1978 Gator Bowl

American college football game December 2025 February 2020 1978 Gator Bowl GatorBowlLogo1978-1985.png 150 1978 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State University Clemson Tigers Clemson University 7–3–1 Big Ten 10–1 ACC Woody Hayes Danny Ford 20 NR 7 8 0 9 0 6 0 10 7 0 December 29 Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, Florida Steve Fuller (QB, Clemson) & Art Schlichter (QB, Ohio State)https://www.taxslayerbowl.com/1978-2/ 1978 2017-12-31 https://web.archive.org/web/20180101030237/https://www.taxslayerbowl.com/1978-2/ 2018-01-01 dead James M. Artley (SEC) 72,011 ABC List of announcers of major college bowl games Keith Jackson, Ara Parseghian The 1978 Gator Bowl was a college football bowl game played between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Clemson Tigers on December 29, 1978. Clemson won the contest, 17–15. The game is most remembered for an incident in which longtime Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes punched a Clemson player after a play late in the fourth quarter with two minutes remaining, leading to Hayes being fired the next day. Woody Hayes incident With just over two minutes left in the game, Ohio State had the ball on the Clemson 24, trailing 17–15. Ohio State quarterback Art Schlichter threw a short pass that was intercepted by Clemson nose guard Charlie Bauman. Bauman avoided several tackles and was finally shoved out of bounds on the Ohio State sideline. After Bauman got up, Ohio State coach Woody Hayes grabbed his jersey, punched him in the throat, and had to be restrained from hitting him again. Bauman was unaffected by Hayes' attack, but the incident sparked a brief but intense bench-clearing fight between players of both teams. Ohio State was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, but the referee could not explain the penalty to the crowd in the stadium or the television audience because they did not have microphones at the time, and ABC Sports television announcer Keith Jackson had not seen the punch right away. Hayes stormed onto the field and pulled on an official's shirt a few plays later, drawing another penalty for his team. Meanwhile, Clemson was able to run out the clock and preserve the 17–15 victory.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-news-woody-adds-punch-to-gator/139701236/ The Miami News Woody adds punch to Gator Bowl December 30, 1978 January 27, 2024 Newspapers.comFineman, Alex Hayes produced champions, controversy https://www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/Hayes_Woody.html ESPN Classic 2008-11-19https://www.si.com/college-football/2016/12/23/woody-hayes-punch-clemson-ohio-state Woody Hayes's last stand: The punch that ended his career After it became clear that Hayes had punched an opposing player, Ohio State director Hugh Hindman (who had played for Hayes at the University of Miami Ohio and was an assistant coach at Ohio State) fired Hayes the next morning, ending his 28-season tenure as the Buckeyes head coach.Woody Hayes KO'd himself in 1978 Gator Bowl http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/dec/27/20041227-124047-2522r/ The Washington Times December 27, 2004 2008-11-19 Woody Hayes#1978 Gator Bowl incident and dismissal Future rematches Ohio State and Clemson would meet again in the 2014 Orange Bowl, the semifinal for the College Football Playoff in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl, and the 2019 Fiesta Bowl, with Clemson winning each time. Ohio State and Clemson met once again in the semifinal for the College Football Playoff in the 2021 Sugar Bowl, won by Ohio State, 49–28. References External links Woody Hayes incident (short clip) via YouTube Woody Hayes incident (from ABC broadcast) via YouTube Gator Bowl Gator Bowl Category:1978 controversies in the United States Category:December 1978 sports events in the United States Category:20th century in Jacksonville, Florida Category:Gator Bowl Category:Clemson Tigers football bowl games Category:Ohio State Buckeyes football bowl games Category:College football controversies