411 REFERENCE · Wikipedia
1980 Sun Bowl
Reference material by Wikipedia contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
Annual NCAA football game
August 2023
December 2025
Sun Bowl
December 27
1980
1980
Nebraska
Cornhuskers
9–2
Tom Osborne
Big Eight
8
9
7
10
7
7
Jeff Quinn (QB, Nebraska)
Mississippi State
Bulldogs
9–2
Emory Bellard
SEC
17
17
0
0
3
14
CBS
Pat SummerallTom BrookshierFrank Glieber
Nebraska by 13½ points https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Lp9RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yW0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6100%2C5412291 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Latest line December 27, 1980 12
bg
Sun Bowl
El Paso, Texas
Gene Wurtz (WAC)
34,723
The 1980 Sun Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game played on December 27 in El Paso, Texas, between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Mississippi State Bulldogs.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dFhYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7-EDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2944%2C8922513 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press Huskers play some tricks on Bulldogs December 28, 1980 3B
Background
An all-too-familiar loss to #9 Oklahoma in the regular season finale cost the Cornhuskers the Big Eight Conference title and an Orange Bowl invitation, and they settled for the Sun Bowl.
The Bulldogs finished third in the Southeastern Conference behind eventual national champion Georgia and Alabama in Emory Bellard's second year as head coach, closing the regular season on a five-game winning streak. Among those November victories were a 6–3 defeat of two-time defending national champion Alabama, a 55–31 rout of LSU, and a conquest of archrival Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. All three of those big victories came at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson.
Game summary
Todd Brown gave Nebraska an early 7–0 lead with his 23–yard touchdown run 2:30 into the game. The Huskers scored twice in the second quarter in a span of 86 seconds on a Kevin Seibel field goal from 22 yards and an eight-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Quinn to tight end Jeff Finn; the score was 17–0 at halftime.
Dana Moore narrowed the lead with his 47-yard field goal with 7:12 left in the third quarter, but Nebraska responded less than five minutes later on Andra Franklin's two-yard touchdown run to make it 24–3 at the end of three quarters.
John Bond scored the Bulldogs' first touchdown from a yard out with 11:44 remaining, but Tim McCrady caught a touchdown pass of 52 yards from Quinn and it was it 31–10 with 3:21 left. Michael Haddix ended the scoring at 31–17 with his 11-yard touchdown reception with a minute remaining, and Nebraska won by fourteen. Quinn was 9-of-19 for 151 yards with an interception and two touchdown passes en route to being named MVP. The Cornhusker defense forced two interceptions, four lost fumbles, and a muffed punt.http://www.hailstate.com/fls/16800/pdf/fb/fb_14orangemg.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=16800 PDF 2014 Capital one Orange Bowl Media Guide : Mississippi State Hailstate.com 2015-08-12 September 24, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150924041118/http://www.hailstate.com/fls/16800/pdf/fb/fb_14orangemg.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=16800 dead http://www.nmnathletics.com/fls/16800/pdf/fb/fb_06mg_bowls.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=16800 PDF Bowl History : Mississippi State University All-Time Bowl Results Nmnathletics.com 2015-08-12 https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231940/http://www.nmnathletics.com/fls/16800/pdf/fb/fb_06mg_bowls.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=16800 2016-03-03 dead http://www.sunbowl.org/the_sun_bowl_game/recap/47 Nebraska 31, Mississippi State 17 – Recaps – Hyundai Sun Bowl – December 26, 2015 – El Paso, Texas Sunbowl.org 2015-08-12
Nebraska climbed to seventh in the final AP poll and Mississippi State fell to nineteenth.
The attendance of 34,723 was a Sun Bowl record, aided by favorable weather.
Scoring
First quarter
Nebraska – Todd Brown 23 run (Kevin Seibel kick)
Second quarter
Nebraska – Field goal, Seibel 22
Nebraska – Jeff Finn 8 pass from Jeff Quinn (Seibel kick)
Third quarter
Mississippi State – Field goal, Dana Moore 47
Nebraska – Andra Franklin 2 run (Kevin Seibel kick)
Fourth quarter
Mississippi State – John Bond 1 run (Moore kick)
Nebraska – Tim McCrady 52 pass from Quinn (Klein kick)
Mississippi State – Michael Haddix 11 pass from Bond (Moore kick)
Source:https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xfUhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XaIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2362%2C5203198 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Sun Bowl (box score) December 28, 1980 85
Statistics
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|-
! Statistics !! style="background:#660000; color:#ffffff"|MississippiState !! style="background:#f5002f; color:#ffffff"| Nebraska
|-
|align=left|First downs ||15 ||16
|-
|align=left|Rushes–yards ||53–156 || 56–161
|-
|align=left|Passing yards ||102 ||159
|-
|align=left|Total yards ||258 ||320
|-
|align=left|Passes (C–A–I) ||7–19–2 ||9–19–1
|-
|align=left|Fumbles–lost ||5–4 ||1–1
|-
|align=left|Turnovers by ||6 ||2
|-
|align=left|Penalties–yards ||5–50 ||8–42
|}
Source:
References
2
Sun Bowl
Category:Sun Bowl
Category:Mississippi State Bulldogs football bowl games
Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers football bowl games
Category:December 1980 sports events in the United States
Category:1980 in sports in Texas