1978 Sugar Bowl

American college football game August 2023 December 2025 Sugar Bowl 44th Sugar Bowl Louisiana Superdome - Unbranded - 26 July 2021.jpg The Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, hosted the Sugar Bowl. January 2 1978 1977 Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana The Ohio State University Ohio State Buckeyes 9–2 9 8 Woody Hayes Big Ten 0 0 0 6 University of Alabama Alabama Crimson Tide 10–1 3 3 Bear Bryant SEC 0 13 8 14 Jeff Rutledge (Alabama QB) Alabama by 1 pointhttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CG00AAAAIBAJ&sjid=B54EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6319%2C555346 Tuscaloosa News Alabama Browning Al Bryant: Worthy of being here? January 2, 1978 11https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vAtPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bwIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3947%2C2104046 Toledo Blade Ohio Gugger John Emotion is lacking in Sugar Bowl game January 2, 1978 23 Percy Penn (SWC) 76,811 ABC Keith Jackson and Ara Parseghian The 1978 Sugar Bowl was the 44th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1977–78 bowl game season, it matched the third-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the #9 Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=q8YUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6OEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3640%2C599115 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon wire services Hungry Tide wanted Sugar more and got it easily January 3, 1978 2Chttps://www.si.com/vault/1978/01/09/822297/the-bear-and-bama-cast-their-ballot Sports Illustrated Putnam Pat The Bear and Bama cast their ballot January 9, 1978 10 The teams were led by their respective hall of fame head coaches, Bear Bryant and Woody Hayes,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=29MVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5REEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6827%2C156067 Milwaukee Sentinel wire services Coaches sweet on Sugar January 2, 1978 5, part 2 who were the winningest active coaches. Slightly favored, Alabama won in a rout, 35–6.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=n_YjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zu0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6438%2C1129280 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Associated Press Buckeyes blown out in 35-6 'Bama rout January 3, 1978 20 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 Alabama 1977 Alabama Crimson Tide football team Alabama finished the regular season as SEC champions with a record of 10–1; the only loss was at Nebraska (31–24) in week two.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3zxOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=He4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5125%2C1681700 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Associated Press Huskers upset Tide September 18, 1977 D4 On November 19, bowl officials announced that Alabama would face Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=K0ggAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_50EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2956%2C5023635 It's Bear vs. Woody on Bourbon Street Hal Hayes The Tuscaloosa News B1 November 20, 1977 January 14, 2011 The appearance marked the eighth for Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and their 31st overall bowl appearance. It was the Tide's second game against a Big Ten opponent, the first was at Wisconsin in the 1928 regular season. Ohio State 1977 Ohio State Buckeyes football team Ohio State finished the regular season as co-champions of the Big Ten with a record of 9–2. Their only defeats were to Oklahoma by a point (29–28) on a disputed late field goal in week three and at rival Michigan Wolverines (14–6) to close the regular season. On November 19, bowl officials announced that Michigan would play in the Rose Bowl and that Ohio State would face Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dDYcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OloEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5507%2C1730937 Michigan defense rosy beating Ohio State, 14–6 UPI Pittsburgh Press D2 November 20, 1977 The appearance marked the first for Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, and their 12th overall bowl appearance. This was the first edition of the Sugar Bowl to feature a Big Ten team. It was the Buckeyes' first game against an SEC team since 1935, when they defeated Kentucky in the season opener. Game summary The game kicked off at around 1 pm CST, as did the Cotton Bowl.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nvYjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zu0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=1940%2C1022168 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Sports on TV January 2, 1978 15 After a scoreless first quarter, Alabama scored on a one-yard Tony Nathan touchdown run to cap a 10-play, 76-yard drive.How Bama won Sugar https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CW00AAAAIBAJ&sjid=B54EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6589%2C656587 Tuscaloosa News Alabama 12 January 3, 1978 January 14, 2011 On their next offensive possession, Bama scored again on a 27-yard Jeff Rutledge touchdown pass to Bruce Bolton to take a 13–0 lead at the half. In the third quarter, Rutledge had his second touchdown on a 3-yard pass to Rick Neal. Following a successful two-point conversion pass to Nathan, Alabama led 21–0, the score at the quarter's end. The Buckeyes scored their only points of the game early in the fourth when Rod Gerald threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jim Harrell, but failed on the two-point try and the score was 21–6. Bama closed the game with a pair of touchdown runs, the first from one yard by Major Ogilvie, and the second by Johnny Davis on a seven-yard run to make the final score 35–6. Ohio State Alabama expand 2 11:31 Alabama 10 76 RushTD Tony Nathan 1 good Roger Chapman 0 7 2 4:08 Alabama 11 76 RecTD Bruce Bolton Jeff Rutledge 27 no good Chapman 0 13 3 1:13 Alabama 13 67 RecTD Rick Neal Rutledge 3 pass good 0 21 4 13:34 Ohio State RecTD Jim Harrell Rod Gerald 38 pass failed 6 21 4 6:30 Alabama 14 84 RushTD Major Ogilvie 1 good Chapman 6 28 4 5:09 Alabama 4 24 RushTD Johnny Davis 7 good Chapman 6 35 6 35 Source: Statistics {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !!   Alabama   !! Ohio State |- |First downs || 25|| 13 |- |Rushing yards|| 68–280|| 38–160 |- |Passing yards|| 109|| 103 |- |Passing ||8–11–0 ||7–17–3 |- |Total offense || 79–389|| 55–263 |- |Punts–average ||1–33.0|| 4–37.5 |- |Fumbles–lost ||0–0|| 10–2 |- |Turnovers|| 0 || 5 |- |Penalties–yards ||1–5|| 4–40 |} Source: Aftermath While #3 Alabama won easily, top-ranked Texas and #2 Oklahoma were both upset by large margins in their bowl games. Fifth-ranked Notre Dame's 38–10 rout of #1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl gained them the top spot in both final polls; Alabama was the runner-up and Orange Bowl winner Arkansas was third.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 Notre Dame finished ahead of Alabama despite losing 20-13 to Ole Miss, which lost 34-13 to Alabama the week before. The Tide fell to Nebraska the same day the Rebels ousted the Fighting Irish. Alabama returned to the Sugar Bowl the following year and won the national championship. This was the final major bowl game for Woody Hayes; Ohio State played in the Gator Bowl in December 1978, his last game as head coach. References Sugar Bowl Category:Sugar Bowl Category:Alabama Crimson Tide football bowl games Category:Ohio State Buckeyes football bowl games Sugar Bowl Sugar Bowl