| 1977 Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 43rd Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) TheLouisiana Superdome inNew Orleans, Louisiana, hosted the Sugar Bowl. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1976 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Louisiana Superdome | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | New Orleans,Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Matt Cavanaugh (Pittsburgh QB) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Pittsburgh by 3 points[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Vincent Buckley (SWC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 76,117 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson, Ara Parseghian | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1977 Sugar Bowl was the 43rdedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theLouisiana Superdome inNew Orleans,Louisiana, on Saturday, January 1. Part of the1976–77 bowl game season, it matched thetop-rankedPittsburgh Panthers and the #5Georgia Bulldogs, champions of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC).Independent Pittsburghwon 27–3,[3][4][5][6] and were consensusnational champions.[7][8]
After four editions onNew Year's Eve, the Sugar Bowl returned toNew Year's Day this year.
After an 8–4 season in1975, Pittsburgh was ranked ninth in the preseason AP Poll in 1976, with their opener at #11Notre Dame; they won31–10,[9] and the Panthers rose to third in the next poll. WhenMichigan lost toPurdue on November 6, the Panthers climbed to first. Pittsburgh beatWest Virginia in theBackyard Brawl andPenn State atThree Rivers Stadium to finish the regular season undefeated, and were invited to the Sugar Bowl for the chance to win the national championship. This was the first time the Panthers had made bowl appearances in consecutive seasons since1955–1956 (last playing in the Sugar Bowl in January1956).
Senior halfbackTony Dorsett rushed for 1,948 yards in the regular season,[10] and became the first Panther to win theHeisman Trophy.
Georgia had started4–0, including a21–0 shutout ofAlabama, but a four-point loss atOle Miss dropped them from #4 to #11. But the Bulldogs finished the season with six straight victories to get back to #4 along with being champion of theSoutheastern Conference, their first SEC title since1968. This was Georgia's fourth straight bowl appearance and first Sugar Bowl since January1969. The Bulldogs had played just one game on artificial turf in the regular season, a loss atOle Miss.[11] This was the first year in which the SEC was the official conference tie-in to the Sugar Bowl.[12]
The game kicked off shortly before 12 noonCST, more than an hour ahead of theCotton Bowl.[13]
Pittsburgh took control early, driving 80 yards in 12 plays that culminated with a touchdown run by quarterbackMatt Cavanaugh. Seven minutes into the second quarter, he completed a pass to Gordon Jones for 59 yards for a touchdown to makeit 14–0. Near the end of the quarter,Tony Dorsett scored from eleven yards out and it was 21–0 at halftime. Georgia's a6–2 defense had focused on Dorsett exclusively, which opened up the Panthers' passing game, as the receivers were being given one-on-one coverage. Pittsburgh took advantage, passing for 185 yards in the first half while Dorsett was held to 65 yards; he rushed for 137 yards in the second half.
A Pittsburgh fumble on the first drive of the second half gave the ball to Georgia at the Panther 26, but the Bulldogs could only forward it to the seven; Allan Leavitt kicked a 25-yard field goal for Georgia's only points of the game. Panther kicker Carson Long countered with a 42-yarder to make it 24–3 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, he kicked another from 31 yards to make the final score27–3. Dorsett rushed for 202 yards on 32 carries (6.3 avg.), scoring one touchdown. Running back (and future Georgia head coach)Ray Goff rushed for 76 yards on 17 carries. Cavanaugh was 10-of-18 for 192 yards for one touchdown and was namedgame MVP. Georgia's option quarterbackRay Goff was replaced byMatt Robinson, who completed just two of fifteen attempts for 33 yards with three interceptions.[14][15][16]
With the win, Pittsburgh was declarednational champions byboth major polls,[7] their first since1937.[8]
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
| Statistics | Pittsburgh | Georgia |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 24 | 14 |
| Rushing yards | 66–288 | 40–135 |
| Passing yards | 192 | 46 |
| Passing | 10–18–0 | 3–22–4 |
| Total offense | 84–480 | 62–181 |
| Punts–average | 5–36.8 | 8–42.1 |
| Fumbles–lost | 2–1 | 4–2 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 6 |
| Penalties–yards | 6–66 | 4–30 |
Announced weeks earlier,[17][18] Majors left Pittsburgh for his alma materTennessee after the game,[10] and this remains Pittsburgh's most recent national championship. The Panthers returned once to the Sugar Bowl, while Georgia has returned six times; the two teams met in the Sugar Bowl five years later in January1982.
During the 1970s, the top-ranked team won itsbowl game only three times: Pittsburgh joinedNebraska (1971)andUSC (1972).