1982 Sugar Bowl


The 1982 Sugar Bowl was the 48th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1981 [NCAA Division I-A football season#Bowl games|1981–82 bowl game] season, it matched the No. 2 1981 [Georgia Bulldogs football team|Georgia Bulldogs] of the Southeastern Conference, the defending College football [national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|national champions], and the No. 8 1981 [Pittsburgh Panthers football team|Pittsburgh Panthers], an NCAA [Division I FBS independent schools|independent]. The slight underdog Panthers won the game

Game summary

The game kicked off shortly after 7 p.m. CST, televised by ABC, at the same time as the Orange Bowl on NBC.
Junior quarterback Dan Marino, a future first round draft pick, started for Pittsburgh and Buck Belue for Georgia. The Bulldogs relied on their running game, powered by sophomore Herschel Walker, who rushed for two touchdowns. Scoreless in the first quarter, Georgia led early with an 8-yard run from Walker, then Pitt kicked a field goal and the score was 7–3 at halftime.
Scoring increased in the second half, with five lead changes. The Panthers scored a touchdown to go ahead 10–7; Georgia got the lead back and the game was 13–10 at the end of the third quarter. Marino threw a short touchdown to John Brown to take back the lead at Georgia scored again with a 6-yard pass and the game was Pitt reclaimed the lead with just 35 seconds to go with a 33-yard pass from Marino to Brown on 4th and 4 and won

Scoring

First quarter
Second quarter
  • Georgia – Herschel Walker 8-yard run
  • Pitt – Snuffy Everett 41-yard field goal
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
  • Pitt – John Brown 6-yard pass from Marino
  • Georgia – Clarence Kay 6-yard pass from Buck Belue
  • Pitt – Brown 33-yard pass from Marino

Aftermath

Pittsburgh moved up to fourth in the final polls, while the Bulldogs dropped to sixth It has often been called one of the greatest bowl games, and bowl upsets, of all time. It also marks the last time the Pitt Panthers won a major bowl game.
This was Jackie Sherrill's final game at Pitt. Eighteen days after the Sugar Bowl, he agreed to a six-year, $1.7-million contract to become head coach and athletic director at Texas A&M. Defensive coordinator Foge Fazio was promoted to succeed Sherrill.

Legacy

Twenty-two Pittsburgh Panthers were drafted over the next four years by the National Football League. Six of them were selected in the first round, including Marino, Jim Covert, Tim Lewis, Bill Maas, Chris Doleman, and Bill Fralic. Marino, Covert and Doleman were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Covert and Tom Flynn played for the winning teams to win a Super Bowl, four years later in Super Bowl XX with the Chicago Bears season|Chicago Bears], also played in the Superdome.
Tom Flynn, Free Safety for Pitt also won a Super Bowl XXI with the New York Giants when they beat Denver.