Harman Patil (Editor)

1978 Cotton Bowl Classic

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
38
  
10

1
  
1

3
  
21

5
  
5

Notre Dame
  
3

21
  
7

The 1978 Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic was the 42nd edition of the college football bowl game, played on Monday, January 2 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. The bowl game featured the independent Notre Dame Fighting Irish versus the Southwest Conference champion Texas Longhorns. A record crowd of 76,701 turned up to see the coronation of the Longhorns championship season, but fifth-ranked Notre Dame spoiled everything as they dominated the Longhorns 38–10.

Contents

Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell gained 116 yards on 29 carries, but was kept out of the end zone. Tied at three after the first quarter, the Irish scored three touchdowns in eight minutes and led 24–10 at halftime, then shut out the Longhorns in the second half. The loss by the Longhorns resulted in complete chaos in the final polls, with Notre Dame vaulting past Alabama to win the national championship.

First Quarter

  • Notre Dame - Dave Reeve 47-yard field goal, 11:35 remaining (this set up by a fumble recovery by Ross Browner)
  • Texas - Russell Erxleben 42-yard field goal, 6:07 remaining.

    • Second Quarter

  • Notre Dame - Terry Eurick 6 yard touchdown run (Reeve kick), 14:56 remaining (set up by a fumble recovery by Jim Browner)
  • Notre Dame - Eurick 10 yard touchdown run (Reeve kick), 11:37 remaining (this happening after a fumble recovery by Willie Fry)
  • Notre Dame - Vagas Ferguson 17-yard touchdown pass from Joe Montana (Reeve kick), 7:28 (This occurring after a pass interception by Doug Becker)
  • Texas - Mike Lockett 13-yard touchdown pass from Randy McEachern (Erxleben kick), 0:01 remaining

    • Third Quarter

  • Notre Dame - Ferguson 3-yard touchdown run (Reeve kick), 6:49 remaining (this happening after a pass interception by Steve Heimkreiter)

    • Fourth Quarter

  • Notre Dame - Ferguson 26-yard touchdown run (Reeve kick), 9:41 remaining (after a fake punt attempt)

    • Aftermath

    Texas' loss opened the door to the national championship for several teams: second-ranked Oklahoma was soundly beaten 31–6 by #6 Arkansas in the Orange Bowl nightcap, and in between, fourth-ranked Michigan fell 27–20 to Washington in the Rose Bowl. That left third-ranked Alabama and fifth-ranked Notre Dame as the primary teams for the title. Alabama felt that with their convincing win, they would be champions due to the losses by Texas and Oklahoma, but the pollsters saw it differently. Notre Dame was voted number one in every poll. Perhaps the victory by fellow Southwest Conference member Arkansas in the Orange Bowl made the difference as it made Notre Dame's victory over Texas (who had beaten Arkansas 13–9 in October) even more impressive.

    Statistics

    McEachern of Texas threw three interceptions, while Montana of Notre Dame threw one.

    References

    1978 Cotton Bowl Classic Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA