1981 Liberty Bowl

The 1981 Liberty Bowl, a college football postseason bowl game, was played on December 30, 1981, in Memphis, Tennessee, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. The 23rd edition of the Liberty Bowl featured the Ohio State Buckeyes from the Big Ten Conference facing the independent Navy Midshipmen. Ohio State won the game, 31–28.^[2]

1981 Liberty Bowl
23rd Liberty Bowl
Ohio State Buckeyes Navy Midshipmen (8–3) (7–3–1) Big Ten Independent 31 28 Head coach:  Earle Bruce Head coach:  George Welsh AP Coaches 15 14
1 2 3 4 Total Ohio State 10 7 7 7 31 Navy 7 6 7 8 28
Date	December 30, 1981
Season	1981
Stadium	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Location	Memphis, Tennessee
MVP	Eddie Meyers (TB, Navy)
Favorite	Ohio State by 14[1]
Attendance	43,216
United States TV coverage
Network	USA Network/MetroSports
Announcers	Harry Kalas, Joe Theismann, Johnny Holliday and Jeff Logan
Liberty Bowl  ← 1980  1982 →

Game summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP OSU NAVY 1 3 7 OSU 35-yard field goal by Bob Atha 3 0 1 1 50 OSU Gary Williams 50-yard touchdown reception from Art Schlichter, Atha kick good 10 0 1 16 77 NAVY Greg Papajohn 1-yard touchdown reception from Marco Pagnanelli, Steve Fehr kick good 10 7 2 NAVY 41-yard field goal by Fehr 10 10 2 OSU Jimmy Gayle 1-yard touchdown run, Atha kick good 17 10 2 NAVY 23-yard field goal by Fehr 17 13 3 NAVY Ken Olson returned blocked punt 20 yards for touchdown, Fehr kick good 17 20 3 9 OSU Gayle 2-yard touchdown run, Atha kick good 24 20 4 5 OSU Cedric Anderson 9-yard touchdown reception from Schlichter, Atha kick good 31 20 4 0:08 14 97 NAVY Papajohn 1-yard touchdown reception from Pagnanelli, 2-point pass good, Papajohn from Pagnanelli 31 28 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 31 28

Source:^[1][3]