1977 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl
The 1977 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 31, 1977, at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The game pitted the Texas A&M Aggies and the USC Trojans.
Background
The Trojans started the season ranked #4, and they won their first four games to rise to #1 in the polls before a matchup with #7 Alabama at home. A 21–20 loss dropped them to #6, and they responded with a win over Oregon. But losses to #11 Notre Dame and California dropped them to #16. A win over Stanford was soon followed with a loss to Washington that dropped them out of the rankings, though they did beat #17 UCLA to finish the season strong, albeit tied for 2nd with Stanford in the Pacific-8 Conference. This was their seventh bowl game of the decade. As for Texas A&M, they started the season ranked at #9, and they responded with three victories to rise to #5 in the polls heading into a matchup with #3 Michigan in Ann Arbor. A 41–3 loss dropped them to #13, though they did win their next three games to get to #11 before a game with #8 Arkansas. A 26–20 loss dropped them to #14, though they did beat TCU the next week. A 57–28 loss to #1 Texas killed their hopes for a conference title, though they finished with a 27–7 win over Houston, with a third-place finish in the Southwest Conference. This was their third bowl game in three years, and second in the calendar year of 1977.Game summary
- Texas A&M - Woodard 3-yard touchdown run
- Texas A&M - Mosley 44-yard touchdown run
- USC - Sweeney 29-yard touchdown pass from Hertel
- USC - White 25-yard touchdown pass from Hertel
- USC - Jordan 22-yard field goal
- USC - Jordan 29-yard field goal
- USC - Sweeney 40-yard touchdown pass from Hertel
- USC - Simmrin 14-yard touchdown pass from Hertel
- Texas A&M - Woodard 1-yard touchdown run
- USC - Ford 94-yard touchdown run
- USC - Tatupu 8-yard touchdown run
- Texas A&M - Armstrong 4-yard touchdown run