| 1979 Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 43rd Cotton Bowl Classic "The Chicken Soup Game" | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Cotton Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Dallas, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Joe Montana (Notre Dame QB) David Hodge (Houston LB) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Notre Dame by 3 points[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Pete Williams (SEC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 72,000 [3] (32,500 est. actual)[4] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Lindsey Nelson, Paul Hornung, and Frank Glieber | ||||||||||||||||||||
The 1979 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 43rd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, on Monday, January 1. Part of the 1978–79 bowl game season, it matched the tenth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, an independent, and the #9 Houston Cougars of the Southwest Conference (SWC).
Popularly called the Chicken Soup Game,[5] it took place on an unusually cold day, the day after the worst ice storm in Dallas in thirty years.[6][7] Quarterback Joe Montana, who had the flu,[7] rallied Notre Dame to victory in the second half after eating a bowl of chicken soup. [8] The Irish outscored the Cougars 23–0 in the fourth quarter, scoring the game-tying touchdown and game-winning extra point with no time remaining.[9]
- ^ "Houston, Irish want to have fun". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 1, 1979. p. 32.
- ^ "Irish are 'serious' for Cougs". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 1, 1979. p. 21.
- ^ "1979 Classic Recap" (PDF). cottonbowl.com. January 1, 1979.
- ^ "Montana, Haines team up final time for Notre Dame". Pittsburgh Press. January 2, 1979. p. B4.
- ^ "The List: Greatest Bowl Games". ESPN. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
- ^ "Notre Dame hot on Dallas ice". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. January 2, 1979. p. 25.
- ^ a b Looney, Douglas S. (January 8, 1979). "Cotton Bowl". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
- ^ Anderson, Dave (January 18, 1994). "Joe Cool has coped with cold". New York Times. p. B13.
- ^ "Long-practiced pass gives Irish victory over Houston, weather". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. January 2, 1979. p. 2D.