1982 Orange Bowl

1982 Orange Bowl
1982 Orange Bowl
48th Orange Bowl
Clemson Tigers	Nebraska Cornhuskers
(11–0)	(9–2)
ACC	Big 8
22	15
Head coach: ; Danny Ford	Head coach: ; Tom Osborne
AP	Coaches
1	1
AP	Coaches
4	4
Date	January 1, 1982
Season	Announcers
Orange Bowl
< 1981	1983 >

The 1982 Orange Bowl was the 48th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1981–82 bowl game season, it matched the top-ranked and undefeated Clemson Tigers of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the #4 Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference. Underdog Clemson won, 22–15, and gained their first national championship.^[2]^[3]

Teams

Clemson

Led by head coach Danny Ford, the Tigers began the season unranked, won all eleven games in the regular season, and moved up to first in the rankings in late November. Their notable wins were over Georgia and North Carolina. Clemson was attempting to win its first national championship.^[4] The Tigers were making their third appearance in the Orange Bowl, but the first in a quarter century.

Nebraska

The Huskers had two early losses, at Iowa and to Penn State,^[5] then won eight consecutive games to improve to fourth in the polls. Nebraska was making its eighth appearance in the Orange Bowl, the first in three years.

Game summary

Earlier in the day, third-ranked

Cotton Bowl to #6 Texas. In the Sugar Bowl, now played at the same time as the Orange, second-ranked Georgia was defeated by #8 Pittsburgh, which opened the door for the Orange Bowl victor to claim the national title; Nebraska was favored by 3½ to 4½ points.^[1]^[2]

Clemson scored first on a 41-yard field goal by Donald Igwebuike to take a 3–0 lead. Nebraska then succeeded with a trick play, as running back Mike Rozier threw a 25-yard halfback pass to Anthony Steels for a touchdown and a 7–3 lead. Igwebuike kicked a 37-yard field goal to pull Clemson to 7–6. Following a Nebraska fumble, Cliff Austin scored on a two-yard touchdown run and Clemson led 12–7 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Clemson quarterback Homer Jordan threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Perry Tuttle and Igwebuike added another field goal, this time a 36-yarder, and the Tigers extended their lead to fifteen points at 22–7.

In the fourth quarter, halfback Roger Craig scored for the Huskers on a 26-yard run. Following a Nebraska penalty on the first two-point conversion attempt, Craig then ran it in from the eight, which closed the margin to 22–15 with over nine minutes remaining. The Huskers got the ball back, but penalties ultimately killed the drive and forced them to punt the ball back to Clemson; the Tigers maintained possession for the bulk of the last six minutes and secured their first national championship in college football.^[2]^[4]^[6]^[7]

Scoring

First quarter

Clemson – Donald Igwebuike 41-yard field goal, 11:39
Nebraska – Anthony Steels 25-yard pass from Mike Rozier (Kevin Seibel kick), 6:43
Clemson – Igwebuike 37-yard field goal, 1:03

Second quarter

Clemson – Cliff Austin 2-yard run (pass failed), 3:56

Third quarter

Clemson – Perry Tuttle 13-yard pass from Homer Jordan (Bob Paulling kick), 6:12
Clemson – Igwebuike 36-yard field goal, 2:36

Fourth quarter

Nebraska – Roger Craig 26-yard run (Craig run), 9:15

Source:^[4]^[8]^[9]^[10]

Statistics

Statistics	Clemson	Nebraska
First Downs	17	13
Rushes–yards	52–155	40–193
Passing yards	134	63
Passes (C–A–I)	11–22–1	6–17–0
Total Offense	74–289	57–256
Punts–average	4–46	6–43
Fumbles–lost	3–0	3–2
Turnovers	1	2
Penalties–yards	7–57	8–64
Time of possession	32:22	27:38

Source:^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]

Aftermath

Clemson remained atop both final polls, while Nebraska dropped to eleventh (AP) and ninth (UPI).^[12] This would be the last time the Tigers won the national championship until 2016.

Nebraska played in the Orange Bowl in the next two seasons; Clemson returned thirty years later.

References

^ ^a ^b "Harrah's Odds". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). January 1, 1982. p. 28.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Papanek, John (January 11, 1982). "Year of the Tigers". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
^ "Clemson locks up national title on 22-15 victory". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. January 2, 1982. p. 10.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Clemson peels off a national title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 2, 1982. p. 1B.
^ "State gives Nebraska the boot". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. September 27, 1981. p. 75.
^ "No question: Clemson is best". Milwaukee Journal. (Los Angeles Times, AP, UPI). January 2, 1982. p. 11.
^ "Clemson keeps its claim on No. 1". Milwaukee Sentinel. wire services. January 2, 1982. p. 1, part 2.
^ ^a ^b "Orange Bowl". Milwaukee Sentinel. (box score). January 2, 1982. p. 5, part 2.
^ ^a ^b "Game-by-game recaps: 1982" (PDF). 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl media guide. January 2019. p. 38.
^ ^a ^b "Bowl games: 1982 Orange Bowl" (PDF). 2005 Nebraska Cornhuskers football media guide. (supplement). 2005. Archived from the original on July 23, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "Orange Bowl". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (box score). January 2, 1982. p. 3B.
^ "Polls agree that Tigers are No. 1". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. January 3, 1982. p. 3E.

External links

Clemson vs Nebraska Stats

[hrhodd-1] "Harrah's Odds". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). January 1, 1982. p. 28.

[yotgrs-2] Papanek, John (January 11, 1982). "Year of the Tigers". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.

[redeag-3] "Clemson locks up national title on 22-15 victory". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. January 2, 1982. p. 10.

[ergcpont-4] "Clemson peels off a national title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 2, 1982. p. 1B.

[sgntbt-5] "State gives Nebraska the boot". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. September 27, 1981. p. 75.

[noques-6] "No question: Clemson is best". Milwaukee Journal. (Los Angeles Times, AP, UPI). January 2, 1982. p. 11.

[ckclm-7] "Clemson keeps its claim on No. 1". Milwaukee Sentinel. wire services. January 2, 1982. p. 1, part 2.

[mwsnbx-8] "Orange Bowl". Milwaukee Sentinel. (box score). January 2, 1982. p. 5, part 2.

[gbgmrec-9] "Game-by-game recaps: 1982" (PDF). 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl media guide. January 2019. p. 38.

[ofnebr-10] "Bowl games: 1982 Orange Bowl" (PDF). 2005 Nebraska Cornhuskers football media guide. (supplement). 2005. Archived from the original on July 23, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[obstserg-11] "Orange Bowl". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (box score). January 2, 1982. p. 3B.

[poagr-12] "Polls agree that Tigers are No. 1". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. January 3, 1982. p. 3E.

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Notes	The game was also the national title game (Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series) in 1994, 1995, 1998, 2001, and 2005. There was an Orange Bowl in January and December in 1996, 2014, and 2021. The 2015, 2018, and 2021 (December) editions were College Football Playoff semifinals.