1982 Orange Bowl

1982 Orange Bowl
Clemson Tigers Nebraska Cornhuskers
(11–0) (9–2)
22 15
Head coach: 
Danny Ford		 Head coach: 
Tom Osborne
APCoaches
11
APCoaches
44
1234 Total
Clemson 66100 22
Nebraska 7008 15
Date January 1, 1982
Season 1981
Stadium Orange Bowl
Location Miami, Florida
MVP Homer Jordan (QB, Clemson)
Jeff Davis         (LB, Clemson)
Favorite Nebraska by 4½ points [1]
Attendance 72,748
United States TV coverage
Network NBC
Announcers Don Criqui and John Brodie

The 1982 edition of the Orange Bowl was played on January 1, 1982, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.[1][2] It featured the Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference and the top-ranked and undefeated Clemson Tigers of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Led by head coach Danny Ford, Clemson came into the game unbeaten at 11–0 and ranked #1, attempting to win its first national championship.[3] Nebraska had started the 1981 season poorly, but then won their next eight games to emerge at 9–2 and fourth in the polls. Earlier in the day, #2 Georgia and #3 Alabama had both lost (24–20 to #8 Pittsburgh and 14–12 to #6 Texas respectively), theoretically opening the door for Clemson or Nebraska to claim the national title with a victory. Nebraska was favored by 4½ points.[1]

Teams

Clemson

Nebraska

Game

Clemson scored first on a 41-yard field goal by Donald Igwebuike to take a 3–0 lead. Nebraska then succeeded with a trick play, as running back Mike Rozier threw a 25-yard halfback pass to Anthony Steels for a touchdown and a 7–3 lead. Igwebuike kicked a 37-yard field goal to pull Clemson to 7–6. Following a Nebraska fumble, Cliff Austin scored on a 2-yard touchdown run as and Clemson led 12–7 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Clemson's Homer Jordan threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Perry Tuttle and Igwebuike added another field goal, this time a 36-yarder, and Clemson extended their lead to fifteen points at 22–7.

In the fourth quarter, Roger Craig scored for the Huskers on a 26-yard touchdown run. Following a penalty on the first two-point try, Craig then scored from the eight on a two-point conversion attempt which closed the margin to 22–15. The Huskers got the ball back, but penalties ultimately killed the drive and forced them to punt the ball back to Clemson; the Tigers maintained possession for the bulk of the last six minutes and secured their first national championship in college football.[1][3] They remained atop both final polls.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Papanek, John (January 11, 1982). "Year of the Tigers". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
  2. ↑ "Clemson locks up national title on 22-15 victory". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. January 2, 1982. p. 10.
  3. 1 2 "Clemson peels off a national title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 2, 1982. p. 1B.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.