| 1982 Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48th Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
 TheLouisiana Superdome inNew Orleans, Louisiana, hosted the Sugar Bowl. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | January 1, 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Louisiana Superdome | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Dan Marino (Pittsburgh QB) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Georgia by 1½ points[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Ken Faulkner (SWC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 77,224 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson andFrank Broyles | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
The1982 Sugar Bowl was the 48thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theLouisiana Superdome inNew Orleans, on Friday, January 1. Part of the1981–82 bowl game season, it matched the No. 2Georgia Bulldogs of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC), the defendingnational champions, and the No. 8Pittsburgh Panthers, anindependent. The slight underdog Panthers won the game24–20.[2][3][4]
The game kicked off shortly after 7 p.m.CST, televised byABC, at the same time as theOrange Bowl onNBC.[5]
Junior quarterbackDan Marino, a futurefirst round draft pick, started for Pittsburgh andBuck Belue for Georgia. The Bulldogs relied on their running game, powered by sophomoreHerschel Walker, who rushed for two touchdowns.[6] Scoreless in the first quarter, Georgia led early with an 8-yard run from Walker, then Pitt kicked a field goal and the score was 7–3 at halftime.
Scoring increased in the second half, with five lead changes. The Panthers scored a touchdown to go ahead 10–7; Georgia got the lead back and the game was 13–10 (as a result of a missed PAT) at the end of the third quarter. Marino threw a short touchdown to John Brown to take back the lead at17–13. Georgia scored again with a 6-yard pass and the game was20–17. Pitt reclaimed the lead with just 35 seconds to go with a 33-yard pass from Marino to Brown on 4th and 4 and won24–20.[7]
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
| Statistics | Pittsburgh | Georgia |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 27 | 11 |
| Rushing yards | 44–208 | 36–141 |
| Passing yards | 261 | 83 |
| Passing | 26–41–2 | 8–15–2 |
| Total offense | 85–469 | 51–224 |
| Punts–average | 2–44.5 | 6–39.5 |
| Fumbles–lost | 5–3 | 2–2 |
| Turnovers | 5 | 4 |
| Penalties–yards | 14–96 | 5–35 |
Pittsburgh moved up to fourth(#2 UPI) in thefinal polls, while the Bulldogs dropped to sixth(#5 UPI). It has often been called one of the greatest bowl games, and bowl upsets, of all time. It also marks the last time the Pitt Panthers won a major bowl game.[8]
This wasJackie Sherrill's final game at Pitt. Eighteen days after the Sugar Bowl, he agreed to a six-year, $1.7-million contract to become head coach and athletic director atTexas A&M.[9] Defensive coordinatorFoge Fazio was promoted to succeed Sherrill.
Twenty-two Pittsburgh Panthers were drafted over the next four years by theNational Football League.[8] Six of them were selected in the first round, including Marino,Jim Covert,Tim Lewis,Bill Maas,Chris Doleman, andBill Fralic. Marino, Covert and Doleman were elected to thePro Football Hall of Fame. Covert and Tom Flynn played for the winning teams to win aSuper Bowl, four years later inSuper Bowl XX with theChicago Bears, also played in the Superdome.Tom Flynn, Free Safety for Pitt also won a Super Bowl XXI with the New York Giants when they beat Denver.