1979 Orange Bowl

American college football game August 2023 December 2025 1979 Orange Bowl File:Miami orange bowl stadium cropped.jpg The Miami Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, hosted the Orange Bowl. 45th Orange Bowl 1978 Oklahoma Sooners University of Oklahoma Nebraska Cornhuskers University of Nebraska 10–1 Big Eight 9–2 Big Eight Barry Switzer Tom Osborne 4 4 6 6 7 7 17 0 7 0 3 14 January 1 Orange Bowl Miami, Florida Billy Sims5(Oklahoma HB)Reggie Kinlaw (Oklahoma NG) Oklahoma by 11½ points https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sgIOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3955%2C169093 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The Latest Line January 1, 1979 34 Ken Faulkner (SWC) 66,365 NBC List of announcers of major college bowl games Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen 22.8 The 1979 Orange Bowl was the 45th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 1. Part of the 1978–79 bowl game season, it matched the fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and #6 Nebraska Cornhuskers, both of the Big Eight Conference.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=swIOAAAAIBAJ&pg=1819%2C322919 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Associated Press Oklahoma takes Big 8 rematch January 2, 1979 15https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=thYeAAAAIBAJ&pg=6982%2C118319 Pittsburgh Press UPI Oklahoma feels it's No. 1 after avenging only loss January 2, 1979 B5https://www.si.com/vault/1979/01/08/106773553/orange-bowl Sports Illustrated Putnam Pat Orange Bowl January 8, 1979 14 This matchup was an anomaly: It featured a rare rematch of conference rivals that played every regular season. Nebraska had upset #1 Oklahoma 17–14 on November 11 in Lincoln,https://www.si.com/vault/1978/11/20/823162/nebraska-was-on-the-loose-the-cornhuskers-pounced-on-six-fumbles-by-oklahoma-and-the-sooners-did-not-recover Sports Illustrated Nebraska was on the loose Looney Douglas S. November 20, 1978 22 their first win in the rivalry since the Game of the Century in 1971,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SPZLAAAAIBAJ&pg=6243%2C5744887 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Associated Press Grid frustration ends in Huskers' triumph November 12, 1978 C4 and appeared headed toward a national championship showdown with Penn State. But unranked Missouri (6–4) stunned the #2 Huskers 35–31 in Lincoln the following week,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7steAAAAIBAJ&pg=4227%2C7345363 Lewiston Morning Tribune Idaho Associated Press Powers' Tigers upset Nebraska November 19, 1978 5B dropping Nebraska into a tie with Oklahoma for the Big Eight championship and knocking them out of the national championship picture.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QP4jAAAAIBAJ&pg=6309%2C1686174 Sarasota Herald-Tribune Florida UPI Orange Bowl lands Nebraska, Oklahoma November 19, 1978 1Chttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BrssAAAAIBAJ&pg=2780%2C4189877 Sunday Star-News Wilmington, North Carolina Associated Press Bowl roundup November 19, 1978 1C Penn State instead faced Alabama for the national title in the Sugar Bowl, and the Orange Bowl found itself with a selection dilemma. Nebraska earned the Big Eight's automatic Orange Bowl berth by virtue of its victory over the Sooners, but, with Penn State and Notre Dame (which accepted an invitation to the Cotton Bowl) off the board, the Orange Bowl committee decided to set up a bowl rematch with Oklahoma to create the best possible matchup. This was the last time a non-championship postseason bowl featured two teams from the same conference until the 2015 season at the Arizona Bowl,http://www.coloradoan.com/story/sports/csu/football/2015/12/06/colorado-state-football-arizona-bowl-nevada/76795278/ Colorado State heads to Arizona Bowl to face MW foe Nevada Fort Collins Coloradoan December 6, 2015 December 6, 2015 Lyell, Kelly and the last non-championship bowl to be a rematch of a regular-season conference game until the 2025 season at the Birmingham Bowl.October 2024 Despite the road loss to the Huskers in the regular season, Oklahoma was a double-digit favorite. Teams 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season Oklahoma 1978 Oklahoma Sooners football team Nebraska 1978 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team Game summary Underdog Nebraska scored first on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Tom Sorley to Tim Smith for a 7–0 lead. Oklahoma tied the score on a 3-yard scamper by Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims, and then went ahead in the second quarter when quarterback Thomas Lott scored on a three-yard run, and took the 14–7 lead into halftime.October 2024 The revenge-minded Sooners then took control. In the third quarter, Sims scored again an eleven-yard run. Field goals were traded, then Lott scored from two yards out, increasing Oklahoma's lead to 31–10.October 2024 Nebraska rallied late, with Rick Berns scoring on a one-yard run, and then Sorley threw a two-yard strike to tight end Junior Miller as time expired. Oklahoma prevailed 31–24 to finish at 11–1, avenging its only loss of the season.October 2024 The game was televised by NBC and the traditional halftime Festival of Lights show was a tribute to "the greatest entertainment phenomenon in America in 1978: Disco!" Besides dancing to recorded disco songs, there was an appearance by KC and the Sunshine Band.https://books.google.com/books?id=LyUEAAAAMBAJ&q=orange+bowl+%22tribute+to+disco%22&pg=PT59 Football Turns To Disco Acts, Lights Billboard Jan 13, 1979 March 6, 2017 unknown Scoring First quarter Nebraska – Tim Smith 21-yard pass from Tom Sorley (Billy Todd kick), 8:29 Oklahoma – Billy Sims 3-yard run (Uwe von Schamann kick), 0:01 Second quarter Oklahoma – Thomas Lott 3-yard run (von Schamann kick), 6:22 Third quarter Oklahoma – Sims 11-yard run (von Schamann kick), 13:30 Oklahoma – von Schamann 26-yard field goal, 9:18 Nebraska – Todd 31-yard field goal, 4:24 Oklahoma – Lott 2-yard run (von Schamann kick), 0:15 Fourth quarter Nebraska – Rick Berns 1-yard run (Todd kick), 9:12 Nebraska – Junior Miller 2-yard pass from Sorley (Todd kick), 0:00 Source:https://www.orangebowl.org/assets/1/7/2019_Capital_One_Orange_Bowl_Media_Guide-proof2.pdf 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl media guide Game-by-game recaps: 1979 January 2019 37 July 26, 2020 August 5, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200805235236/https://www.orangebowl.org/assets/1/7/2019_Capital_One_Orange_Bowl_Media_Guide-proof2.pdf dead http://www.huskersnside.com/pdf4/18478.pdf? https://web.archive.org/web/20200723001548/http://www.huskersnside.com/pdf4/18478.pdf dead July 23, 2020 2005 Nebraska Cornhuskers football media guide (supplement) Bowl games: 1979 Orange Bowl 2005 Statistics {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !!  Oklahoma  !!  Nebraska  |- | align=left|First downs || 17|| 27 |- | align=left|Rushes–yards|| 53–292 || 54–217 |- | align=left|Passing yards || 47 || 220 |- | align=left|Passes (C–A–I)|| 2–3–0 || 18–31–2 |- | align=left|Total offense || 56–339 || 85–437 |- | align=left|Punts–average || 3–39.3|| 2–37.5 |- | align=left|Fumbles–lost ||1–1|| 0–0 |- | align=left|Turnovers|| 1|| 2 |- | align=left|Penalties–yards ||6–50|| 8–96 |} Source: Aftermath Oklahoma (11–1) climbed to third in the final AP poll and Nebraska (9–3) fell to eighth. See also List of college football post-season games that were rematches of regular season games Nebraska–Oklahoma football rivalry References 30em External links http://www.huskerpedia.com/games/1978/12oklahoma.html Orange Bowl Category:Orange Bowl Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers football bowl games Category:Oklahoma Sooners football bowl games Category:January 1979 sports events in the United States Orange Bowl Category:American football competitions in Miami