1979 Sugar Bowl
| 1979 Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Louisiana Superdome | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Bill Jennings (Big Eight) | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1979 Sugar Bowl was the 45th edition of the Sugar Bowl, which was played on January 1, 1979, in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the Louisiana Superdome. The matchup featured the #1–ranked, 11–0 Penn State Nittany Lions and the #2–ranked, 10–1 Alabama Crimson Tide. A 14–7 victory gave Alabama head coach Bear Bryant his fifth National Championship.
The game marked the official debut of Alabama's "Big Al" costumed elephant mascot.
Penn State had high expectations coming into the 1978 season. The previous year, Penn State had gone 11–1 and won the 1977 Fiesta Bowl, with their only loss coming in a four-point heartbreaker to Kentucky at home. The 1978 Penn State squad would not disappoint. After surviving a very close opener against Temple, Penn State rolled the rest of the season to a perfect 11–0 record. While some games were relatively close, the Nittany Lions generally won with ease. The defense, ranked #1 in the nation in scoring defense, led the charge, as they held opposing teams to ten points or less a grand total of eight times, three of which were shutouts. In the final week of the regular season, Penn State defeated rival Pittsburgh 17–10 to finish an undefeated regular season.
Alabama, too, had high expectations coming into the 1978 season. The previous year, Alabama had gone 11–1, losing only to Nebraska, and steamrolled Ohio State in the 1978 Sugar Bowl. Coming into that day, Alabama was third in the country, and when the top two teams lost, the Crimson Tide thought they were national champions. It was not to be, however, as Notre Dame, ranked fifth in the nation rolled over #1 Texas in the 1978 Cotton Bowl Classic, and subsequently jumped from 5th to 1st to become national champions. Feeling robbed, the Crimson Tide used it as motivation for the 1978 season. Alabama, however, would suffer an early season loss to USC at Legion Field. Bryant, who as athletics director made the schedules, later admitted he made a mistake and scheduled out of conference opponents that were too difficult; the schedule included a brutal opener against Nebraska, then against Missouri, and finally against USC, before facing Washington later in the season. The Tide, however, rebounded quite well from the loss, and went on a tear. Aside from a narrow victory against Washington, the defending Rose Bowl champions, in Seattle, Alabama dominated the rest of the schedule. After beating in-state rival Auburn 34–16 in the annual Iron Bowl, Alabama finished the season 10–1 and in the thick of the national championship race.
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