American Football Database
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1978 Fiesta Bowl
8th Annual Fiesta Bowl
1 2 3 4 Total
{{{Visitor School}}} 0 10 0 0 10
{{{Home School}}} 0 0 3 7 10
Date December 25, 1978
Season 1978
Stadium Sun Devil Stadium
Location Tempe, Arizona
MVP (Offensive) James Owens, UCLA

(Defensive) Jimmy Walker, Arkansas

Referee Jimmy Harper (SEC)
Attendance 55,227
Payout US$342,562.70
United States TV coverage
Network NBC
Announcers: Curt Gowdy, John Brodie, and Mike Haffner
Fiesta Bowl
 < 1977  1979

The 1978 Fiesta Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the #8 Arkansas Razorbacks from the Southwest Conference, and the #15 UCLA Bruins from the Pacific-10 Conference. The game ended in a 10-10 tie before 55,227 spectators.[1]

Setting[]

Arkansas[]

With a win over Texas A&M, Arkansas clinched a Fiesta Bowl berth.[2] Entering the game, Arkansas had come off a 49-7 win over Texas Tech, and was 10-2 overall.[3] The Razorbacks began the season at #2 in the AP poll, but consecutive losses at Texas and at Houston dropped the Razorbacks from SWC title contention. Ron Calcagni led the team at quarterback, while Ben Cowins was the leading rusher for the Hogs. Bruins head coach Terry Donahue said before the game that the UCLA defense would try to slow down an Arkansas rushing attack that "couldn't be stopped".[4]


UCLA[]

Game summary[]

Jim Howard sacked UCLA QB Steve Bukich, but he fumbled, and Arkansas recovered at the UCLA 37. Roland Sales would punch it in from four yards out to give the Hogs a 7-0 advantage. The Razorbacks added a field goal from Ish Ordonez, stretching the lead to 10. UCLA took the second half kickoff and drove it for a field goal from Peter Boermaester. Down 10-3, UCLA was set to field a Razorback punt in the fourth quarter. An interference penalty added yardage, giving the Bruins the football at midfield. Severne Reece caught a Bukich pass at the Hog 14, and Bukich would rush it in on the following play. The game was tied at 10-10 with 8:32. Neither team could get the ball past midfield again, and the tie stood.

Statistics[]

Statistics UCLA Arkansas
First Downs 14 19
Total offense, plays – yards 59-316 64-278
Rushes-yards (net) 55-255 51-200
Passing yards (net) 61 78
Passes, Comp-Att-Int 4-11-2 13-24-2

References[]

  1. "1978 Fiesta Bowl." Game Summary. Archived 2009-01-06 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  2. "Arkansas 26, Texas A. & M. 7." Article. The New York Times. November 19, 1978. Retrieved on January 12, 2011.
  3. "Hogs 'hang loose' for Fiesta Bowl." Article. The Prescott Courier. December 19, 1987. Retrieved on 7 November 2008.
  4. "UCLA Needs Consistency." Article. The Kingman Daily Miner. December 21, 1987. Retrieved on January 12, 2011.
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