1978 Orange Bowl

American college football game October 2011 December 2025 Orange Bowl 44th Orange Bowl January 2 1978 File:Miami orange bowl stadium cropped.jpg The Miami Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, hosted the Orange Bowl. 1977 University of Arkansas Arkansas Razorbacks 10–1 6 6 Lou Holtz SWC 14 0 10 7 University of Oklahoma Oklahoma Sooners 10–1 2 2 Barry Switzer Big Eight 0 0 0 6 Bowl Game R. Pete Williams (SEC)(split crew: SEC and Big Ten) Orange Bowl Miami, Florida 60,987 NBC Jim Simpson, Merlin Olsen 27.7 Oklahoma by 18 points Roland Sales (Arkansas RB)Reggie Freeman (Ark. NG) Main Street Electrical Parade The 1978 Orange Bowl was the 44th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1977–78 bowl game season, it matched the sixth-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks of the Southwest Conference (SWC) against the heavily-favored #2 Oklahoma Sooners of the Big Eight Conference.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fYRfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4DAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4601%2C442075 Lewiston Morning Tribune Idaho Associated Press Nissenson Herschel Orange: the bookies' nightmare January 2, 1978 3Bhttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Vw0qAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hCkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6885%2C1176072 Milwaukee Journal AP, UPI Arkansas rips Sooners' chances for national title January 3, 1978 9, part 2 December 2025 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dsxOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OBMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2750%2C507272 Wilmington Morning Star (location=North Carolina) Associated Press Arkansas humiliates Oklahoma January 3, 1978 1Bhttps://www.si.com/vault/1978/01/09/822290/at-last-lou-holtz-has-the-last-laugh Sports Illustrated Looney Douglas S. At last, Lou has the last laugh January 9, 1978 10 The Razorbacks were 10–1, but were heavy underdogs. Earlier in the day, top-ranked Texas and their Heisman Trophy-winning running back Earl Campbell had lost the Cotton Bowl 38–10 to #5 Notre Dame (led by quarterback Joe Montana). In the regular season, Texas had defeated Oklahoma and Arkansas on consecutive weekends en route to its 11–0 record. If Oklahoma defeated Arkansas in this Orange Bowl game, then the Sooners would have an inside track to the national championship. New Year's Day was on Sunday in 1978, and the major college bowl games were played the following day. Teams 1977 NCAA Division I football season Both football teams had only one regular-season loss, and both had lost to top-ranked Texas. Before the Orange Bowl kicked off, the Longhorns had fallen to Notre Dame. Under these circumstances, it seemed likely that the outcome of this Orange Bowl would decide which football team would win the national championship; the game's outcome did lead to the choosing of the national champion, but not in the way that most had expected.http://varsity.limaohio.com/articles/stand-5603-suspensions-took.html Holtz took a stand with suspensions when he was at Arkansas | stand, suspensions, took – Buckeyes varsity.limaohio.com December 29, 2010 October 24, 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110728012729/http://varsity.limaohio.com/articles/stand-5603-suspensions-took.html July 28, 2011 mdy-all Arkansas 1977 Arkansas Razorbacks football team This was the Arkansas football team's first appearance in the Orange Bowl. To complicate matters for Arkansas, first-year head coach Lou Holtz suspended three players prior to the game for team violations. Two of those three players, running back Ben Cowins and wide receiver Donny Bobo, had scored 78% of the Hogs' points during the regular season.http://www.orangebowl.org/news/695707.aspx News Year-by-Year: 1978 OrangeBowl.org November 24, 1978 October 24, 2011 September 28, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110928065409/http://www.orangebowl.org/news/695707.aspx dead Although the suspended Arkansas players protested, Holtz refused to back down and the suspensions stood. Arkansas had already been considered to be a heavy underdog versus Oklahoma, so after losing those starters the Razorbacks were not expected to compete. Prior to the suspensions, Arkansas had been an 18-point underdog. After the suspensions, Las Vegas oddsmakers listed the Razorbacks as 24-point underdogs.http://pixeltop.org/Forums/5/Topics/1667091 eCongregate.com Pixeltop.org October 24, 2011 March 2018 InternetArchiveBot yes Oklahoma 1977 Oklahoma Sooners football team This was Oklahoma's ninth appearance in the Orange Bowl. The Sooners' only defeat during the regular season had been a seven-point loss to Texas in Dallas in early October. Oklahoma was led offensively by redshirt sophomore halfback Billy Sims—who would win the Heisman Trophy two seasons later—and on defense by safety Darrol Ray and linebacker Daryl Hunt. Game summary Backup running back Roland Sales started for Arkansas in the place of Cowins. With Sales leading the way, Arkansas outrushed Oklahoma 126 yards to 116 yards in the first half. Sims fumbled the ball early in the first quarter, which the Razorbacks recovered on the Oklahoma 9 yard line. Two plays later, Sales scored a touchdown, followed by a PAT by kicker Steve Little. Another Oklahoma fumble in the first quarter by Kenny King resulted in a second Arkansas touchdown on a keeper by Hog quarterback Ron Calcagni. In the second half, Sales rushed for another touchdown, Barnabas White rushed for a touchdown and Little kicked a field goal. A ferocious Arkansas defense, led by defensive tackle Dan Hampton, dominated the Sooner offense as the Hogs built a 24–0 lead after three quarters. Oklahoma scored early in the fourth, but a two-point conversion attempt failed. Sales rushed 22 times for 205 yards, an Orange Bowl record. He also caught four passes for 52 yards and rushed for two touchdowns. Arkansas defeated Oklahoma 31–6. Sales's Orange Bowl rushing record stood for twenty years, until broken by Ahman Green (206 yards in 1998). Sales and Arkansas teammate Reggie Freeman were named MVPs for the game. Arkansas was ranked third in both final polls, behind Notre Dame (Holtz's future employer) and Alabama.http://secblitz.com/index.php?topic=1230.0 1978 Orange Bowl ... Arkansas 31 Oklahoma 6 Secblitz.com July 16, 2008 October 24, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110716025922/http://secblitz.com/index.php?topic=1230.0 July 16, 2011 dead mdy-all The halftime show was a presentation of the Main Street Electrical Parade, one of only two times the parade has taken place outside a Disney park. Floats based on Alice in Wonderland and Pete's Dragon were featured.Stayton Wynton 1978 Orange Bowl Halftime Show - Main Street Electrical Parade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuJGGn1MTi4 youtube.com Scoring First quarter Arkansas – Roland Sales 1-yard run (Steve Little kick) Arkansas – Ron Calcagni 1-yard run (Little kick) Second quarter No scoring Third quarter Arkansas – Little 32-yard FG Arkansas – Sales 4-yard run (Little kick) Fourth quarter Oklahoma – Victor Hicks 8-yard pass from Dean Blevins (run failed) Arkansas – Barnabas White 20-yard run (Little kick) 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: 1978 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 Statistics {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !! Arkansas !! Oklahoma |- | First downs || 22||19 |- | Rushes–yards|| 60–317|| 49–230 |- | Passing yards|| 90|| 80 |- | Passes (C–A–I) ||7–12–0 ||7–14–1 |- | Total Offense ||72–407||63–310 |- |Punts–average ||4–40.5|| 5–44.4 |- |Fumbles–lost ||2–1|| 4–3 |- |Turnovers||1||4 |- |Penalties–yards ||7–50|| 5–25 |} Source: Aftermath Arkansas climbed to third in the final AP poll and Oklahoma fell to seventh.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OLlaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bFkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5580%2C2771519 St. Petersburg Times Florida AP, UPI AP, UPI agree – it's Notre Dame January 4, 1978 1Chttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P_hVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6OEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7028%2C772477 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon AP, UPI It might not add up, but Irish are clearly No. 1 January 4, 1978 3C The Sooners returned the following year and defeated conference rival Nebraska. The Razorbacks' only other Orange Bowl was a rematch eight years later, a 42–8 loss to Oklahoma. References 2 Orange Bowl Category:Orange Bowl Category:Arkansas Razorbacks football bowl games Category:Oklahoma Sooners football bowl games Orange Bowl Category:January 1978 sports events in the United States Category:American football competitions in Miami