1980 Sugar Bowl

Teams

Main article: 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season

Alabama

Main article: 1979 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

Alabama entered the game undefeated, and had won two national championships already in the decade, in 1973 and 1978. Three of their conference victories in 1979 were by close margins, including a 3–0 win at LSU.

Arkansas

Main article: 1979 Arkansas Razorbacks football team

Led by head coach Lou Holtz, the Razorbacks entered the game at 10–1, sharing the SWC title with 1979 Houston Cougars and the Texas Longhorns. Greg Kolenda was an All-American offensive tackle and quarterback Kevin Scanlon was the Southwest Conference Player of the Year. The Hogs' defense gave up 9.8 points per game on the year, the sixth-best scoring defense in Division I.

Game summary

The game kicked off shortly after 1 p.m. CST, televised by ABC, at the same time as the Cotton Bowl on CBS.

Arkansas scored first in the first quarter, on a 34-yard Ish Ordonez field goal, to give the Razorbacks a 3–0 advantage. Alabama running back Major Ogilvie scored on touchdown runs of 22 and 1 yard and Alabama led 14–3 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Alan McElroy kicked a 25-yard field goal for the Crimson Tide, and they held a 17–3 advantage at halftime.

In the third quarter, Kevin Scanlon of Arkansas threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Robert Farrell and the score tightened to 17–9. In the fourth quarter, Steve Whitman scored on a 12-yard run as Alabama won by a 24–9 margin. Ogilvie was named Sugar Bowl MVP. He rushed for a touchdown in three consecutive Sugar Bowls, all Crimson Tide victories.

| DrivePlays

Statistics

:{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !! Alabama !! Arkansas |- |First downs ||18||21 |- |Rushing yards||53–284||41–97 |- |Passing yards||70||245 |- |Passing ||4–7–2 ||22–40–2 |- |Total offense ||60–354||81–342 |- |Punts–average ||8–36.2||7–36.2 |- |Fumbles–lost ||1–1||1–1 |- |Turnovers||3||3 |- |Penalties–yards ||7–61||1–15 |} :Source:

Aftermath

Later in the day at the Rose Bowl, Ohio State was defeated 17–16 by USC. For the first time since 1964, Alabama was voted to the top spot in both final polls. It was the Tide's first perfect season since 1966.

References

References

1. (January 1, 1980). "Bryant's Crimson Tide faces Razorbacks' stern challenge". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
2. Browning, Al. (January 2, 1980). "High Tide swamps Hogs, 24-9". Tuscaloosa News.
3. (January 2, 1980). "Alabama defense stymies Arkansas, 24-9, for Sugar Bowl triumph". Wilmington Morning Star.
4. DelNagro, Mike. (January 14, 1980). "A good thing came to those who waited".
5. "46th Annual Sugar Bowl Classic ~ January 1, 1980." [http://www.allstatesugarbowl.org/site115.php Article.] Retrieved August 11, 2010.
6. (January 1, 1980). "Bowl guide: Sugar". Spokesman-Review.
7. Looney, Douglas S.. (January 14, 1980). "A beautiful Rose, even for Bama".
8. Browning, Al. (January 3, 1980). "Could be best ever, Bryant says of champ". Tuscaloosa News.
9. (January 3, 1980). "It's Bama". Spokesman-Review.