1979 Fiesta Bowl
The 1979 Fiesta Bowl featured the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Arizona Wildcats.
Background
This was Pittsburgh's second Fiesta Bowl appearance. Arizona, despite finishing third in the Pacific-10 Conference, was invited to their first Fiesta Bowl game.
Game summary
Mark Schubert was the first kicker named MVP, with his three field goals helping the Panthers win a game that had four turnovers by Arizona and two by Pittsburgh. Schubert gave his team a lead they would never relinquish with his two field goals to have a 6-0 lead. Arizona responded with a Brett Weber field goal, but Benjie Pryor caught a touchdown pass from Dan Marino to increase the lead, as Schubert added in a field goal later to make it 16-3 at the end of three quarters. Arizona scored on a Hubert Oliver touchdown run to make it 16-10. After Pittsburgh punted the ball back to Arizona, the Wildcats looked to drive for the winning points with 1:05 left. But just seven seconds later, Jim Krohm's pass was intercepted by Terry White as the Panthers won their first Fiesta Bowl.[1]
Aftermath
Pittsburgh would return to the Fiesta Bowl in 1984, but have not won one since this game. Arizona would finally win a bowl game in 1986, and later returned to the Fiesta Bowl in 1994.
Statistics
| Statistics | Arizona | Pittsburgh |
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| First Downs | 20 | 20 |
| Yards Rushing | 91 | 127 |
| Yards Passing | 226 | 172 |
| Return Yards | 46 | 37 |
| Total Yards | 363 | 336 |
| Punts-Average | 4-39.8 | 5-34.2 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-1 | 1-0 |
| Interceptions | 3 | 2 |
| Penalties-Yards | 7-85 | 10-89 |
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References
1979–80 NCAA football bowl game season |
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- Tie-In
- College Football Playoff At-Large or Group of Five Bid
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