1980 Garden State Bowl

1980 Garden State Bowl
Navy Midshipmen Houston Cougars
(8–3) (6–5)
0 35
Head coach: 
George Welsh		 Head coach: 
Bill Yeoman
1234 Total
Navy 0000 0
Houston 141470 35
DateDecember 14, 1980
Season1980
StadiumGiants Stadium
LocationEast Rutherford, New Jersey
MVPRB Terald Clark (Houston)
Attendance41,417[1]
PayoutUS$400,000[2]
United States TV coverage
NetworkMizlou Television Network
AnnouncersBob Murphy, Al DeRogatis, and Howard David
Garden State Bowl
 < 1979  1981 > 

The 1980 Garden State Bowl, part of the 1980 bowl game season, took place on December 14, 1980, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The competing teams were the Navy Midshipmen, which competed as a football independent, and the Houston Cougars, representing the Southwest Conference (SWC). Houston dominated both sides of the ball in their 35–0 shutout of the Midshipmen. This would prove to be Houston's last bowl game win for almost three decades, until the 2008 Armed Forces Bowl, when the Cougars finally snapped an eight-game bowl losing streak.[3]

  1. ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "Bowl/All-Star Game Records" (PDF). 2011 NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA.org. p. 37. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  2. ^ Rosenblatt, Richard (December 14, 1980). "Navy, Houston battle today in Garden State Bowl game". The TimesDaily. United Press International. p. 29. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  3. ^ "Houston gets first bowl win since 1980". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 31, 2008. Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2011.