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Sugar Bowl 1984
Auburn 9 Michigan 7 |
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Weather was not a factor in the indoor comfort of the Louisiana Superdome as 75,000 fans gathered in 72-degree air conditioning with only a haze of smoke gathering near the ceiling of the arena.
Auburn, 10-1, was a four-point favorite over the 9-2 Wolverines and got one of the two ingredients it needed for a national title earlier in the day when No. 7 Georgia upset second-ranked Texas 10-9 in the Cotton Bowl.
The Tigers still needed more help from No. 5 Miami of Florida, which faced top-ranked and undefeated Nebraska in the Orange Bowl game, also on Monday night.
Auburn, led by sophomore All-American halfback Bo Jackson, made its second Sugar Bowl appearance as the Southeastern Conference champion. The only other time Auburn won the national title came in 1957, the only other year the Tigers captured the SEC title.
It was the first Sugar Bowl for Michigan, and its first meeting with Auburn. The Wolverines finished second in the Big Ten Conference race.
Auburn failed to convert excellent field position the first time it had the ball, stopping Michigan on a fourth-and-one gamble at the Wolverine 46 on the first possession of the game. Michigan had hammered out one first down to its 37 but Rick Rogers failed on the fourth-down play when he was stopped by Tiger linebacker Gregg Carr.
The Wolverines stopped two running plays for a net of zero yards and then Brad Cochran intercepted a Randy Campbell pass and returned it seven yards to the Michigan 37.
The Big Ten power needed only nine plays to move the 63 yards and take a 7-0 lead exactly midway through the opening period when Steve Smith rolled to his right and kept the ball on a 4-yard scoring run. Bob Bergeron kicked the extra point.
The Michigan drive featured two key plays, a 19-yard pass from Smith to Triando Markray at the Auburn 43 and a 20-yard scamper around left end by Rogers to the Tiger 13.
Auburn unleashed its vaunted wishbone attack on a drive that began on its 12, as Lionel James had runs of 15 and 24 yards and Jackson carried for 18 and 13 before Kevin Brooks forced a fumble by Campbell that Mike Hammerstein recovered for Michigan on its 24.
The teams exchanged fumbles early in the second quarter, with Michigan getting a golden opportunity when James fumbled a punt and Terry Smith recovered on the Auburn 13.
Auburn then drove to the Wolverines' 20, where Al Del Greco was wide left on a 37-yard field goal attempt with 9:31 remaining in the first half. Jackson had an 18-yard run, Tommie Agee a 13-yard run and Campbell a 15-yard pass to James in the drive.
Auburn sliced the lead to 7-3 when Del Greco kicked a 31-yard field goal with 6:17 left in the third quarter. Auburn moved 67 yards in 11 plays to set up the field goal, helped along by a 10-yard face mask penalty and an offsides infraction that nullified an 11-yard loss.
Agee kept the drive going when he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage gained 19 yards, with the face mask penalty being added on to move Auburn to the Michigan 40.
Rodney Lyles dropped James for a 6-yard loss to the 27 and Auburn was able to reach the 14 where, on a fourth-and-three, Del Greco kicked his field goal.
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Though he had 130 yards, Bo Jackson had a difficult game against the Auburn. |
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| Auburn's defense was impressive. | |
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| DelGreco kicks the winning field goal. | |
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Michigan's defense crushes Agee. |
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Michigan made many mistakes. Here, Rick Rogers drops a pass. |
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Attendance: 75,000
Scoring Summary
First Quarter UM- Smith 4 run (Bergeron kick)
Third Quarter AU- FG DelGreco 31
Fourth Quarter AU- FG DelGreco 32 AU- FG DelGreco 19
Individual Statistics
Rushing UM- Rogers 17‑86, Garrett 5‑18, Smith 9‑14 UA- Jackson 22‑130, Agee 16‑93, James 18-83
Passing UM- Smith 9-25‑125 UA- Campbell 2‑6‑21
Receiving UM- Markray 3‑68, Bean 3‑37, Nelson 3‑20 UA- James 1‑15, Jackson 1‑6
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NEW
ORLEANS (AP) - Third-ranked Auburn, clinging to a longshot opportunity
for a second national collegiate football championship, beat Michigan,
9-7, Monday night in the 50th Sugar Bowl game. Michigan led 7-3, in the
third quarter.
After
a holding infraction cost Michigan 10 yards, Smith was sacked by John
Dailey, forcing a fumble that Dowe Aughtman recovered for Auburn at its
27. Michigan contended that Smith's arm was moving forward in a passing
motion, but the officials called it a fumble.
