1980 Fiesta Bowl

The 1980 Fiesta Bowl featured the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Penn State Nittany Lions. This was the last Fiesta Bowl played in December until 1997.

Background

Penn State had played three ranked opponents during the season (#3 Nebraska, #9 Missouri, and #4 Pittsburgh), and had only won the second one. They were looking to beat a ranked opponent to finish their season in their first Fiesta Bowl appearance since 1977. Ohio State had finished 2nd in the Big Ten Conference after losing to Michigan which dropped them from #5 to #11. This was their first Fiesta Bowl appearance.

Game summary

Curt Warner would start the scoring with a 64-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, giving the Nittany Lions the early lead. Not to be deterred, Art Schlichter threw a touchdown pass to Doug Donley, but the extra point failed, narrowing the lead to only 7-6. But the Buckeyes responded again with a Gary Williams touchdown catch from Schlichter to give the Buckeyes the lead, though the PAT missed once again. Schlichter threw another touchdown pass to Donley to increase the lead to 19-7 (the PAT being successful this time). Herb Menhardt kicked a 38-yard field goal to make it 19-10 at halftime. It seemed Schlichter and his team were poised to win the game, due to him throwing 15 of 22 for 244 yards and three touchdowns while Penn State had just one early touchdown. But the second half is when the Nittany Lions came alive. Todd Blackledge, despite throwing 8 for 22 for only 117 yards the whole game, scored early in the third quarter on a 3-yard run to narrow the lead to 19-17. Schlichter went 5 for 13 in the second half for 58 yards with two interceptions and zero touchdowns as the Buckeyes were shut out. In the fourth quarter, the Nittany Lions turned on the running game, as Jonathan Williams scored on a four-yard touchdown run that gave them the lead, and a few minutes later Booker Moore piled on with a 37-yard touchdown run as the two teams played to a standstill from then on as Penn State won 31-19.^[1]

Aftermath

The Nittany Lions would go to two more Fiesta Bowls before the decade ended, winning one of their two titles at Tempe. The Buckeyes would wait six more years for their next Fiesta Bowl appearance, in 1986.

Statistics

Statistics	PSU	OSU
First Downs	22	23
Yards Rushing	351	110
Yards Passing	177	302
Return Yards	74	10
Total Yards	602	442
Punts-Average	5-40.8	7-38.7
Fumbles-Lost	1-1	1-0
Interceptions	0	2
Penalties-Yards	1-10	2-30

References

↑ https://www.fiestabowl.org/fiesta-bowl/fiesta-bowl-game-history/game-results-recaps/1980-fiesta-bowl.php

1980–81 NCAA football bowl game season

Independence (Dec. 13) Garden State (Dec. 14) Holiday (Dec. 19) Tangerine (Dec. 20) Fiesta (Dec. 26) Hall of Fame Classic (Dec. 27) Sun (Dec. 27) Liberty (Dec. 27) Gator (Dec. 29) Astro-Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) Cotton (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) Rose (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Peach (Jan. 2)

Fiesta Bowl Game

History & conference tie-ins	History Sun Devil Stadium University of Phoenix Stadium College Football Playoff Broadcasters College Football Playoff At-Large Group of Five Bid

Games	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1997 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2014 2016 2016

Notes	The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1996, 1999, and 2003. There was a Fiesta Bowl in January and December in 1997, 2014, and 2016. The game will be a College Football Playoff semifinal in its December 2016 edition.

Ohio State Buckeyes bowl games

Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game.

Penn State Nittany Lions bowl games

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