The 1982 Liberty Bowl was a postseason college football

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 Subdivi ...

held on December 29, 1982, in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

, at

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (originally named Memphis Memorial Stadium, and later Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium) is a football stadium located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds in the Midtown area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The s ...

. The 24th edition of the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic Cit ...

featured the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic facili ...

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 List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...

and the

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 m ...

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). Alabama won the game, 21–15. Alabama entered the game with a 7–4 record, having lost their final three regular season games. The team was led by coach

Paul "Bear" Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

, who was coaching his final game after twenty-five years with the program, announcing he would retire and hand over control of the team to

Ray Perkins Walter Ray Perkins (November 6, 1941 – December 9, 2020) was an American football coach and player. He played as a wide receiver for the University of Alabama and Baltimore Colts. He later worked as a football coach for 28 years, including st ...

following the game. Bryant's retirement made the Liberty Bowl one of the most covered games of the season as many news stations and newspapers sent reporters to cover the game. Illinois was led by head coach Mike White and quarterback

Tony Eason Charles Carroll "Tony" Eason IV (born October 8, 1959) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. Taken 15th overall by the Patriots in t ...

. The team was making their first bowl appearance since 1964, having won each of their previous bowls.

Game

In the first quarter, Ricky Moore began the scoring as he punched in a 4-yard touchdown run to give Alabama an early lead. Illinois scored their own touchdown in the second quarter as Joe Curtis scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, but kicker Mike Bass missed the extra point which gave Alabama a 7–6 halftime lead. Wide receiver Jesse Bendross extended Alabama's lead when he scored on an 8-yard touchdown run off a reverse. Illinois rallied behind quarterback

following a touchdown pass to Oliver Williams and a 23-yard field goal from Mike Bass. Craig "Touchdown" Turner scored the final points in the fourth quarter for Alabama from a 1-yard touchdown run. Defensive back

Jeremiah Castille Jeremiah Castille ( ; born January 15, 1961 in Columbus, Georgia) is a former American professional football cornerback from the University of Alabama, Castille was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 1983 NFL Draft ...

was named the game's MVP after intercepting three passes from

. Despite giving up 444 total offensive yards from Illinois, 423 passing yards by Eason, Alabama won the game 21–15. The Tide intercepted seven passes in this game, four from Eason and three from backup quarterback Kris Jenner. Jenner was in the game for only three plays, all of which came after Eason had to leave the game after taking a hard hit from the Alabama defense. On all three plays, Jenner attempted a pass which was intercepted. Bear Bryant finished with a collegiate record of 323 victories, 85 losses, and 17 ties. Bryant died of a heart attack January 26, 1983—exactly four weeks after the Liberty Bowl.

Scoring summary

Statistical summary

Team Statistics (Rushing-Passing-Total): UI - 21-423-444; UA - 217-130-347. Individual Statistical Leaders Rushing (Att.-Yds.-TD): UI - Curtis 7-13-1, Richard Ryles 4-10-0; UA - Moore 13-65-1, Jeff Fagan 6-38-0, Turner 11-36-1. Passing (Att.-Comp.-Int.-TD-Yds.): UI - Eason 55-35-4-1-423, Kris Jenner 3-0-3-0-0; UA - Walter Lewis 13-7-2-0-130. Receiving (No.-Yds.-TD): UI - Mike Martin 8-127-0, Williams 7-84-1, Tim Brewster 6-55-0; UA - Jesse Bendross 3-51-0, Joey Jones 2-60-0.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberty Bowl, 1982 1982–83 NCAA football bowl games

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

1982 in sports in Tennessee December 1982 sports events in the United States