Official recap
In a game between the 1978 Big 8 champions — Nebraska had defeated Oklahoma 17-14 a month earlier — Oklahoma this time came out on top and withstood a furious Nebraska fourth-quarter rally to defeat the Huskers, 31-24, in the Orange Bowl.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Sooners were comfortably ahead 31-10, when the Huskers' charge began. Nebraska drove 78 yards in 15 plays, when senior I-back Rick Berns scored from the one yard line, with 9:12 left. Billy Todd's extra point was good, and Nebraska trailed 31-17.
On Oklahoma's next possession, Sooner senior quarterback Thomas Lott fumbled on the Oklahoma 42-yard line and the ball was recovered by Nebraska sophomore tackle David Clark, with 8:07 left.
The Huskers then drove 35 yards in eight plays — aided by an opening 15-yard gallop by junior I-back I.M. Hipp. Seven yards from the Sooner goal, Nebraska was faced with a fourth and one. Sophomore I-back Craig Johnson tried the middle but was stopped by OU linebacker George Cumby for no gain with 4:24 left. Time was beginning to run out.
The Cornhuskers had one more opportunity to score and put it to good use. Starting at the Nebraska 42 yard line with 2:21 remaining following a Sooner punt, the Cornhuskers drove 58 yards in 10 plays and scored on a one-yard toss from Sorley to Miller with :03 left. Full recap here.
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Oklahoma 31
Nebraska 24
Jan. 1, 1979
Miami, FLNebraska 7 0 3 14 - 24
Oklahoma 7 7 17 0 - 31
First Quarter
NU — T. Smith 21 yard pass from Sorley (Todd kick) 8:29
OU — Sims 3 yard run (von Schamann kick) 0:01
Second Quarter
OU — Lott 3 yard run (von Schamann kick) 6:22
Third Quarter
OU — Sims 11 yard run (von Schamann kick) 13:30
OU — von Schamann 16 yard field goal 9:18
NU — Todd 31 yard field goal 4:24
OU — Lott 2 yard run (von Schamann kick) 0:15
Fourth Quarter
NU — Berns 1 yard run (Todd kick) 9:12
NU — Miller 2 yard pass from Sorley (Todd kick) 0:00
Attendance: 66,365
NU OU
First Downs Rushing 16 14
First Downs Passing 9 1
First Downs by Penalty 2 2
TOTAL First Downs 27 17
Rushing Plays 54 53
Yards Gained Rushing 223 297
Yards Lost Rushing 6 5
NET YARDS GAINED RUSHING 217 292
(Long Rushing Play) 18 38
Forward Passes Tried 31 3
Forward Passes Completed 18 2
YARDS GAINED PASSING 220 47
(Long Passing Play) 28 38
Total Offense 437 339
Forward Passes Intercepted 0 2
YARDS INTERCEPTIONS RETURNED 0 66
Number of Punts 2 3
AVERAGE YARDS PUNTS 37.5 39.3
YARDS RETURNED PUNTS 2 0
YARDS RETURNED KICK-OFFS 45 53
Fumbled 0 1
Fumbles Lost 0 1
Number Penalties 8 6
YARDS PENALIZED 96 50
RUSHING
NEBRASKA Att. Net Ave. TD
Berns........19 99 5.2 1
Hipp ........18 66 3.7 0
Sorley...... 7 24 3.4 0
Wurth....... 2 10 5.0 0
Franklin.... 3 9 3.0 0
Brown....... 1 7 7.0 0
Johnson ... 3 6 2.0 0
TOTALS.......54 217 4.0 1
OKLAHOMA Att. Net Ave. TD
Simms ......25 134 5.3 2
Lott ........14 74 5.3 1
King .......11 65 5.9 0
Overstreet .. 3 19 6.3 0
TOTALS.......53 292 5.5 3
PASSING
NEBRASKA Att. Com. Int. Yards TD
Sorley........ 31 18 2 220 2
OKLAHOMA Att. Com. Int. Yards TD
Lott ......... 3 2 0 47 0
PASS RECEIVING
NEBRASKA No. Yds. TD
Miller .......... 3 49 1
T. Smith......... 3 62 1
Franklin......... 2 10 0
Wurth............ 1 5 0
Brown............ 5 43 0
Lockett.......... 1 22 0
Johnson ......... 1 3 0
Kotera........... 1 12 0
Hipp ............ 1 14 0
TOTALS...........18 220 2
OKLAHOMA No. Yds. TD
Rhodes .......... 1 38 0
Kimball.......... 1 9 0
TOTALS........... 2 47 0
PUNTING
NEBRASKA No. Yds. Avg.
Smith .......... 2 75 37.5
OKLAHOMA No. Yds. Avg.
Ray ........... 3 118 39.3
ALL RETURNS
NEBRASKA Punts Kickoffs Inter.
Johnson..... 0-0 2-22 0-0
Brown ...... 0-0 1-12 0-0
Miller...... 0-0 1-11 0-0
Liegl....... 1-2 0-0 0-0
TOTALS ..... 1-2 4-45 0-0
OKLAHOMA Punts Kickoffs Inter.
Rogers ...... 0-0 2-47 0-0
Anderson..... 0-0 1-6 0-0
Ray ....... 0-0 1-0 0-0
TOTALS ..... 0-0 4-53 0-0
DEFENSIVE STATISTICS |
Sacks- Fum
NEBRASKA Tac Asst Int Yds Rec
Andrews 9 2 0 0 0
Dunning 7 3 0 0 0
Cole 6 3 0 0 0
Kunz 5 5 0 0 0
Pillen 5 2 0 0 0
Horn 5 1 0 0 0
Fischer 4 2 0 0 0
Hansen 3 1 0 0 0
Means 3 0 0 0 0
Nelson 1 1 0 1-1 0
Pensick 1 0 0 0 0
Weinmaster 1 0 0 0 0
Saalfeld 1 0 0 0 0
Cotton 1 0 0 0 0
Leroy 1 0 0 0 0
Clark 1 0 0 0 1
Gary 0 1 0 0 0 |
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Sacks- Fum
OKLAHOMA Tac Asst Int Yds Rec
Kinlaw 11 0 0 0 0
Hunt 10 2 0 0 0
Goodman 6 2 0 0 0
Cumby 5 4 0 0 0
Banks 6 0 0 0 0
Dittman 5 0 0 0 0
Tabor 4 3 0 1-5 0
Lewis 4 1 0 0 0
Taylor 4 1 0 0 0
Jimerson 3 1 0 0 0
Ray 3 0 1 0 0
Babb 2 0 1 0 0
Burget 2 0 0 0 0
Taton 1 2 0 0 0
Mathis 1 1 0 0 0
Sanders 1 0 0 0 0
Lovelandy 1 0 0 0 0
Paul 1 0 0 0 0
Claphan 1 0 0 0 0 |
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