The 1976 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl was the 18th

edition Edition may refer to: * Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies * Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run * Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text * Edition Recor ...

of the

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game, played at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, on December 31. Part of the 1976–77 bowl game season, It matched the thirteenth-ranked

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

of the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

and the #9 Texas Tech Red Raiders of the Southwest Conference (SWC). Down by ten points in the second half, Nebraska rallied to win 27–24.

Teams

Both teams were making their only appearances in the Astro- Bluebonnet Bowl; this edition (ninth as "Astro-") was played on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

at 7 p.m. CST. The

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

had been played in this time slot the previous four years, but moved back to

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this season.

Nebraska

The Cornhusers started the season ranked first, but a tie to

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

dropped them to #8. Five straight victories made them rise back to third before a matchup with The home loss dropped them to ninth, with victories over Kansas and #13 Oklahoma State doing nothing to make them rise nor fall. Losses to

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

and dropped them to thirteenth, with a lopsided win at Hawaii ending the regular season on a high note. The Huskers tied for fourth in the Big Eight Conference (with Iowa State) at 4–3 in a year where Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Colorado all won a share of the conference title at 5–2. This was Nebraska's sixth bowl game of the decade along with their seventh straight bowl appearance.

Texas Tech

The Red Raiders won their first eight games, rising from unranked to fifth in the nation with wins over and being highlight wins. However, a loss to #9 Houston at home cost them a chance at an undefeated season, though wins at Arkansas and meant that the Red Raiders won a share of the SWC, their first conference title since

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

. This was Texas Tech's fifth bowl appearance of the decade. Nebraska 27 Texas tech 24

Scoring

;First quarter: *Nebraska –

Rick Berns Richard Rickey Berns (born February 5, 1956) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 1979 NFL Draft and later played for the Los Angel ...

1-yard run (Al Eveland kick), 5:42 remaining *Texas Tech – Brian Hall 28-yard field goal, 1:22 ;Second quarter: *Texas Tech – Billy Taylor 14-yard pass from

Rodney Allison Rodney Allison (born January 29, 1956) is an American former college football player and coach. He is currently the director of the Texas Tech letterman's organization, the Double T Varsity Club. He was the former head football coach of the Unive ...

(Hall kick), 12:08 *Texas Tech – Taylor 11-yard pass from Allison (Hall kick), 2:14 *Nebraska – Mark Dufresne 22-yard pass from

Vince Ferragamo Vince Anthony Ferragamo (born April 24, 1954) is an American former gridiron football player. He played professionally as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL). Early years Born in Torrance, ...

(Eveland kick), 0:33 ;Third quarter: *Texas Tech – Taylor 8-yard run (Hall kick), 11:32 *Nebraska – Berns 18-yard run (kick failed), 9:19 *Nebraska – Chuck Malito 23-yard pass from Ferragamo (Eveland kick), 7:01 ;Fourth quarter: :''No scoring'' : Reg Gast recovered a Red Raider fumble with 1:34 left in the game to seal the game for Nebraska, who rallied twice from ten-point

Statistics

: :

Aftermath

The teams switched places in the final AP poll, Nebraska climbed to ninth and Texas Tech fell to thirteenth. The bowl win was Nebraska's seventh in the last eight seasons, and the Huskers had regular bowl appearances for the rest of Osborne's tenure. only reached three bowl games combined in rest of the decade and the next one. Neither returned to the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl after this game.

References

{{Texas Tech Red Raiders bowl game navbox Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl Bluebonnet Bowl Nebraska Cornhuskers football bowl games Texas Tech Red Raiders football bowl games 1976 in sports in Texas December 1976 sports events in the United States