1981 Hall of Fame Classic

August 2023 March 2026 Hall of Fame Classic December 31 1981 1981 Mississippi State Bulldogs 7–4 Emory Bellard 7 3 0 0 QB John Bond Kansas Jayhawks 8–3 Don Fambrough 0 0 0 0 Mizlou Merle Harmon, Danny Abramowicz and Howard David bg Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama 41,672 All-American Bowl The 1981 Hall of Fame Classic was a college football postseason bowl game between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Kansas Jayhawks. Background The Bulldogs finished 3rd in the Southeastern Conference. This was the first time in school history that they reached consecutive bowl games. The Jayhawks finished tied for 3rd in the Big Eight Conference, in their first bowl game since 1975. Game summary On the first play of the game, the Bulldogs reached upon a stroke of luck. Ricky Green of the Jayhawks was receiving the opening kickoff when Rob Fesmire caused a fumble and recovered it at the Kansas 17. On the next play, John Bond ran 17 yards to the end zone to give the Bulldogs a 7–0 lead early in the game. Dana Moore made it 10–0 on a 22-yard field goal, and those 10 points proved to be all the Bulldogs needed as they held Kansas to 35 yards rushing while forcing three turnovers and using deep punts by Dana Moore to stymie the Jayhawks.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 Aftermath The Bulldogs waited 10 years to reach another bowl game in 1991 while the Jayhawks waited 11 years. Statistics Statistics Mississippi State KansasFirst downs 12 14Rushing yards 236 35Passing yards 51 171Total yards 287 206Passes (C–A–I) 5–16–0 15–31–2Fumbles–lost 5–1 1–1Penalties–yards 10–65 7–82 References Hall of Fame Classic Category:All-American Bowl Category:Kansas Jayhawks football bowl games Category:Mississippi State Bulldogs football bowl games Category:December 1981 sports events in the United States Hall of Fame Classic