| 1983 Fiesta Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 12th Fiesta Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Sun Devil Stadium inTempe, Arizona, hosted the Fiesta Bowl. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1983 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Sun Devil Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Tempe, Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Marcus Dupree (OU HB) Jim Jeffcoat (ASU DL) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Oklahoma by 2½ points[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Bill Parkinson (Eastern Independent) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 66,484 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Charlie Jones,Len Dawson | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 7.9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1983 Fiesta Bowl was the twelfthedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played atSun Devil Stadium inTempe, Arizona on Saturday, January 1.[2] Part of the1982–83 bowl game season, it matched theeleventh-rankedArizona State Sun Devils of thePacific-10 Conference and the #12Oklahoma Sooners of theBig Eight Conference. A slight underdog,[1] Arizona State rallied in the fourth quarter to win on its home field, 32–21.[3][4][5]
This was the first-ever meeting between these two programs.[5]
The Sun Devils opened with nine wins and were ranked third, but lost toWashington at home and atrivalArizona. This was ASU's sixth Fiesta Bowlappearance, which remains their only one since leaving theWestern Athletic Conference (WAC) in 1978.
The Sooners' first two home games in September were losses, toWest Virginia andUSC. They won seven straight but lost torivalNebraska on the road. This was their secondappearance in the Fiesta Bowl.
Televised byNBC, the game kicked off shortly after 11:30 a.m.MST, as did theCotton Bowl onCBS.[2] The weather was sunny and 65 °F (18 °C).[5]
Oklahoma scored first on a one-yard run from running backStanley Wilson, giving the Sooners a 7–0 lead. In the second quarter, Arizona State got a field goal from kickerLuis Zendejas 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 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 fromAlvin Moore to take a 25–21 lead. ASU quarterbackTodd 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 tailbackMarcus Dupree was named theoffensive MVP with 239 rushing yards on 17 carries (14.0 avg.).[5] 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 linemanJim Jeffcoat was the defensive MVP.[5]
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
| Statistics | Arizona State | Oklahoma |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 25 | 19 |
| Yards Rushing | 43–100 | 63–417 |
| Yards Passing | 329 | 40 |
| Passing | 17–35–2 | 4–10–1 |
| Return Yards | −3 | 35 |
| Total Offense | 78–429 | 73–457 |
| Punts–Average | 6–43.5 | 4–29.5 |
| Fumbles–Lost | 3–0 | 6–4 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 5 |
| Penalties–Yards | 7–64 | 8–68 |
| Time of Possession | 30:31 | 29:29 |
Arizona State climbed to sixth in thefinal AP poll, and Oklahoma fell to sixteenth.