The 1982 Hall of Fame Classic, part of the 1982–83 bowl game season, was the sixth annual contest and took place on December 31 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The competing teams were the Vanderbilt Commodores, representing the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and the Air Force Falcons, representing the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Down 28–17 entering the fourth quarter, 19 unanswered points gave Air Force the 36–28 come-from-behind victory.

Background

Air Force finished the regular season at 7–5, with losses to Tulsa, Texas Tech, New Mexico,

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

, and Hawaii. They accepted an invitation to play in the Hall of Fame Classic against Vanderbilt following their upset of

Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...

on November 20, then lost at Hawaii the following week. It was the fourth bowl appearance for Air Force, the first in twelve years, and their first in the Hall of Fame Classic.

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 ...

was the original selection, but became ineligible for bowl participation following their last-play loss to rival

Cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

, which dropped their record to 5–6. The 1982 Vanderbilt squad finished the regular season 8–3. The Commodores lost to North Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia. They accepted an invitation to play in the Hall of Fame Classic following their 27–16 victory over on November 20. It was the third bowl appearance for Vanderbilt, the first in eight years, and their first in the Hall of Fame Classic.

Game summary

Vanderbilt got on the scoreboard first after Whit Taylor threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Norman Jordan to give the Commodores a 7–0 lead. Air Force responded with a one-yard Marty Louthan touchdown later in the first and then on a 19-yard Mike Brown run early in the second to take a 14–7 lead. The Commodores then scored a pair of second-quarter touchdown passes by Taylor to take a 21–14 halftime lead. In the third, the Falcons scored on a 21-yard Sean Pavlich

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 the Commodores on Jordan's third touchdown reception of the evening to give Vanderbilt a 28–17 lead entering the fourth quarter. In the fourth, Air Force scored 19 unanswered points on a trio of touchdown runs to secure the 36–28 victory. For their performances, Vanderbilt quarterback Whit Taylor and Air Force defensive end Carl Dieudonne were named co-MVPs of the game. :

References

{{Vanderbilt Commodores bowl game navbox Hall of Fame Classic Bowl All-American Bowl Air Force Falcons football bowl games Vanderbilt Commodores football bowl games 1982 in sports in Alabama December 1982 sports events in the United States