1979 Fiesta Bowl

1979 Fiesta Bowl
Pittsburgh Panthers Arizona Wildcats (10–1) (6–4–1) 16 10 Head coach:  Jackie Sherrill Head coach:  Tony Mason AP Coaches 10 10 1 2 3 4 Total {{{Visitor School}}} 3 3 7 3 16 {{{Home School}}} 0 0 3 7 10
Date	December 25, 1979
Season	1979
Stadium	Sun Devil Stadium
Location	Tempe, Arizona
MVP	K Mark Schubert (Pittsburgh) SS Dave Liggins (Arizona)
Attendance	55,347
United States TV coverage
Network	NBC
Announcers:	Charlie Jones and Len Dawson
Fiesta Bowl  < 1978  1980 >

The 1979 Fiesta Bowl featured the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Arizona Wildcats.

Background

This was Pittsburgh's second Fiesta Bowl appearance. Arizona, despite finishing third in the Pacific-10 Conference, was invited to their first Fiesta Bowl game.

Game summary

Mark Schubert was the first kicker named MVP, with his three field goals helping the Panthers win a game that had four turnovers by Arizona and two by Pittsburgh. Schubert gave his team a lead they would never relinquish with his two field goals to have a 6–0 lead. Arizona responded with a Brett Weber field goal, but Benjie Pryor caught a touchdown pass from Dan Marino to increase the lead, as Schubert added in a field goal later to make it 16–3 at the end of three quarters. Arizona scored on a Hubert Oliver touchdown run to make it 16–10. After Pittsburgh punted the ball back to Arizona, the Wildcats looked to drive for the winning points with 1:05 left. But just seven seconds later, Jim Krohn's pass was intercepted by Terry White as the Panthers won their first Fiesta Bowl.

Aftermath

Pittsburgh would return to the Fiesta Bowl in 1984, but as of 2018 have not won another Fiesta Bowl. Arizona would finally win a bowl game in 1986, and later returned to the Fiesta Bowl in 1994.

Statistics

Statistics	Arizona	Pittsburgh
First Downs	20	20
Yards Rushing	91	127
Yards Passing	226	172
Return Yards	46	37
Total Yards	363	336
Punts-Average	4-39.8	5-34.2
Fumbles-Lost	2-1	1-0
Interceptions	3	2
Penalties-Yards	7-85	10-89