1978 Cotton Bowl Classic

1978 Cotton Bowl Classic
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Texas Longhorns
(10–1) (11–0)
38 10
Head coach: 
Dan Devine		 Head coach: 
Fred Akers
APCoaches
55
APCoaches
11
1234 Total
Notre Dame 32177 38
Texas 3700 10
Date January 2, 1978
Season 1977
Stadium Cotton Bowl
Location Dallas, Texas
MVP RB Vagas Ferguson
(Notre Dame)
LB Bob Golic
(Notre Dame)
Referee Vance Carlson (Big Eight)
Attendance 76,701
United States TV coverage
Network CBS
Announcers Lindsey Nelson, Paul Hornung, Paul Alexander, and Don Criqui

The 1978 Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic was the 42nd edition of the college football bowl game, played on Monday, January 2 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. The bowl game featured the independent Notre Dame Fighting Irish versus the Southwest Conference champion Texas Longhorns. A record crowd of 76,701 turned up to see the coronation of the Longhorns championship season, but fifth-ranked Notre Dame spoiled everything as they dominated the Longhorns 38–10.[1][2][3]

Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell gained 116 yards on 29 carries, but was kept out of the end zone.[3] Tied at three after the first quarter, the Irish scored three touchdowns in eight minutes and led 24–10 at halftime, then shut out the Longhorns in the second half.[1] The loss by the Longhorns resulted in complete chaos in the final polls, with Notre Dame vaulting past Alabama to win the national championship.[4][5][6]

Scoring summary

First Quarter

  • Notre Dame - Dave Reeve 47-yard field goal, 11:35 remaining (this set up by a fumble recovery by Ross Browner)
  • Texas - Russell Erxleben 42-yard field goal, 6:07 remaining.

Second Quarter

  • Notre Dame - Terry Eurick 6 yard touchdown run (Reeve kick), 14:56 remaining (set up by a fumble recovery by Jim Browner)
  • Notre Dame - Eurick 10 yard touchdown run (Reeve kick), 11:37 remaining (this happening after a fumble recovery by Willie Fry)
  • Notre Dame - Vagas Ferguson 17-yard touchdown pass from Joe Montana (Reeve kick), 7:28 (This occurring after a pass interception by Doug Becker)
  • Texas - Mike Lockett 13-yard touchdown pass from Randy McEachern (Erxleben kick), 0:01 remaining

Third Quarter

  • Notre Dame - Ferguson 3-yard touchdown run (Reeve kick), 6:49 remaining (this happening after a pass interception by Steve Heimkreiter)

Fourth Quarter

  • Notre Dame - Ferguson 26-yard touchdown run (Reeve kick), 9:41 remaining (after a fake punt attempt)

Aftermath

Texas' loss opened the door to the national championship for several teams: second-ranked Oklahoma was soundly beaten 31–6 by #6 Arkansas in the Orange Bowl nightcap, and in between, fourth-ranked Michigan fell 27–20 to Washington in the Rose Bowl.[7] That left third-ranked Alabama and fifth-ranked Notre Dame as the primary teams for the title. Alabama felt that with their convincing win, they would be champions due to the losses by Texas and Oklahoma,[8] but the pollsters saw it differently. Notre Dame was voted number one in every poll. Perhaps the victory by fellow Southwest Conference member Arkansas in the Orange Bowl made the difference as it made Notre Dame's victory over Texas (who had beaten Arkansas 13–9 in October) even more impressive.

Statistics

StatisticsN. D.Texas
First Downs2616
Rushing Yards243131
Passing Yards156160
Total Yards399291
Fumbles-Lost1-03-3
Penalties-Yards4-371-5
Punts-Average5-30.43-40.0

McEachern of Texas threw three interceptions, while Montana of Notre Dame threw one.

References

  1. 1 2 Underwood, John (January 9, 1978). "Shake down the thunder". Sports Illustrated: 9.
  2. ↑ "Texas fumbles title and Irish fall on it". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 3, 1978. p. 2C.
  3. 1 2 Mizell, Hubert (January 3, 1978). "Notre Dame corrals 'Horns, Campbell in 38-10 cruise". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). p. 1C.
  4. ↑ "AP, UPI agree – it's Notre Dame". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). AP, UPI. January 4, 1978. p. 1C.
  5. ↑ "It might not add up, but Irish are clearly No. 1". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). AP, UPI. January 4, 1978. p. 3C.
  6. ↑ http://media.attcottonbowl.com/resource/history/1978/rsrc/1978-Classic-Recap.pdf
  7. ↑ "How they fared". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). January 3, 1978. p. 6B.
  8. ↑ Browning, Al (January 3, 1978). "No. 1? Bear doesn't know". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama).
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