- 1979 Cotton Bowl Classic
-
1979 Cotton Bowl Classic Houston Cougars Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-2) (8-3) 34 35 Head coach:
Bill YeomanHead coach:
Dan DevineAP Coaches 9 11 AP Coaches 10 9 1 2 3 4 Total Houston 7 13 14 0 34 Notre Dame 12 0 0 23 35 Date January 1, 1979 Stadium Cotton Bowl Location Dallas, Texas, USA Attendance 32,500 United States TV coverage Network CBS Announcers: Lindsey Nelson, Paul Hornung Cotton Bowl Classic < 1978 1980 > The 1979 Cotton Bowl Classic, popularly called the Chicken Soup Game[1], was a football game played between the University of Notre Dame and the University of Houston. The game took place on an unusually cold day in Dallas, Texas, played the day after Dallas's worst ice storm in 30 years. Quarterback Joe Montana, who had the flu, led Notre Dame to a come-from-behind victory in the second half after eating a bowl of chicken soup.[2]
Contents
The game
In the first quarter, Notre Dame scored the first 12 points of the game, but Houston scored a touchdown off of a turnover. Aided by the direction of the wind, Houston gained the lead in the second quarter and led 20-12 at halftime. When the teams returned to the field to start the second half, Joe Montana remained in the locker room.[1]
During the game, Montana's body temperature had dipped to 96 degrees and he had to fight off hypothermia. He was forced to retire to the locker room where the ND medical staff warmed Montana by feeding him chicken bouillon, and by covering him with warm blankets.[3]
By the fourth quarter, Houston had built a 34-12 lead over Notre Dame. Montana returned to the field with 7:37 remaining on the game clock and was cheered actively by the Notre Dame fans.[3] In the last seconds of the game, Notre Dame was behind, but had possession of the ball. With six seconds left, Montana threw the ball out of bounds, which stopped the game clock and just two seconds remained.[3]
The final play was a touchdown pass to receiver Kris Haines after the clock had stopped; placekicker Joe Unis was forced to kick the extra point twice after a Notre Dame penalty, but was successful both times, and Notre Dame won the game 35-34.[4]
A strong wind from the north impacted both the temperature and the outcome of the game; nearly all of the game's 69 combined points were scored by the team defending the north end zone.
Aftermath
The game is one of the most notable games in Montana's entire football career (both collegiate and professional).[3] It was his final game for Notre Dame and helped to reinforce his image with football fans as "The Comeback Kid." Six-months after the game, Notre Dame put out a promotional film called Seven and a Half Minutes to Destiny. Dan Devine, Notre Dame's head coach, called the movie a "Joe Montana film."[3]
Years later, the game has become recognized as one of the most important games in the history of college bowl games.
References
- ^ a b "The List: Greatest Bowl Games". espn.com. http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/bestbowls.html. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
- ^ Dave Anderson, "Joe Cool Has Coped With Cold." New York Times, January 18, 1994, http://www.proquest.com/ (accessed November 26, 2007).
- ^ a b c d e "Born to be a quarterback". cnnsi.com. August 13, 1999. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/centurys_best/news/1999/08/13/flashback_montana2/. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- ^ Mike Jones, "Irish windfall thaws UH lead, 35-34," Dallas Morning News, January 2, 1979, http://www.whas11.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/cottonbowl/history/1979.html (accessed November 26, 2007).
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/nd/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/FBRecSuppBowlRecaps.pdf
External links
- Irishlegends.com - Review of the game
Cotton Bowl Classic History | Cotton Bowl | Cowboys Stadium | Broadcasters 1937 | 1938 | 1939
1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949
1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959
1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 (Jan) | 1966 (Dec) | 1968 | 1969
1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979
1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999
2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009
2010 | 2011 | 2012Houston Cougars bowl games 1952 Salad Bowl • 1962 Tangerine Bowl • 1969 Bluebonnet Bowl • 1971 Bluebonnet Bowl • 1973 Bluebonnet Bowl • 1974 Bluebonnet Bowl • 1977 Cotton Bowl Classic • 1979 Cotton Bowl Classic • 1980 Cotton Bowl Classic • 1980 Garden State Bowl • 1981 Sun Bowl • 1985 Cotton Bowl Classic • 1988 Aloha Bowl • 1996 Liberty Bowl • 2003 Hawai'i Bowl • 2005 Fort Worth Bowl • 2006 Liberty Bowl • 2007 Texas Bowl • 2008 Armed Forces Bowl • 2009 Armed Forces BowlNotre Dame Fighting Irish bowl games 1925 Rose Bowl • 1970 Cotton Bowl Classic • 1971 Cotton Bowl Classic • 1973 Orange Bowl • 1973 Sugar Bowl • 1975 Orange Bowl • 1976 Gator Bowl • 1978 Cotton Bowl Classic • 1979 Cotton Bowl Classic • 1981 Sugar Bowl • 1983 Liberty Bowl • 1984 Aloha Bowl • 1988 Cotton Bowl Classic • 1989 Fiesta Bowl • 1990 Orange Bowl • 1991 Orange Bowl • 1992 Sugar Bowl • 1993 Cotton Bowl Classic • 1994 Cotton Bowl Classic • 1995 Fiesta Bowl • 1996 Orange Bowl (January) • 1997 Independence Bowl • 1999 Gator Bowl • 2001 Fiesta Bowl • 2003 Gator Bowl • 2004 Insight Bowl • 2006 Fiesta Bowl • 2007 Sugar Bowl • 2008 Hawaii Bowl • 2010 Sun BowlCategories:- Cotton Bowl Classic
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish football bowl games
- Houston Cougars football bowl games
- 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.