1981 Orange Bowl

1981 Orange Bowl
47th Orange Bowl
Oklahoma Sooners Florida State Seminoles
(9–2) (10–1)
Big 8 Independent
18 17
Head coach: 
Barry Switzer		 Head coach: 
Bobby Bowden
APCoaches
44
APCoaches
22
1234 Total
Oklahoma 0378 18
Florida State 0737 17
DateJanuary 1, 1981
Season1980
StadiumOrange Bowl
LocationMiami, Florida
MVPJ. C. Watts (Oklahoma QB)
Jarvis Coursey (FSU DE)
FavoriteOklahoma by 5½ points [1]
RefereeGene Calhoun (Big Ten)
Attendance71,043
United States TV coverage
NetworkNBC
AnnouncersDon Criqui and John Brodie
Orange Bowl
 < 1980  1982 > 

The 1981 Orange Bowl was the 47th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, January 1. Part of the 1980–81 bowl game season, it matched the fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners of the Big Eight Conference and the independent #2 Florida State Seminoles.[2][3]

Favored Oklahoma rallied to win by a point, 18–17.[4][5][6][7][8]

  1. ^ "Latest line". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 1, 1981. p. 25.
  2. ^ "Seminoles, Oklahoma looking for opening". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. January 1, 1981. p. 46.
  3. ^ Axelrod, Phil (January 1, 1981). "Layoff worries Oklahoma". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 24.
  4. ^ Axelrod, Phil (January 2, 1981). "Sooners nip Florida St". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 13.
  5. ^ "Watts rates Sooners 3rd". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. January 2, 1981. p. 20.
  6. ^ "Sooners shock Florida State, 18-17". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 2, 1981. p. 3D.
  7. ^ "Two-point conversion caps comeback for Oklahoma". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. January 2, 1981. p. 20.
  8. ^ Eidge, Frank (January 2, 1981). "Sooners rally to 18-17 win". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). UPI. p. 14.