Official recap
It came down to a game of seconds as Houston, the Southwestern Conference champion, defeated Nebraska, runnerup in the Big 8, 17-14 in the 44th annual Cotton Bowl game in Dallas.
The Huskers struck first, with 5:13 left in the opening quarter, when junior I-back Jarvis Redwine scored on a nine-yard run and with Dean Sukup's extra point, NU led 7-0. But Houston came back strong in the second period and marched 71 yards in six plays and one penalty, to score with 12:17 left in the first half, on an eight yard run by sub-quarterback Terry Elston. With the Cougars' extra point, the game was tied 7-7 at the half.
Neither team scored in the third period, but with 8:25 left, UH kicker Ken Hatfield booted a 41-yard field goal, to give the Cougars a 10-7 lead. However, Nebraska then rallied, and with 3:56 left in the contest, scored on a six-yard pass from quarterback Jeff Quinn to junior tight end Jeff Finn. And with Sukup's PAT, Nebraska held on to a 14-0 lead with only 3:39 left to play.
Houston then took the kickoff and drove 60 yards in 12 plays, down to the NU six yard line. On fourth and goal, Elston threaded the ball between three Nebraska defenders in the endzone and Eric Herring caught it for the winning score, with :12 left.
Full recap here.
DALLAS MORNING NEWS | LJS
OWH STORY & PHOTOS
HOUSTON RECAP
SERIES HISTORY | NU BOWLS
SEASON STATS | NU ROSTER
FINAL POLLS | HONORS
 |
Houston 17
Nebraska 14
Jan. 1, 1980
Dallas, TXNebraska 7 0 0 7 — 14
Houston 0 7 0 10 — 17
First Quarter
NEB — Jarvis Redwine, 9 yard run (Sukup kick) 5:13
Second Quarter
HOU — Terry Elston, 8 yard run (Hatfield kick) 12:17
Fourth Quarter
HOU — Ken Hatfield, 41 yard field goal 8:25
NEB — Jeff Finn, 6 yard pass from Jeff Quinn
(Sukup kick) 3:56
HOU — Eric Herring, 6 yard pass from Terry Elston
(Hatfield kick) :12
ATTENDANCE: 72,032
Nebraskans in attendance: 13,683
NU UH
First Downs 13 18
Rushing 7 11
Passing 6 6
Penalty 0 l
Rushing Attempts 41 61
Yards Rushing 138 224
Yards Lost Rushing 2 18
Net Yards Rushing 136 206
Net Yards Passing 91 119
Passes Attempted 22 19
Passes Completed 11 9
Had Intercepted . l 0
Total Offensive Plays 63 80
Total Net Yards 227 325
Average Gain Per Play 3.6 4.0
Fumbles: Number—Lost 1-1 7-3
Penalties: Number—Yards 7-90 2-22
Interceptions: Number—Yds 0-0 1-0
Number of Punts—Yards 10-406 7-294
Average Per Punt 40.6 42.0
Punt Returns: Number—Yds 3-58 3-18
Kickoff Returns: Number—Yds 3-44 3-64
RUSHING
NEBRASKA Att. Gain Lost Net TD Long
Redwine ... 17 60 2 58 1 9
Franklin .... 12 40 0 40 0 8
Hipp....... 3 8 0 8 0 6
Quinn...... 3 7 0 7 0 4
Brown ..... 3 3 0 3 0 3
Miller...... 1 1 0 1 0 1
Steels ...... 1 0 0 0 0 0
Hager...... 1 5 0 5 0 5
Johnson .... 2 14 0 14 0 14
Totals...... 41 138 2 136 1 14
HOUSTON Att. Gain Lost Net TD Long
Clark....... 19 52 8 44 0 8
Newhouse . . 14 61 0 61 0 10
Brown...... 6 18 4 14 0 9
Elston...... 22 93 6 87 1 9
Totals...... 61 224 18 206 1 10
PASSING
NEBRASKA Att. Com. Int. Yds TD Long
Quinn.......... 19 10 1 78 1 14
Redwine ....... 1 1 0 13 0 13
Miller......... 1 0 0 0 0 0
Hager ........ 1 0 0 0 0 0
Totals.......... 22 11 1 91 1 14
HOUSTON Att. Com. Int. Yds TD Long
Elston.......... 16 9 0 119 1 27
Brown.......... 3 0 0 0 0 0
Totals.......... 19 9 0 119 1 27
PASS RECEIVING
NEBRASKA No. Yds. TD Long
Brown, K. 5 30 0 9
Miller... 2 26 0 14
Quinn.... 1 13 0 13
Smith, T. 1 10 0 10
Finn .... 1 6 1 6
Redwine 1 6 0 6
Totals..... 11 91 1 14
HOUSTON No. Yds. TD Long
Herring... 5 51 1 15
Phea .... 2 47 0 27
Miller.... 1 18 0 18
Clark..... 1 3 0 3
Totals ... 9 119 1 27 |
|
ALL RETURNS
NEBRASKA Punts Kickoffs Inter.
Liegl...... 3-58
Steels..... 3-44
Cole ...... 1
Totals..... 3-58 3-44
HOUSTON Punts Kickoffs Inter.
Phea ...... 3-18
Wright .... 3-64
Bradley.... 1-0
Totals..... 3-18 3-64 1-0 |
PUNTING
NEBRASKA No. Yds. Avg. Long
Smith, T. 10 406 40.6 53
HOUSTON No. Yds. Avg. Long
Ford 7 294 42.0 50 |
|
FIELD GOALS
NEBRASKA Att. Made Long
Sukup 1 0 0
HOUSTON Att. Made Long
Hatfield 2 1 41 |
| DEFENSIVE STATISTICS |
|
| NEBRASKA | UT | AT | TT | TFL |
| Gary........... | 1 | 4 | 5 | - |
| Lindquist...... | 5 | 3 | 8 | - |
| Means.......... | 2 | - | 2 | - |
| McCrady........ | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| Davies......... | 1 | - | 1 | - |
| Seibel......... | - | 1 | 1 | - |
| Weinmaster..... | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1/1 |
| Horn........... | 4 | 1 | 5 | - |
| Clark.......... | 3 | - | 3 | 1/1 |
| Cole........... | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1/1 |
| Nelson......... | 5 | 5 | 10 | 1/4 |
| Pensick........ | 1 | 1 | 2 | - |
| Barnett........ | 3 | 6 | 9 | - |
| Potadle........ | - | 2 | 2 | - |
| LeRoy.......... | 7 | 1 | 8 | 1/2 |
| Baker.......... | 9 | 3 | 12 | 1/6 |
| Vering......... | 7 | 3 | 10 | 1/1 |
| B.Williams..... | 6 | 3 | 9 | 1/4 |
| Ruud........... | - | 1 | 1 | - |
| |
| HOUSTON | UT | AT | TT | TFL |
| Cook........... | 2 | - | 2 | - | |
| Hatfield....... | 5 | 3 | 8 | - |
| Chumchal....... | 2 | - | 2 | - |
| Bradley........ | 3 | 2 | 5 | - |
| Ebner.......... | 5 | 3 | 8 | 1/2 |
| D.Love......... | 6 | 2 | 8 | - |
| Redman......... | - | 1 | 1 | - |
| Proctor........ | 3 | 1 | 4 | - |
| Oglesby........ | 5 | - | 5 | - |
| H.Taylor....... | - | 2 | 2 | - |
| Wilkerson...... | 2 | 4 | 6 | - |
| Monroe......... | 1 | - | 1 | - |
| Hodge.......... | 3 | 5 | 8 | - |
| Turner......... | 6 | 6 | 12 | - |
| Adams.......... | 1 | - | 1 | - |
| Wright......... | 1 | - | 1 | - |
|
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