College football game
The
1977 Sugar Bowl
was the 43rd
edition
of the
college football
bowl game
, played at the
Louisiana Superdome
in
New Orleans
,
Louisiana
, on Saturday, January 1. Part of the
1976?77 bowl game
season, it matched the
top-ranked
Pittsburgh Panthers
and the #5
Georgia Bulldogs
, champions of the
Southeastern Conference
(SEC).
Independent
Pittsburgh
won 27?3,
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
and were consensus
national champions
.
[7]
[8]
After four editions on
New Year's Eve
, the Sugar Bowl returned to
New Year's Day
this year.
Teams
[
edit
]
Pittsburgh
[
edit
]
After an 8?4 season in
1975
, Pittsburgh was ranked ninth in the preseason AP Poll in 1976, with their opener at #11
Notre Dame
; they won
31?10,
[9]
and the Panthers rose to third in the next poll. When
Michigan
lost to
Purdue
on November 6, the Panthers climbed to first. Pittsburgh beat
West Virginia
in the
Backyard Brawl
and
Penn State
at
Three Rivers Stadium
to finish the regular season undefeated, and were invited to the Sugar Bowl for the chance to win the national championship. This was the first time the Panthers had made bowl appearances in consecutive seasons since
1955
?
1956
(last playing in the Sugar Bowl in January
1956
).
Senior halfback
Tony Dorsett
rushed for 1,948 yards in the regular season,
[10]
and became the first Panther to win the
Heisman Trophy
.
Georgia
[
edit
]
Georgia had started
4?0,
including a
21?0
shutout of
Alabama
, but a four-point loss at
Ole Miss
dropped them from #4 to #11. But the Bulldogs finished the season with six straight victories to get back to #4 along with being champion of the
Southeastern Conference
, their first SEC title since
1968
. This was Georgia's fourth straight bowl appearance and first Sugar Bowl since January
1969
. The Bulldogs had played just one game on artificial turf in the regular season, a loss at
Ole Miss
.
[11]
This was the first year in which the SEC was the official conference tie-in to the Sugar Bowl.
[12]
Game summary
[
edit
]
The game kicked off shortly before 12 noon
CST
, more than an hour ahead of the
Cotton Bowl
.
[13]
Pittsburgh took control early, driving 80 yards in 12 plays that culminated with a touchdown run by quarterback
Matt Cavanaugh
. Seven minutes into the second quarter, he completed a pass to Gordon Jones for 59 yards for a touchdown to make
it 14?0.
Near the end of the quarter,
Tony Dorsett
scored from eleven yards out and it was 21?0 at halftime. Georgia's a
6?2 defense
had focused on Dorsett exclusively, which opened up the Panthers' passing game, as the receivers were being given one-on-one coverage. Pittsburgh took advantage, passing for 185 yards in the first half while Dorsett was held to 65 yards; he rushed for 137 yards in the second half.
A Pittsburgh fumble on the first drive of the second half gave the ball to Georgia at the Panther 26, but the Bulldogs could only forward it to the seven; Allan Leavitt kicked a 25-yard field goal for Georgia's only points of the game. Panther kicker Carson Long countered with a 42-yarder to make it 24?3 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, he kicked another from 31 yards to make the final score
27?3.
Dorsett rushed for 202 yards on 32 carries (6.3 avg.), scoring one touchdown. Running back (and future Georgia head coach)
Ray Goff
rushed for 76 yards on 17 carries. Cavanaugh was 10-of-18 for 192 yards for one touchdown and was named
game MVP
. Georgia's option quarterback
Ray Goff
was replaced by
Matt Robinson
, who completed just two of fifteen attempts for 33 yards with three interceptions.
[14]
[15]
[16]
With the win, Pittsburgh was declared
national champions
by
both major polls
,
[7]
their first since
1937
.
[8]
Scoring
[
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]
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
- Georgia ? Allan Leavitt, 25-yard field goal
- Pittsburgh ? Long, 42-yard field goal
Fourth quarter
- Pittsburgh ? Long, 31-yard field goal
Statistics
[
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]
Statistics
|
Pittsburgh
|
Georgia
|
First downs
|
24
|
14
|
Rushing yards
|
66?288
|
40?135
|
Passing yards
|
192
|
46
|
Passing
|
10?18?0
|
3?22?4
|
Total offense
|
84?480
|
62?181
|
Punts?average
|
5?36.8
|
8?42.1
|
Fumbles?lost
|
2?1
|
4?2
|
Turnovers
|
1
|
6
|
Penalties?yards
|
6?66
|
4?30
|
- Source:
[3]
[4]
[5]
Aftermath
[
edit
]
Announced weeks earlier,
[17]
[18]
Majors left Pittsburgh for his alma mater
Tennessee
after the game,
[10]
and this remains Pittsburgh's most recent national championship. The Panthers returned once to the Sugar Bowl, while Georgia has returned six times; the two teams met in the Sugar Bowl five years later in January
1982
.
During the 1970s, the top-ranked team won its
bowl game
only three times: Pittsburgh joined
Nebraska
(
1971
)
and
USC
(
1972
).
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Franke, Russ (December 31, 1976).
"Sugar is sweetest, Majors, Pitt insist"
.
Pittsburgh Press
. p. 17.
- ^
"Dorsett, dome double trouble"
.
Milwaukee Sentinel
. UPI. January 1, 1977. p. 2, part 2.
- ^
a
b
"Pitt stomps Georgia"
.
Reading Eagle
. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. January 2, 1977. p. 63.
- ^
a
b
Franke, Russ (January 2, 1977).
"Pitt: How sweet it is!"
.
Pittsburgh Press
. p. D1.
- ^
a
b
"Majors agrees: 'Pittsburgh's No. 1'
"
.
Spokesman-Review
. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 2, 1977. p. D1.
- ^
Underwood, John (January 10, 1977).
"Marching through Georgia"
.
Sports Illustrated
. p. 14.
- ^
a
b
"Pitt (surprise) voted grid title"
.
Eugene Register-Guard
. (Oregon). wire service reports. January 4, 1977. p. 3C.
- ^
a
b
Nissenson, Herschel (January 4, 1977).
"AP names Panthers champions"
.
Reading Eagle
. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. p. 24.
- ^
"Dorsett does it big again as Pitt routs Notre Dame"
.
Eugene Register-Guard
. (Oregon). wire service. September 12, 1976. p. 6B.
- ^
a
b
"Dogs vs. Dorsett"
.
Spokesman-Review
. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 1, 1977. p. 11.
- ^
"No. 1 ranking on line"
.
Victoria Advocate
. (Texas). Associated Press. January 1, 1977. p. 1B.
- ^
"1977 ? How They Got Here / Allstate Sugar Bowl"
. Archived from
the original
on March 5, 2016.
- ^
"Sports on TV"
.
Victoria Advocate
. (Texas). Associated Press. January 1, 1977. p. 2B.
- ^
Attner, Paul (January 2, 1977).
"Pitt tears up Bulldogs, awaits collegiate title"
.
Lewiston Morning Tribune
. (Idaho). (Washington Post). p. 1B.
- ^
"1977 Game Recap / Allstate Sugar Bowl"
. Archived from
the original
on December 13, 2009.
- ^
"Bowl History - #1 Pittsburg tops Dogs in '77 Sugar Bowl"
(PDF)
.
grfx.cstv.com
. p. 82. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on December 22, 2015.
- ^
Smith, Howard (December 4, 1976).
"Johnny Majors going back home"
.
Reading Eagle
. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. p. 7.
- ^
Axelrod, Phil (December 4, 1976).
"Majors-players: tearless farewell"
.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
. p. 6.
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History & conference tie-ins
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Games
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Notes
|
- The 2006 game took place in
Atlanta, Georgia
due to
Hurricane Katrina
.
- The game was also the national title game for either the
Bowl Coalition
,
Bowl Alliance
, or
Bowl Championship Series
in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004.
- There was a Sugar Bowl in January and December in 1972, 1995 and 2022.
- The game was a
College Football Playoff
semifinal in its 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2024 editions.
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