1984 Cotton Bowl Classic

1984 Cotton Bowl Classic
48th Cotton Bowl Classic
1234 Total
Georgia 3007 10
Texas 3060 9
DateJanuary 2, 1984
Season1983
StadiumCotton Bowl
LocationDallas, Texas
MVPJohn Lastinger (Georgia QB)
Jeff Leiding (Texas LB)
FavoriteTexas by 7½ points
RefereeHoward Roe (Big Eight)
Attendance67,891
United States TV coverage
NetworkCBS
AnnouncersLindsey Nelson, Pat Haden
Cotton Bowl Classic
 < 1983  1985

The 1984 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 48th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1983–84 bowl game season, it matched the undefeated and second-ranked Texas Longhorns of the Southwest Conference (SWC) and the #7 Georgia Bulldogs of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Underdog Georgia rallied with a late touchdown to win, 10–9.

New Year's Day was on Sunday in 1984, and the major college bowl games were played the following day.

Teams

Georgia

The Bulldogs tied Clemson on the road in September, and lost at home to Auburn in November. That win also gave Auburn the SEC championship and an automatic berth to the Sugar Bowl . It was Georgia's third appearance in the Cotton Bowl.

Texas

The Longhorns had won all eleven games and had a regular season winning streak of seventeen games.

Game summary

Televised by CBS, the game kicked off shortly after 12:30 p.m. CST, as did the Fiesta Bowl on NBC.

Texas drove deep on its first possession, but settled for a 22-yard field goal by Jeff Ward. Georgia's Kevin Butler made one from 43 yards to tie the game in the closing seconds of the first quarter. The second quarter was scoreless.

Ward added six more points with two more field goals of 40 and 27 yards in the third quarter, and Texas led 9–3 with less than five minutes to play. A Chip Andrews (Georgia) muffed punt by Texas defensive back Craig Curry late in the fourth quarter allowed Georgia quarterback John Lastinger to run 17 yards for a touchdown with 3:22 left to play to capture a 10–9 victory. The loss was the first for the Longhorns, costing them a possible national title.

Scoring

First quarter

  • Texas - Jeff Ward 22-yard field goal
  • Georgia - Kevin Butler 43-yard field goal

Second quarter

No scoring

Third quarter

  • Texas - Ward 40-yard field goal
  • Texas - Ward 27-yard field goal

Fourth quarter

  • Georgia - John Lastinger 17-yard run (Butler kick)
Source:

Statistics

Statistics  Georgia     Texas   
First Downs 13 14
Yards Rushing 45–149 47–110
Yards Passing 66 168
Passing 6–20–1 8–26–2
Total Offense 65–215 73–278
Punts–Average 9–41 7–46
Fumbles–Lost 2–1 4–2
Turnovers 2 4
Penalties–Yards 3–25 6–52
Time of possession 29:41 30:19
Source:

Aftermath

That night in the Orange Bowl, the #5 Miami Hurricanes upset top-ranked Nebraska, 31–30. Miami moved past Nebraska and the Longhorns to secure their first national championship. Georgia climbed to fourth in the final AP poll, and Texas fell to fifth.


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