The 1978 Peach Bowl was a

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 ...

postseason

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between the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname is also used as colloquial designation ...

and the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...

Background

Purdue finished 2nd in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, in their first bowl game since

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. Georgia Tech was in their first bowl game since 1972. Due to the game being played on Christmas Day, a ticket drive had to be set up by Rodgers' wife.

Game summary

Purdue took the lead with 10:40 in the first quarter and scored twice more in the next four minutes. Georgia Tech did not score until 9:35 remained in the half, after they trailed 28-0. Georgia Tech scored twice with less than three minutes remaining to narrow the lead from 41-7 to 41-21, but the game had already been decided. Quarterback Mark Herrmann threw 12-of-24 for two touchdowns (and two interceptions) and rushed for one more in a convincing 41-21 victory over Georgia Tech. Purdue's defense forced two first-half turnovers. This was the second 9-win season in Purdue history.

First Quarter

*Purdue: Jones 3-yard run (Sovereen kick), 10:40 *Purdue: Jones 8-yard run (Sovereen kick), 9:47 *Purdue: Smith 10-yard pass from Herrmann (Sovereen kick), 6:04

Second Quarter

*Purdue: Herrmann 2-yard run (Sovereen kick), 13:04 *Georgia Tech: Lee 1-yard run (Smith kick), 9:35 *Purdue: Macon 1-yard run (kick failed), 3:58

Fourth Quarter

*Purdue: Burrell 12-yard pass from Herrmann (Sovereen kick), 12:38 *Georgia Tech: Moore 3-yard pass from Kelley (Hill run), 2:40 *Georgia Tech: Hill 31-yard pass from Kelley (pass failed), 1:15

Aftermath

Purdue won two more bowl games before Young's departure in 1981. Georgia Tech waited until 1985 to make their next bowl appearance.

Statistics

References

{{Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bowl game navbox

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

Peach Bowl Purdue Boilermakers football bowl games Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football bowl games 1978 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state) December 1978 sports events in the United States