1979 Fiesta Bowl

(10–1)

(6–4–1)

Head coach:
Jackie Sherrill

Head coach:
Tony Mason

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pittsburgh	3	3	7	3	16
Arizona	0	0	3	7	10

Date

December 25, 1979

Season

1979

Stadium

Sun Devil Stadium

Location

Tempe, Arizona

MVP

K Mark Schubert (Pittsburgh)
SS Dave Liggins (Arizona)

Attendance

55,347

United States TV coverage

Network

NBC

Announcers

Charlie Jones and Len Dawson

The 1979 Fiesta Bowl featured the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Arizona Wildcats.

Background

This was Pittsburgh's second Fiesta Bowl appearance. Arizona, despite finishing third in the Pacific-10 Conference, was invited to their first Fiesta Bowl game.

Game summary

Mark Schubert was the first kicker named MVP, with his three field goals helping the Panthers win a game that had four turnovers by Arizona and two by Pittsburgh. Schubert gave his team a lead they would never relinquish with his two field goals to have a 6-0 lead. Arizona responded with a Brett Weber field goal, but Benjie Pryor caught a touchdown pass from Dan Marino to increase the lead, as Schubert added in a field goal later to make it 16-3 at the end of three quarters. Arizona scored on a Hubert Oliver touchdown run to make it 16-10. After Pittsburgh punted the ball back to Arizona, the Wildcats looked to drive for the winning points with 1:05 left. But just seven seconds later, Jim Krohm's pass was intercepted by Terry White as the Panthers won their first Fiesta Bowl.^[1]

Aftermath

Pittsburgh would return to the Fiesta Bowl in 1984, but have not won one since this game. Arizona would finally win a bowl game in 1986, and later returned to the Fiesta Bowl in 1994.

Statistics

Statistics	Arizona	Pittsburgh
First Downs	20	20
Yards Rushing	91	127
Yards Passing	226	172
Return Yards	46	37
Total Yards	363	336
Punts-Average	4-39.8	5-34.2
Fumbles-Lost	2-1	1-0
Interceptions	3	2
Penalties-Yards	7-85	10-89

References

↑ https://www.fiestabowl.org/fiesta-bowl/fiesta-bowl-game-history/game-results-recaps/1979-fiesta-bowl.php

1979–80 NCAA football bowl game season

Garden State (Dec. 15) Independence (Dec. 15) Holiday (Dec. 21) Tangerine (Dec. 22) Liberty (Dec. 22) Sun (Dec. 22) Fiesta (Dec. 25) Gator (Dec. 28) Hall of Fame Classic (Dec. 29) Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) Peach (Dec. 31) Sugar (Jan. 1) Cotton (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Rose (Jan. 1)

Fiesta Bowl Game

History & conference tie-ins	History Sun Devil Stadium University of Phoenix Stadium College Football Playoff Broadcasters College Football Playoff At-Large Group of Five Bid

Games	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1997 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2014 2016 2016

Notes	The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1996, 1999, and 2003. There was a Fiesta Bowl in January and December in 1997, 2014, and 2016. The game will be a College Football Playoff semifinal in its December 2016 edition.

Arizona Wildcats bowl games

Pittsburgh Panthers bowl games

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