| 1978 Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 44th Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
 TheLouisiana Superdome inNew Orleans, Louisiana, hosted the Sugar Bowl. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 2, 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Louisiana Superdome | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | New Orleans,Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Jeff Rutledge (Alabama QB) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Alabama by 1 point[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Percy Penn (SWC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 76,811 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson andAra Parseghian | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1978Sugar Bowl was the 44thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theLouisiana Superdome inNew Orleans,Louisiana, on Monday, January 2. Part of the1977–78 bowl game season, it matched thethird-rankedAlabama Crimson Tide of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) and the #9Ohio State Buckeyes of theBig Ten Conference.[3][4]
The teams were led by their respectivehall of fame head coaches,Bear Bryant andWoody Hayes,[5] who were the winningest active coaches. Slightlyfavored,[1][2] Alabama won ina rout, 35–6.[4][6]
New Year's Day was on Sunday in 1978, and the major college bowl games were played the following day.
Alabama finished the regular season as SEC champions with a record of10–1; the only loss was atNebraska(31–24) in week two.[7] On November 19, bowl officials announced that Alabama would face Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.[8] The appearance marked the eighth for Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and their 31st overall bowl appearance. It was the Tide's second game against a Big Ten opponent, the first was atWisconsin in the1928 regular season.[8][5]
Ohio State finished the regular season as co-champions of the Big Ten with a record of9–2. Their only defeats were toOklahoma by a point(29–28) on adisputed late field goal in week three and atrivalMichigan Wolverines(14–6) to close the regular season. On November 19, bowl officials announced that Michigan would play in theRose Bowl and that Ohio State would face Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.[8][9]
The appearance marked the first for Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, and their 12th overall bowl appearance. This was the first edition of the Sugar Bowl to feature a Big Ten team.[8] It was the Buckeyes' first game against an SEC teamsince1935,[5] when they defeatedKentucky in the season opener.
The game kicked off at around 1 pmCST, as did theCotton Bowl.[10]
After a scoreless first quarter, Alabama scored on a one-yardTony Nathan touchdown run to cap a 10-play, 76-yard drive.[11] On their next offensive possession, Bama scored again on a 27-yardJeff Rutledge touchdown pass to Bruce Bolton to take a 13–0 lead at the half.[11]
In the third quarter, Rutledge had his second touchdown on a 3-yard pass to Rick Neal. Following a successfultwo-point conversion pass to Nathan, Alabama led 21–0, the score at the quarter's end.[11] The Buckeyes scored their only points of the game early in the fourth when Rod Gerald threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jim Harrell, but failed on the two-point try and the score was 21–6.[11] Bama closed the game with a pair of touchdown runs, the first from one yard by Major Ogilvie, and the second byJohnny Davis on a seven-yard run to make the final score 35–6.[11]
| Scoring summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:[3]
| Statistics | Alabama | Ohio State |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 25 | 13 |
| Rushing yards | 68–280 | 38–160 |
| Passing yards | 109 | 103 |
| Passing | 8–11–0 | 7–17–3 |
| Total offense | 79–389 | 55–263 |
| Punts–average | 1–33.0 | 4–37.5 |
| Fumbles–lost | 0–0 | 10–2 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 5 |
| Penalties–yards | 1–5 | 4–40 |
While #3 Alabama won easily, top-rankedTexas and #2Oklahoma were both upset by large margins in their bowl games. Fifth-rankedNotre Dame's38–10 rout of #1 Texas in theCotton Bowl gained them the top spot in bothfinal polls; Alabama was the runner-up andOrange Bowl winnerArkansas was third.[12][13]
Notre Dame finished ahead of Alabama despite losing 20-13 toOle Miss, which lost 34-13 to Alabama the week before. The Tide fell to Nebraska the same day the Rebels ousted the Fighting Irish.
Alabama returned to the Sugar Bowl thefollowing year and won thenational championship.
This was the final major bowl game for Woody Hayes; Ohio State played in theGator Bowl in December1978, his last game as head coach.