1981 Cotton Bowl Classic

The 1981 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 45th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, January 1. Part of the 1980–81 bowl game season, it matched the ninth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the #6 Baylor Bears of the Southwest Conference (SWC). Favored Alabama shut out the Baylor offense and won, 30–2.^[2][3][4]

1981 Cotton Bowl Classic
45th Cotton Bowl Classic
Alabama Crimson Tide Baylor Bears (9–2) (10–1) SEC SWC 30 2 Head coach:  Bear Bryant Head coach:  Grant Teaff AP Coaches 9 6 AP Coaches 6 7
1 2 3 4 Total Alabama 6 7 3 14 30 Baylor 2 0 0 0 2
Date	January 1, 1981
Season	1980
Stadium	Cotton Bowl
Location	Dallas, Texas
MVP	Warren Lyles (Alabama NG) Major Ogilvie (Alabama RB)
Favorite	Alabama by 3½ points[1]
Referee	Vance Carlson (Big Eight)
Attendance	74,281
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Lindsey Nelson (Play-by-play) Roger Staubach (Color) Frank Glieber (Sideline)
Cotton Bowl Classic  ← 1980  1982 →

The Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, hosted the Cotton Bowl Classic.

Teams

Main article: 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season

Alabama

Main article: 1980 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

Baylor

Main article: 1980 Baylor Bears football team

Game summary

Televised by CBS, the game kicked off shortly after 1 p.m. CST, at the same time as the Sugar Bowl on ABC.^[5]

Alabama took a 6–0 lead on a pair of Peter Kim field goals.^[6] Baylor responded later in the first quarter with its only points of the game when Tommy Tabor sacked Alabama quarterback Walter Lewis in the end zone for a safety to bring the score to 6–2.^[7] The Crimson Tide extended their lead to 13–2 at the half following a one-yard Major Ogilvie touchdown run in the second quarter.^[6]

After a third Kim field goal in the third, Alabama closed out the fourth quarter with a pair of touchdowns; Don Jacobs scored on a one-yard run, followed by Mark Nix from three yards out to make the final score 30–2.^[6] Alabama linebacker Warren Lyles was named the defensive MVP,^[8] and running back Ogilvie took the offensive honors.

Scoring

First quarter

• Alabama - Peter Kim 29-yard field goal
• Alabama - Kim 27-yard field goal
• Baylor - Safety, quarterback Walter Lewis tackled by Tommy Tabor in the end zone

Second quarter

• Alabama - Major Ogilvie 1-yard run (Kim kick)

Third quarter

• Alabama - Kim 42-yard field goal

Fourth quarter

• Alabama - Don Jacobs 1-yard run (Kim kick)
• Alabama - Mark Nix 2-yard run (George Mardini kick)

Source:^[2][3][4]

Statistics

Statistics	Alabama	Baylor
First Downs	17	13
Rushes–yards	67–241	35–54
Passing yards	98	104
Passes	5–12–0	12–27–3
Total Offense	79–339	62–158
Punts–average	6–37	7–35
Fumbles–lost	5–1	5–4
Turnovers	1	7
Penalties–yards	5–89	6–59

Source:^[2][3][4]

Aftermath

This was the final collegiate game for Baylor's All-American linebacker Mike Singletary, a future College and Pro Football Hall of Famer.

In the final AP poll, Alabama climbed to sixth and Baylor dropped to fourteenth.