1980 Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||
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44th Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Date | January 1, 1980 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Season | 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stadium | Cotton Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Dallas, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||
MVP | Terry Elston (Houston QB) David Hodge (Houston LB) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Favorite | Nebraska by 3½ points[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Referee | Robert Aillet (SEC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 72,032 | ||||||||||||||||||||
United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | Lindsey Nelson (Play-by-play 1st qtr only),[3] Frank Glieber (Sideline 1st, then play-by-play), and Paul Hornung | ||||||||||||||||||||
The 1980 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 44th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday, January 1. Part of the 1979–80 bowl game season, it matched the seventh-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference and the #8 Houston Cougars of the Southwest Conference (SWC). A slight underdog,[1][2] Houston rallied to win, 17–14.[4][5][6]