The 1986 Orange Bowl was the 52nd

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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 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 ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

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 Wednesday, January 1. Part of the 1985–86 bowl game season, it matched the

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and top-ranked

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

and the #3

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. Favored Oklahoma trailed early but won 25–10.

Teams

Penn State

The Nittany Lions won all eleven games, were the only undefeated team coming into this matchup and were ranked first in both polls, but were an underdog in this game. This was Penn State's first Orange Bowl

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in twelve years.

Oklahoma

The #3 Sooners' sole loss was at home to

in mid-October. This was Oklahoma's second straight Orange Bowl

and their second straight Big Eight Conference title.

Game summary

The final game of a tripleheader on

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 followed the Rose Bowl and kicked off shortly after 8 p.m. EST, at the same time as the Sugar Bowl on

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, which matched second-ranked

and #8

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Tim Manoa Timote "Tim" Taliai Manoa (born September 9, 1964) is a former professional American football player. He played fullback for four seasons in the National Football League for the Cleveland Browns and the Indianapolis Colts. He played collegiately ...

gave Penn State an early lead on a short touchdown run and they led 7–0 after the first quarter. But

Tim Lashar Timothy Alan Lashar (born September 5, 1964) is a former placekicker in the National Football League. Early life and high school Lashar was born in Santa Monica, California, and moved several times growing up. He started high school in Barrington ...

kicked three field goals and Keith Jackson caught a 71-yard touchdown pass from

Jamelle Holieway Jamelle Holieway (born June 25, 1967) is an American former college and professional football player who was a quarterback for the University of Oklahoma. He led the Oklahoma Sooners to a national championship in 1985. Holieway is considered on ...

as Oklahoma scored sixteen points in the second quarter while Massimo Manca gave the Nittany Lions their only points of the quarter with a late field goal to make it 16–10 at halftime. Penn State was

shut out Shut Out may refer to: * Shutout, a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring * ''Shut Out'' (album), a 1977 album by Paul Jabara * "Shut Out" (song), a 1977 song by Paul Jabara and Donna Summer * "Shutout", a song by The Walk ...

from there, as Oklahoma's defense took over.

Brian Bosworth Brian Keith Bosworth (born March 9, 1965), nicknamed "The Boz," is an American former football linebacker and actor who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. A two-time Dick Butkus Award winne ...

had twelve tackles and the defense had a total of four interceptions. In the second half, Lashar kicked his third field goal, and

Lydell Carr Lydell Maurice Carr (born May 27, 1965) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the Phoenix Cardinals. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 1988 NFL Draft. He ...

broke for a 61-yard touchdown run to seal the championship for the Sooners. Kicker Lashar and defensive back

Sonny Brown Clifton D. (Sonny) Brown is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He played with the Houston Oilers during the 1987 season and was a member of the 1985 National Champions Oklahoma Sooners. Brown was named the MVP of ...

were named the game's most valuable players.

Statistics

Aftermath

The Sooners' championship became unanimous following #2 Miami's 35–7 loss to

in the Sugar Bowl, which was played at the same time. If the Hurricanes had won, the split national championship was probable as Miami was outranked by Oklahoma in the coaches poll and had soundly defeated the Sooners in Norman. Penn State was in title contention again the following season, as they finished second in the polls. This time, a matchup between the #1 and #2 teams was able to be made and the Nittany Lions were scheduled to play #1 Miami for the national championship in the

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 ...

, which they won.

References

{{Penn State Nittany Lions bowl game navbox

Orange Bowl Oklahoma Sooners football bowl games Penn State Nittany Lions football bowl games January 1986 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 * ...