The 1981 Orange Bowl was the 47th

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of the

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, played at the

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 in th ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, on Thursday, January 1. Part of the 1980–81 bowl game season, it matched the fourth-ranked

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...

of the

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and the

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Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...

. Favored Oklahoma rallied to win by a point, 18–17.

Teams

The game was a rematch of the previous year, and both teams were on seven-game winning streaks.

Oklahoma

The Sooners lost two non-conference games, to

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

at home, and

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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 ...

in Dallas. They were champions of the

for the eighth consecutive year. This was Oklahoma's twelfth Orange Bowl

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, fourth consecutive, and fifth in six seasons.

Florida State

The Seminoles' only blemish was a one-point loss at rival

in late September. This was Florida State's second major bowl

, after playing in last year's edition.

Game summary

After a scoreless first quarter, Ricky Williams put Florida State ahead with his touchdown run, and Oklahoma countered with a long field goal by Mike Keeling; the Seminoles led 7–3 at halftime. To start the second half, Oklahoma drove 78 yards on twelve plays, and halfback

David Overstreet David Arthur Overstreet (September 20, 1958 – June 24, 1984) was a running back in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played for coach Barry Switzer and the Oklahoma Sooners as a halfback out of the wishb ...

scored from four yards out to take a 10–7 lead. A short field goal by

Bill Capece William George Capece (born April 1, 1959, in Miami, Florida) is a former professional American football player who played placekicker for three seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He attended Chaminade High School in Hollywood, Florida along w ...

tied the game at ten for the last tally of the third quarter. Four minutes into the final quarter, cornerback Bobby Butler recovered a botched punt snap in the end zone to give the Seminoles a 17–10 lead. With 3:19 remaining, Oklahoma's fate laid in the hands of senior quarterback

J. C. Watts Julius Caesar Watts Jr. (born November 18, 1957) is an American politician, clergyman, and athlete. Watts was a college football quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners and later played professionally in the Canadian Football League. He served in t ...

, who had turned the ball over three times on fumbles. He led the Sooners on a 78-yard drive, culminating with an eleven-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver

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with 1:33 remaining. Down by a point, Oklahoma opted for the

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 ...

attempt, and Watts completed a pass to tight end Forrest Valora in the end zone for a one-point lead. Florida State tried to counter back, but Capece's 62-yard field goal attempt fell short, and the Sooners were victorious.

Scoring

;First quarter: :''No scoring'' ;Second quarter: *Florida State – Ricky Williams 10-yard run (

kick) *Oklahoma – Mike Keeling 53-yard field goal ;Third quarter: *Oklahoma –

4-yard run (Keeling kick) *Florida State – Capece 19-yard field goal ;Fourth quarter: *Florida State – Bobby Butler fumble recovery of punt snap (Capece kick) *Oklahoma –

11-yard pass from

(Forrest Valora pass from Watts) :

Statistics

: :

Aftermath

Oklahoma climbed to third in the final AP poll and Florida State fell to fifth. The Sooners' next Orange Bowl was four years later, the first of four consecutive; the Seminoles did not return for

twelve years Twelve or 12 may refer to: * 12 (number) * December, the twelfth and final month of the year Years * 12 BC * AD 12 * 1912 * 2012 Film * ''Twelve'' (2010 film), based on the 2002 novel * ''12'' (2007 film), by Russian director and actor Nikita ...

References

{{Oklahoma Sooners bowl game navbox

Orange Bowl Florida State Seminoles football bowl games Oklahoma Sooners football bowl games January 1981 sports events in the United States

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...