Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted sp ...
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. The competing teams were the
Navy Midshipmen
The Navy Midshipmen are the athletic teams that represent the United States Naval Academy. The academy sponsors 33 varsity sports teams and 12 club sport teams.football independent, and the
Houston Cougars
The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education instr ...
, representing 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 ...
(SWC). Houston dominated both sides of the ball in their 35–0
shutout
In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball.
Shutouts are usuall ...
of the Midshipmen. This would prove to be Houston's last bowl game win for almost three decades, until the
2008 Armed Forces Bowl
The 2008 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl was the sixth edition of the annual post-season college football bowl game, and was a bowl rematch of a regular season game between the Houston Cougars against the Air Force Falcons that was won by Air ...
, when the Cougars finally snapped an eight-game bowl losing streak.
Teams
Houston
The 1980 Houston squad finished their regular season 6–5 and tied for second place in the Southwest Conference. The Cougars lost to Arizona State, Miami (FL), Baylor,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and
Rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
. They accepted an invitation to play in the Garden State Bowl against Navy on November 15. The appearance was the first for Houston in the Garden State Bowl and their 10th overall bowl appearance.
Navy
The 1980 Navy squad finished their regular season 8–3. The Midshipmen lost to
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
,
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
and Notre Dame. They accepted an invitation to play in the Garden State Bowl against Houston on November 15 following their victory over Georgia Tech. The appearance was the first for Navy in the Garden State Bowl and their 8th overall bowl appearance.
Game summary
After recovering a Navy fumble on their first drive, Houston scored their first of five rushing touchdowns when Terald Clark ran it in from one-yard out. After Leo Truss blocked a punt, the Cougars drove 43-yards for their second first-quarter touchdown on a one-yard Terry Elston run. Early in the second quarter, Navy had their best scoring opportunity of the afternoon after a Houston turnover. However, Steve Fehr missed a 27-yard
field goal
A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...
and Houston retained their shutout. The Cougars then extended their lead to 28–0 at halftime after touchdown runs of 16 and 26 yards by David Barrett and then Clark. Clark then scored the final points of the game in the third quarter after Clark's third touchdown of the day on a two-yard run. For his 163 yards and three touchdowns, Terald Clark was named the MVP of the game.