1980 Fiesta Bowl

1980 Fiesta Bowl
10th edition
1234 Total
Penn State 73714 31
Ohio State 61300 19
DateDecember 26, 1980
Season1980
StadiumSun Devil Stadium
LocationTempe, Arizona
MVPCurt Warner (Penn State RB)
Frank Case  (Penn State DE)
FavoriteOhio State by 1 point[1]
RefereeKen Faulkner (SWC)
Attendance66,738
United States TV coverage
NetworkNBC
AnnouncersCharlie Jones, Len Dawson
Fiesta Bowl
 < 1979  1982

The 1980 Fiesta Bowl was the tenth edition of the college football bowl game, played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona on Friday, December 26. Part of the 1980–81 bowl game season, it matched the tenth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions and the #11 Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference. A slight underdog,[1] independent Penn State rallied in the second half to win, 31–19.[2][3][4][5]

This was the last Fiesta Bowl played in December until 1997.

  1. ^ a b "Latest line". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 26, 1980. p. 16.
  2. ^ Fink, David (December 27, 1980). "Lions' better half overcomes Ohio State". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 9.
  3. ^ "Buckeyes haunted by a frosh quarterback". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. December 27, 1980. p. 1B.
  4. ^ "Shunned frosh leads Lion win". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). Associated Press. December 27, 1980. p. 1D.
  5. ^ "Second-half scoring leads PSU to Fiesta win". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). UPI. December 27, 1980. p. 13.