The 1978 Sugar Bowl was the 44th

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of the college football

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, played at the

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New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

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, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1977–78 bowl game season, it matched the third-ranked

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a me ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) and the #9

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tre ...

of 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 ...

. The teams were led by their respective hall of fame head coaches, and who were the winningest active coaches. Slightly Alabama won in New Year's Day was on Sunday in 1978, and the major college bowl games were played the following day.

Teams

Alabama

Alabama finished the regular season as SEC champions with a record of the only loss was at

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in week two. On November 19, bowl officials announced that Alabama would face Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. The appearance marked the eighth for Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and their 31st overall bowl appearance. It was the Tide's second game against a Big Ten opponent, the first was at

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in the

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regular season.

Ohio State

Ohio State finished the regular season as co-champions of the Big Ten with a record of Their only defeats were to Oklahoma by a point on a disputed late field goal in week three and at

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Michigan Wolverines to close the regular season. On November 19, bowl officials announced that Michigan would play in the Rose Bowl and that Ohio State would face Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The appearance marked the first for Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, and their 12th overall bowl appearance. It was the Buckeyes' first game against an SEC team when they defeated

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in the season opener.

Game summary

The game kicked off at around 1 pm CST, as did the Cotton Bowl. After a scoreless first quarter, Alabama scored on a one-yard

Tony Nathan Tony Curtis Nathan (born December 14, 1956) is a former American football running back. Nathan played college football at the University of Alabama and was selected in the third round (61st overall) of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, ...

touchdown run to cap a 10-play, 76-yard drive. On their next offensive possession, Bama scored again on a 27-yard

Jeff Rutledge Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge (born January 22, 1957) is a former American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football at Alabama, where he was the team's starting quarterba ...

touchdown pass to Bruce Bolton to take a 13–0 lead at the half. In the third quarter, Rutledge had his second touchdown on a 3-yard pass to Rick Neal. Following a successful

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

pass to Nathan, Alabama led 21–0, the score at the quarter's end. The Buckeyes scored their only points of the game early in the fourth when Rod Gerald threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jim Harrell, but failed on the two-point try and the score was 21–6. Bama closed the game with a pair of touchdown runs, the first from one yard by Major Ogilvie, and the second by Johnny Davis on a seven-yard run to make the final score 35–6.

Statistics

: :

Aftermath

While #3 Alabama won easily, top-ranked

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and #2 Oklahoma were both upset by large margins in their bowl games. Fifth-ranked Notre Dame's rout of #1 Texas in the gained them the top spot in both final polls; Alabama was the runner-up and

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...

winner

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

was third. Alabama returned to the Sugar Bowl the following year and won the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

. This was the final major bowl game for Woody Hayes; Ohio State played in the Gator Bowl in December 1978, his last game as head coach.

References

{{Ohio State Buckeyes bowl game navbox Sugar Bowl Sugar Bowl Alabama Crimson Tide football bowl games Ohio State Buckeyes football bowl games Sugar Bowl Sugar Bowl