despite losing 20-13 to Ole Miss, which lost 34-13 to Alabama the week before. The Tide fell to Nebraska the same day the Rebels ousted the Fighting Irish.

Alabama returned to the Sugar Bowl the following year and won the national championship.

This was the final major bowl game for Woody Hayes; Ohio State played in the Gator Bowl in December 1978, his last game as head coach.

References

References

1. Browning, Al. (January 2, 1978). "Bryant: Worthy of being here?". Tuscaloosa News.
2. Gugger, John. (January 2, 1978). "Emotion is lacking in Sugar Bowl game". Toledo Blade.
3. (January 3, 1978). "Hungry Tide wanted Sugar more and got it easily". Eugene Register-Guard.
4. Putnam, Pat. (January 9, 1978). "The Bear and Bama cast their ballot".
5. (January 2, 1978). "Coaches sweet on Sugar". Milwaukee Sentinel.
6. (January 3, 1978). "Buckeyes blown out in 35-6 'Bama rout". Spokesman-Review.
7. (September 18, 1977). "Huskers upset Tide". Spokesman-Review.
8. Hayes, Hal. (November 20, 1977). "It's Bear vs. Woody on Bourbon Street". The Tuscaloosa News.
9. (November 20, 1977). "Michigan defense rosy beating Ohio State, 14–6". Pittsburgh Press.
10. (January 2, 1978). "Sports on TV". Spokesman-Review.
11. (January 3, 1978). "How Bama won Sugar". Tuscaloosa News.
12. (January 4, 1978). "AP, UPI agree – it's Notre Dame". St. Petersburg Times.
13. (January 4, 1978). "It might not add up, but Irish are clearly No. 1". Eugene Register-Guard.