The 1983 Fiesta Bowl was the twelfth

edition Edition may refer to: * Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies * Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run * Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text * Edition Recor ...

of the 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 ...

, played at Sun Devil Stadium in

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

on Saturday, January 1. Part of the 1982–83 bowl game season, it matched the eleventh-ranked

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member ...

of the Pacific-10 Conference and the #12

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 Ru ...

of the Big Eight Conference. A slight underdog, Arizona State rallied in the fourth quarter to win on its home field, 32–21.

Teams

This was the first-ever meeting between these two programs.

Arizona State

The Sun Devils opened with nine wins and were ranked third, but lost to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

at home and at

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. This was ASU's sixth Fiesta Bowl

appearance Appearance may refer to: * Visual appearance, the way in which objects reflect and transmit light * Human physical appearance, what someone looks like * ''Appearances'' (film), a 1921 film directed by Donald Crisp * Appearance (philosophy), or p ...

, which remains their only one since leaving the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to mos ...

(WAC) in 1978.

Oklahoma

The Sooners' first two home games in September were losses, to

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

and USC. They won seven straight but lost to

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

on the road. This was their second

in the Fiesta Bowl.

Game summary

Televised by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, the game kicked off shortly after 11:30 p.m.

MST The Master of Studies or Master in Studies (M.St. or MSt; ) is a postgraduate degree at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of St Andrews, the Australian National University, University of Dublin and the University of Ne ...

, as did the Cotton Bowl on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. The weather was sunny and . Oklahoma scored first on a one-yard run from running back Stanley Wilson, giving the Sooners a 7–0 lead. In the second quarter, Arizona State got a field goal from kicker

Luis Zendejas Luis Fernando Zendejas (born October 22, 1961) is a Mexican former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Arena Football ...

to cut the lead to 7–3. Their defense later forced a safety, to make it 7–5. Zendejas kicked another 22-yard field goal to give Arizona State its first lead of the game at 8–7. Wilson scored on his second rushing touchdown of the game to give Oklahoma a 13–8 lead. Zendejas answered with a 54-yard field goal to cut Oklahoma's lead to 13–11 at halftime. In the third quarter,

Darryl Clack Darryl Earl Clack (born October 29, 1963) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played col ...

scored on a 15-yard run and Arizona State regained the lead at 18–13. Sooner running back Fred Sims rushed 19 yards for a touchdown, and the ensuing two-point conversion attempt was successful, giving Oklahoma a 21–18 lead. In the fourth quarter, the Sun Devils got a one-yard touchdown run from Alvin Moore to take a 25–21 lead. ASU quarterback Todd Hons threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Ron Brown to make the score 32–21. The Sun Devils hung on to post that final score. Though Arizona State won the game, Oklahoma tailback

Marcus Dupree Marcus L. Dupree (born May 22, 1964) is a former American football player. He was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where his playing in high school attracted national attention. A highly touted and sought-after college football re ...

was named the offensive MVP with 239 rushing yards on 17 carries (14.0 avg.). Amazingly, Dupree played only a little over half of the game, leaving three times due to a broken finger, an ankle injury, a rib injury, and a pulled hamstring. He set the rushing record for yards in the Fiesta Bowl, which still stands. ASU defensive lineman

Jim Jeffcoat James Wilson Jeffcoat, Jr. (born April 1, 1961) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills. He was most recently an assistant football coach for the Dallas Renegades of the ...

was the defensive MVP.

Scoring

First quarter * OU – Stanley Wilson 1-yard run (Michael Keeling kick) Second quarter * ASU –

32-yard field goal * ASU – Safety; quarterback

Kelly Phelps Kelly Phelps (born c. 1959) is a retired American football quarterback that played for the Oklahoma Sooners from 1978 to 1982. He led them to the 1983 Fiesta Bowl The 1983 Fiesta Bowl was the twelfth edition of the college football bowl game, ...

tackled in end zone * ASU – Zendejas 22-yard field goal * OU – Wilson 1-yard run (run failed) * ASU – Zendejas 54-yard field goal Third quarter * ASU –

15-yard run (Zendejas kick) * OU – Fred Sims 19-yard run (Johnny Fontenette pass from Phelps) Fourth quarter * ASU – Alvin Moore 1-yard run (Zendejas kick) * ASU – Ron Brown 52-yard pass from Todd Hons (Zendejas kick) :

Statistics

: :

Aftermath

Arizona State climbed to sixth in the final AP poll, and Oklahoma fell to sixteenth.

References

External links

Fiesta Bowl
– January 1, 1983 {{Oklahoma Sooners bowl game navbox

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pla ...

Fiesta Bowl Arizona State Sun Devils football bowl games Oklahoma Sooners football bowl games

January 1983 sports events in the United States