The 1980 Astro-Bluebonnet 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

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

between the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

and the Carolina Tar Heels.

Background

The Tar Heels were champions of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

for the second time in four seasons and the first under Dick Crum. This was their second straight bowl game appearance and first Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl. Texas was in their first Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl since 1975 after finishing fourth in the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

Game summary

Amos Lawrence Amos Lawrence (April 22, 1786 – December 31, 1852) was an American merchant and philanthropist. Biography Amos Lawrence was born in Groton, Massachusetts. Lawrence attended elementary school in Groton and briefly attended the Groton Academy. ...

gave the Tar Heels an early lead on a 59-yard touchdown run. The Tar Heels decided to go for a two-point conversion, which failed, keeping the score at 6–0. Mike Luck gave the Longhorns a 7–6 lead on his touchdown run in the second quarter. Kelvin Bryant gave North Carolina the lead on his go-ahead touchdown run to make it 13–7 at halftime. After allowing 224 yards and 11 first downs in the first half, the Tar Heel defense stiffened up and allowed only two first downs and 36 yards in the second half. They forced a fumbled punt snap later converted into a field goal by Jeff Hayes to make it 16–7 while closing out the scoring and securing the Tar Heel win.

Aftermath

The Tar Heels did not return to the Bluebonnet Bowl before its discontinuation and have not won an ACC title since 1980. The Longhorns returned to the Bluebonnet Bowl in 1985 and 1987.

Statistics

References

Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl Bluebonnet Bowl North Carolina Tar Heels football bowl games Texas Longhorns football bowl games Astro-Bluebonnet Astro-Bluebonnet 1980 in Houston {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub