1982 NCAA Tournament
The 1982 Tournament was based on the final AP rankings. Last year's champion PIttsburgh was defeated in the first round by Washington in overtime. In the first round #16 Oklahoma upset #1 Penn St. The first time a #1 ever lost in the first round. #13 Florida St also upset #4 Georgia, #11 LSU upset #6 Arizona St., and #15 USC upset #2 SMU.
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National Semi Final #1 (Oklahoma Sooners at Florida St Seminoles)
December 25, 1982 @ Doak S. Campbell Stadium, Temp 76, Partly Cloudy, 16 mph slight crosswind
The Oklahoma Sooners became the first 16 seed to ever make it to the final four. They knocked off #1 Penn St and #8 Clemson to get here. They are looking to be the first school to make it to five championship games as well as claim their first championship.
Their opponent, the 13 seed Florida St Seminoles combine with Oklahoma for the highest combined seed total to play in a semi-final (29). The Sooners scored on the opening drive of the game. Fred Sims ran in from four yards out putting Oklahoma up 7-0. Florida State punted and the Sooners controlled the clock cashing in with a Stanley Wilson touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter to up their lead to 14-0. On the Seminoles second possession Greg Allen fumbled on their first play of the drive. Three plays later Marcus Dupree found paydirt with a six yard run and the Sooners were up 21-0 on touchdowns by three different running backs. That lead would end up being more than enough. Florida State never could get anything going on offense. Sims and Dupree would each score again in the second half to run the score up to 35-0. Then to top off the scoring, the Sooners blocked a punt late in the game and John Blake scooped and scored to make the final 42-0. MVP: Fred Sims (Oklahoma) 75 yds rushing, 2 TD, 1 catch 10 yds. Oklahoma had 33 first downs to Florida State's 14. For Oklahoma, Danny Bradley 3/7, 29 yds, 43 rush yds...Marcus Dupree 89 yds, 2 TD...Stanley Wilson 71 yds, TD...Fred Sims 75 yds, 2 TD...Weldon Ledbetter 76 yds...Thomas Benson 10 Tkl, FF... For Florida St, Kelly Lowrey 12/26, 126 yds...Greg Allen 54 yds...Ricky Williams 51 yds...Dennis McKinnon 2 rec, 40 yds...Tommy Young 13 Tkl...Ken Roe 10 Tkl. |
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National Semi Final #2 (USC Trojans at Nebraska Cornhuskers)
December 25, 1982 @ Memorial Stadium, Temp 21, Partly Cloudy, No wind
They are back again...
Nebraska returns to the semi-finals for the third consecutive year. The first school to ever do so. They tie Oklahoma with appearances now the final four. They still have yet to win a championship, but this may be their best chance yet. As the #3 seed, they are the only single digit seed remaining. Standing in their way first is the USC Trojans. USC is making their third appearance in the final four, their first since 1976. Nebraska took the opening kick off and went right down the field, scoring on a seven yard TD run by Jeff Smith. The home crowd was fired up thinking this was going to be easy. When USC quarterback Sean Salisbury was sacked and fumbled the ball away on the Trojans first play, the stadium shook even more. Mike Knox's recovery set up the Cornhuskers at the USC 28 yard line. However on the ensuing play Turner Gill tried to force a pass into Todd Brown and it was intercepted by Darrel Hopper. Those two plays were more an indicator of what was to come. The defenses settled in and the teams slugged it out up and down the field. USC got a 27 yard field goal by Steve Jordan early in the 2nd quarter. At the half, Nebraska had a 7-3 lead. USC got the ball to start the second half and Jordan kicked a 26 yard field goal to bring USC to within a point a 7-6. Midway through the 3rd quarter Nebraska surprised USC with their rarely used passing game. Turner Gill tossed a quick pass to Irving Fryar and Fryar busted lose for a 38 yard gain. On the next play Gill found Shane Swanson for 20 yards. But he fumbled on the way to the ground and Doug Wilkening saved the day for Nebraska by falling on it. That turned out to be a huge play as Mike Rozier would later cap the drive with a one yard TD run. Nebraska takes a 14-6 lead into the fourth quarter. The Cornhusker defense made that lead stand up as they forced two punts and a turnover on downs on USC's last three possessions of the game. MVP: Steve Damkroger (Nebraska) Defense: 6 tkl, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble For USC: Sean Salisbury 10/28, 74 yds...Todd Spencer 53 yds...Pat McCool 3 rec, 33 yds...Keith Browner 11 tkl...George Achica 10 tkl...Byron Darby 10 tkl. For Nebraska: Turner Gill 5/9, 100 yds, 32 yds rushing...Mike Rozier 65 yds, TD...Jeff Smith 40 yds, TD...Irving Fryar 1 rec, 38 yds... |
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National Championship (Oklahoma Sooners vs Nebraska Cornhuskers)
January 1st, 1983 @ The Orange Bowl
You could say this championship game has been 13 years in the making. Nebraska and Oklahoma are two of the top three schools in tournament history. Since starting in 1970, each of these schools have appeared in four previous final fours (never against each other). Oklahoma appeared four times in the 70's. Nebraska appeared in the first two seasons (70 & 71). They now become the first school to appear in three straight championship games. One of these way overdue schools is about to win their first championship.
Nebraska received the opening kick and quickly went right down the field. Roger Craig scored on a three yard run and the Huskers grab an early 7-0 lead. The teams exchanged punts and then Oklahoma took advantage of a short field and cashed in with a 19 yard Mike Keeling field goal to make the score 7-3. It didn't stay that way long. Nebraska scored in just four plays to extend their lead. Mike Rozier ripped off a 66 yard run to set up the Husker offense. Turner Gill scored from a yard out to make it a 14-3 game heading to the second quarter. The Sooners first possession of the second quarter resulted in points as Marcus Dupree capped a nice drive with a six yard TD run. It's now a 14-10 game early in the second quarter. Once again, the Nebraska offense responded quickly. This time it was via the air. Gill hooked up with Todd Brown for a rare touchdown pass. The 21 yard strike put the Huskers up 21-10 half way through the quarter. Oklahoma now had their turn to answer. They did with a long drive that ate up almost the rest of the half. Keeling kicked a 35 yard field goal just before halftime to make the score 21-13 after one half of entertaining football. The Sooners received the second half kick off and on the second play Dupree busted a sweep outside for an electric 75 yard touchdown. The Sooners elected to go for two points and try and tie the game. Quarterback Danny Bradley kept the ball on a sweep but was tossed down for a loss of one yard and a failed attempt. The score now is 21-19. The Sooner defense was now inspired seeing their offense get them back in the game. They forced Nebraska into a three and out and got their offense back onto the field. The Sooners used a five minute drive to set up Keeling for another field goal. His 29 yard attempt was good, and the Sooners now lead the game 22-21 about halfway through the third quarter. Nebraska's offense sputtered to another three and out and the Oklahoma looked to extend their lead. They were able to move to the Nebraska 15 yard line before stalling. Keeling came on but his 32 yard try was no good. The game heads to the fourth quarter with Oklahoma clinging to their one point lead. They didn't cling to their lead for long. The Cornhuskers capped off a drive they started at the end of the third quarter with a three yard TD run by Mike Rozier. Nebraska went for the 2 point conversion and Rozier converted a two yard run. Nebraska was now back in front 29-22 with 10:30 to play in the game. Oklahoma's offense started on their own 17 yard line needing a touchdown to tie the game. They managed to only get to their own 48 yard line before facing 4th and nine. They elected to punt and hope their defense could get the ball back. Nebraska's Irving Fryar fielded the punt at his own 13 yard line instead of letting the ball roll. On his return he was hit hard and fumbled at the 24 yard line. Darrell Songy recovered for Oklahoma and the Sooners were back in business. The Sooners soon found themselves facing a 4th and three from the Nebraska 17 yard line. Fred Sims converted with a nine yard run. First and goal for Oklahoma with 3:13 to play in the game. On second and goal from the nine, Dupree got outside the Huskers defense and found the endzone. Keeling's extra point was good and the game was tied at 29-29 with 2:48 to play. What happened next was the most fascinating three minutes in championship game history. Nebraska started at their own 29 yard line. Fryar who had fumbled the punt minutes ago, got the call on an end run. He was grabbed from behind and lost the ball again. Bob Slater recovered and set up Oklahoma at the Nebraska 29 yard line. It took just four plays for Fred Sims to find the endzone with a five yard run putting the Sooners on top 36-29 with just 1:42 remaining in the game. Fryar returned the ensuing kick to the Nebraska 40 yard line giving the Husker offense good field position. Gill and Rozier ran the ball effectively, getting first downs and killing the clock effectively. With 40 seconds left they had a first down at the Sooners 23 yard line. A Rozier run and a defensive holding penalty made it first and goal from the five yard line. Rozier then scored his second TD of the game pulling the Huskers to within a point. Kevin Seibel's extra point tied the game with 15 seconds left. The Sooners took a knee and the game headed to overtime tied at 36-36. Nebraska won the coin toss and elected to play defense first. Oklahoma ran three times and found themselves with a fourth and one from the 16 yard line. They decided to forgo the field goal attempt and they went for it. Stanley Wilson picked up the yard, barely and their drive continued. They moved a few more yards, down to the nine yard line. From there Keeling kicked a 26 yard field goal to put the Sooners up 39-36. Nebraska would now get a chance to answer. And answer they did. On their first play they called an outside run for Rozier. He hit the corner with great blocking ahead of him. 25 yards later he was in the endzone and the Nebraska Cornhuskers had their first championship. They win 42-39. MVP: Mike Rozier (Nebraska): Rushing 212 yds, 3 TD For Oklahoma: Danny Bradley 5/6, 40 yds, 28 yds rushing...Marcus Dupree 137 yds, 3 TD...Fred Sims 63 yds, TD...David Carter 2 rec, 23 yds...Thomas Benson 10 tkl For Nebraska: Turner Gill 4/8, 44 yds, TD, 35 yds rushing..Mike Rozier 212 yds, 3 TD...Todd Brown 2 rec, 20 yds...Allen Lyday 11 tkl...Steve McWirter 10 tkl...Steve Damkroger 10 tkl. |
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