1980 Cotton Bowl Classic

December 2025 August 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic 44th Cotton Bowl Classic Cotton Bowl Classic 1980.png January 1 1980 1979 Houston Cougars 10–1 Bill Yeoman SWC 8 6 0 7 0 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers 10–1 Tom Osborne Big 8 7 8 7 0 0 7 Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas Nebraska by 3½ points Terry Elston (Houston QB)David Hodge (Houston LB) Robert Aillet (SEC) 72,032 CBS Lindsey Nelson (Play-by-play 1st qtr only),January 2, 1980 Laryngitis leaves Lindsey speechless C2 Spokesman-Review Associated Press Spokane, Washington https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HsopAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4402%2C516756 Frank Glieber (Sideline 1st, then play-by-play), and Paul Hornung bg thumb|The Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, hosted the Cotton Bowl Classic. The 1980 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 44th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday, January 1. Part of the 1979–80 bowl game season, it matched the seventh-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference and the #8 Houston Cougars of the Southwest Conference (SWC). A slight underdog,January 1, 1980 Latest line 22 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Associated Press https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uesNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rG0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4606%2C109621January 1, 1980 Nebraska has edge in Cotton 20 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Associated Press https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uesNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rG0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3602%2C98559 Houston rallied to win, 17–14.January 2, 1980 Houston can forget year-old nightmare 3D Eugene Register-Guard UPI Oregon https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1ZxjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5OEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3873%2C460517January 2, 1980 Houston sub comes through to nip Huskers 1, part 2 Milwaukee Sentinel Associated Press https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0nlQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ARIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1860%2C389979January 2, 1980 Houston's 'R-flex-333' hooks Cornhuskers C2 Spokesman-Review Associated Press Spokane, Washington https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HsopAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6923%2C516562 Teams 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season Nebraska 1979 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team Nebraska was the runner-up in the Big Eight Conference for the fifth time in head coach Tom Osborne's seventh season, after losing to rival Oklahoma to end the regular season. The Huskers were appearing in their first Cotton Bowl in six years and eleventh consecutive bowl game, seven of which were major bowls. Houston 1979 Houston Cougars football team The Cougars were co-champions of the Southwest Conference with Arkansas, who they beat midway through the season. While Arkansas was invited to the Sugar Bowl, Houston returned to the Cotton Bowl for the second straight year, their third appearance in four seasons. Game summary Televised by CBS, the game kicked off shortly after 1 p.m. CST, as did the Sugar Bowl on ABC.January 1, 1980 Bowl guide: Cotton 21 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HcopAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LO4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3327%2C122411 The Dallas weather was fair and 60 F, a vast improvement over the previous year's subzero wind chill. Nebraska halfback Jarvis Redwine opened the scoring with a nine-yard run late in the first quarter to complete an 85-yard drive. Houston responded midway through the second quarter with their own drive, 71 yards in six plays which ended with a touchdown run by quarterback Terry Elston to tie the game at seven each, the score at halftime.January 2, 1980 Tipped catch gives Cougars victory 43 Reading Eagle Associated Press Pennsylvania https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=R5UtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3qAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6434%2C936426 The third quarter was scoreless. Kenny Hatfield kicked a field goal to give the Cougars a 10–7 lead with 8:25 remaining. But Nebraska recovered a Houston fumble at the 31 and scored six plays later on a six-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Quinn to tight end Jeff Finn to take the lead at 14–10. After the kickoff, Houston started at their own 34 with 3:48 remaining, and Elston drove his team to the Nebraska six with nineteen seconds left. It was fourth and one as Elston snapped the ball, scrambling and throwing through two defenders' hands to Eric Herring in the end zone, to give Houston the lead with twelve seconds left. Nebraska could not work a miracle of their own as the Cougars gained their second Cotton Bowl win in three years.Archived copy http://media.attcottonbowl.com/resource/history/1980/rsrc/1980-Classic-Recap.pdf dead https://web.archive.org/web/20150105200033/http://media.attcottonbowl.com/resource/history/1980/rsrc/1980-Classic-Recap.pdf 2015-01-05 2014-12-28 Scoring First quarter Nebraska - Jarvis Redwine 9-yard run (Dean Sukup kick) Second quarter Houston - Terry Elston 8-yard run (Kenny Hatfield kick) Third quarter No scoring Fourth quarter Houston - Kenny Hatfield 41-yard field goal Nebraska - Jeff Finn 6-yard pass from Jeff Quinn (Dean Sukup kick) Houston - Eric Herring 6-yard pass from Terry Elston (Kenny Hatfield kick), 0:12 remaining Source: Statistics {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !!   Houston   !!  Nebraska  |- |align=left|First downs || 18|| 13 |- |align=left|Rushes–yards|| 61–206|| 41–136 |- |align=left|Passing yards || 119|| 91 |- |align=left|Passes || 9–19–0 || 11–22–1 |- |align=left|Total offense || 80–325|| 63–227 |- |align=left|Punts–average ||7–42.0|| 10–40.6 |- |align=left|Fumbles–lost ||7–3|| 1–1 |- |align=left|Turnovers|| 3|| 2 |- |align=left|Penalties–yards ||2–22|| 7–90 |} Source: Aftermath Houston climbed to fifth in the final AP poll and Nebraska dropped to ninth. The Cornhuskers went to bowls for the next eighteen years under Osborne before his retirement. However, they only returned to the Cotton Bowl in 2007. The Cougars returned five years later but lost. They have not won a Cotton Bowl since 1980. References 2 Cotton Bowl Classic Category:Cotton Bowl Classic Category:Houston Cougars football bowl games Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers football bowl games Cotton Bowl Classic Cotton Bowl Classic