College football game
The
1978 Orange Bowl
was the 44th
edition
of the
college football
bowl game
, played at the
Orange Bowl
in
Miami
,
Florida
, on Monday, January 2. Part of the
1977?78 bowl game
season, it matched the
sixth-ranked
Arkansas Razorbacks
of the
Southwest Conference
(SWC) against the heavily-favored #2
Oklahoma Sooners
of the
Big Eight Conference
.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
The Razorbacks were
10?1,
but were heavy underdogs. Earlier in the day, top-ranked
Texas
and their
Heisman Trophy
-winning
running back
Earl Campbell
had lost the
Cotton Bowl
38?10
to
#5
Notre Dame
(led by quarterback
Joe Montana
). Oklahoma now had the inside track to the national championship, if they beat Arkansas. In the regular season, Texas defeated Oklahoma and Arkansas on consecutive weekends en route to its
11?0 record.
New Year's Day
was on Sunday in 1978, and the major college bowl games were played the following day.
Teams
[
edit
]
Both teams had only one loss, to top-ranked
Texas
.
Arkansas
[
edit
]
To complicate matters for Arkansas, first-year head coach
Lou Holtz
suspended three players prior to the game for team violations.
[1]
Two of those players, running back
Ben Cowins
and wide receiver Donny Bobo, had accounted for 78% of the Hogs' points.
[5]
Oklahoma was led by
redshirt
sophomore halfback
Billy Sims
, a future Heisman Trophy winner, and on defense by
safety
Darrol Ray
and
linebacker
Daryl Hunt
.
Although the suspended Arkansas players protested, Holtz refused to back down and the suspensions stood. Already considered a heavy underdog to Oklahoma, with the loss of those starters Arkansas was expected to give little competition in the game. Arkansas was an 18-point underdog prior to the suspensions. After the suspensions, they were given as 24-point underdogs by
Las Vegas
oddsmakers.
[6]
The Orange Bowl would likely decide the national championship; it did, but not in the way that most expected.
[7]
This was their first
appearance
in the Orange Bowl.
Oklahoma
[
edit
]
The Sooners' only loss was by seven points to Texas in Dallas in early October; this was their ninth
appearance
in the Orange Bowl.
Game summary
[
edit
]
Backup running back
Roland Sales
started for Arkansas in the place of Cowins. With Sales doing most of the running of the ball, Arkansas out-rushed Oklahoma 126 yards to 116 yards in the first half, with Sims fumbling the ball early in the first quarter causing the Razorbacks to recover on the Oklahoma 9 yard line. That resulted in a Sales touchdown (followed by a PAT kicker
Steve Little
). Another Oklahoma fumble by Kenny King resulted in another Arkansas touchdown rushed in by Hog quarterback
Ron Calcagni
in the first quarter. In the second half, Sales rushed for another touchdown, Brian White rushed for a touchdown and Little kicked a
field goal
. A ferocious Arkansas defense, led by
defensive tackle
Dan Hampton
, built a
24?0
lead after three quarters. Oklahoma scored early in the fourth, but the
two-point conversion
attempt failed.
[5]
Sales rushed 22 times for 205 yards, an Orange Bowl record; he also caught four passes for 52 yards and rushed for two
touchdowns
. Arkansas defeated Oklahoma 31?6. Sales' Orange Bowl rushing record stood for twenty years, until broken by
Ahman Green
(206 yards in
1998
). Sales and Arkansas teammate Reggie Freeman were named MVPs for the game. Arkansas was third in
both final polls
, behind Notre Dame (Holtz' future employer) and
Alabama
.
[8]
The halftime show was a presentation of the
Main Street Electrical Parade
, one of only two times the parade has taken place outside a
Disney park
.
[9]
Scoring
[
edit
]
- First quarter
- Second quarter
- No scoring
- Third quarter
- Arkansas ? Little 32-yard FG
- Arkansas ? Sales 4-yard run (Little kick)
- Fourth quarter
- Source:
[10]
Statistics
[
edit
]
Statistics
|
Arkansas
|
Oklahoma
|
First Downs
|
22
|
19
|
Rushes?yards
|
60?317
|
49?230
|
Passing yards
|
90
|
80
|
Passes (C?A?I)
|
7?12?0
|
7?14?1
|
Total Offense
|
72?407
|
63?310
|
Punts?average
|
4?40.5
|
5?44.4
|
Fumbles?lost
|
2?1
|
4?3
|
Turnovers
|
1
|
4
|
Penalties?yards
|
7?50
|
5?25
|
- Source:
[10]
Aftermath
[
edit
]
Arkansas climbed to third in the
final AP poll
and Oklahoma fell to seventh.
[11]
[12]
The Sooners returned the
following year
and defeated conference
rival
Nebraska
. The Razorbacks' only other Orange Bowl was a rematch
eight years later
, a 42?8 loss to
Oklahoma
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Nissenson, Herschel (January 2, 1978).
"Orange: the bookies' nightmare"
.
Lewiston Morning Tribune
. (Idaho). Associated Press. p. 3B.
- ^
"Arkansas rips Sooners' chances for national title"
.
Milwaukee Journal
. AP, UPI. January 3, 1978. p. 9, part 2.
- ^
"Arkansas humiliates Oklahoma"
.
Wilmington Morning Star (location=North Carolina)
. Associated Press. January 3, 1978. p. 1B.
- ^
Looney, Douglas S. (January 9, 1978).
"At last, Lou has the last laugh"
.
Sports Illustrated
. p. 10.
- ^
a
b
"News Year-by-Year: 1978"
. OrangeBowl.org. November 24, 1978
. Retrieved
October 24,
2011
.
- ^
"eCongregate.com"
. Pixeltop.org
. Retrieved
October 24,
2011
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Holtz took a stand with suspensions when he was at Arkansas | stand, suspensions, took ? Buckeyes"
. varsity.limaohio.com. December 29, 2010. Archived from
the original
on July 28, 2011
. Retrieved
October 24,
2011
.
- ^
"1978 Orange Bowl ... Arkansas 31 Oklahoma 6"
. Secblitz.com. July 16, 2008. Archived from
the original
on July 16, 2011
. Retrieved
October 24,
2011
.
- ^
Stayton, Wynton.
"1978 Orange Bowl Halftime Show - Main Street Electrical Parade"
.
youtube.com
.
- ^
a
b
"Game-by-game recaps: 1978"
(PDF)
. 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl media guide. January 2019. p. 37.
- ^
"AP, UPI agree ? it's Notre Dame"
.
St. Petersburg Times
. (Florida). AP, UPI. January 4, 1978. p. 1C.
- ^
"It might not add up, but Irish are clearly No. 1"
.
Eugene Register-Guard
. (Oregon). AP, UPI. January 4, 1978. p. 3C.
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History & conference tie-ins
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Games
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Notes
|
- The game was also the national title game (
Bowl Coalition
,
Bowl Alliance
, or
Bowl Championship Series
) in 1994, 1995, 1998, 2001, and 2005.
- There was an Orange Bowl in January and December in 1996, 2014, and 2021.
- The 2015, 2018, and 2021 (December) editions were
College Football Playoff
semifinals.
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