1982 Sugar Bowl

The 1982 Sugar Bowl featured the second ranked Georgia Bulldogs and the eighth ranked Pittsburgh Panthers. The Panthers won the game, and left ranked fourth in the country, while the losing Bulldogs left the game ranked sixth in the country. It has often been called one of the greatest bowl games, and bowl upsets, of all time.^[1]

Game

Dan Marino, eventually a first round draft pick, started the game at quarterback. Buck Belue started for Georgia, but the Bulldogs were relying on their running game, powered by Herschel Walker, who rushed for two touchdowns.^[2] Georgia led early with an 8-yard run from Walker. However, Pitt kicked a field goal and scored a touchdown to go ahead 10–7. Georgia got the lead back and the game was 13–10 (as a result of a missed PAT), but Dan Marino threw a short touchdown to John Brown to take the lead 17-13. Georgia scored again with a 6-yard pass and the game was 20–17. Pitt took the lead again with just 35 seconds to go with a 33-yard pass to Brown, taking it for good, and won 24–20.

Legacy

Twenty-two players from the winning team were drafted over the next four years by the National Football League.^[3] Six of them were selected in the first round, including Dan Marino, Jim Covert, Tim Lewis, Bill Maas, Chris Doleman, and Bill Fralic. Marino and Doleman were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Covert is the only player on the winning team to win a Super Bowl, four years later with the Chicago Bears. Coincidentally, the Louisiana Superdome was also the site of Super Bowl XX, where Covert and the Bears won.

References

1981–82 NCAA football bowl game season

Independence (Dec. 12) Garden State (Dec. 13) Holiday (Dec. 18) Tangerine (Dec. 19) California (Dec. 19) Sun (Dec. 26) Gator (Dec. 28) Liberty (Dec. 30) Peach (Dec. 31) Hall of Fame Classic (Dec. 31) Astro-Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) Orange (Jan. 1) Fiesta (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) Cotton (Jan. 1) Rose (Jan. 1)

Sugar Bowl Game

History & conference tie-ins	History Tulane Stadium Georgia Dome Mercedes-Benz Superdome College Football Playoff Broadcasters Southeastern Conference Big 12 Conference

Games	1935 1936 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 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1972 1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Notes	The 2006 game took place in Atlanta, Georgia due to Hurricane Katrina. The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004. There was a Sugar Bowl in January and December in 1972 and 1995. The game was a College Football Playoff semifinal in its 2015 edition.

Georgia Bulldogs bowl games

Pittsburgh Panthers bowl games

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