1979 Orange Bowl

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox college football game

| name =

| year_game_played = 1979

| game_name = Orange Bowl

| subheader = 45th Orange Bowl

| football_season = 1978

| visitor_name_short = Oklahoma

| visitor_nickname = Sooners

| visitor_school = University of Oklahoma

| home_name_short = Nebraska

| home_nickname = Cornhuskers

| home_school = University of Nebraska

| visitor_record = 10–1

| visitor_conference = Big Eight

| home_record = 9–2

| home_conference = Big Eight

| visitor_coach = Barry Switzer

| home_coach = Tom Osborne

| visitor_rank_AP = 4

| visitor_rank_coaches = 4

| home_rank_AP = 6

| home_rank_coaches = 6

| visitor_1q = 7

| visitor_2q = 7

| visitor_3q = 17

| visitor_4q = 0

| home_1q = 7

| home_2q = 0

| home_3q = 3

| home_4q = 14

| date_game_played = January 1

| stadium = Orange Bowl

| city = Miami, Florida

| MVP = Billy Sims{{spaces|5}}(Oklahoma HB)
Reggie Kinlaw (Oklahoma NG)

| odds = Oklahoma by 11½ points {{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sgIOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3955%2C169093|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |title=The Latest Line |date=January 1, 1979 |page=34}}

| referee = Ken Faulkner (SWC)

| attendance = 66,365

| us_network = NBC

| us_announcers_link = List of announcers of major college bowl games

| us_announcers = Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen

| ratings = 22.8

}}

The 1979 Orange Bowl was the 45th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 1. Part of the 1978–79 bowl game season, it matched the fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and #6 Nebraska Cornhuskers, both of the Big Eight Conference.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=swIOAAAAIBAJ&pg=1819%2C322919 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |agency=Associated Press |title=Oklahoma takes Big 8 rematch |date=January 2, 1979 |page=15}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=thYeAAAAIBAJ&pg=6982%2C118319 |work=Pittsburgh Press |agency=UPI |title=Oklahoma feels it's No. 1 after avenging only loss |date=January 2, 1979 |page=B5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1979/01/08/106773553/orange-bowl |magazine=Sports Illustrated |last=Putnam |first=Pat |title=Orange Bowl |date=January 8, 1979 |page=14}}

This matchup was an anomaly: It featured a rare rematch of conference rivals that played every regular season. Nebraska had upset #1 Oklahoma 17–14 on November 11 in Lincoln,{{cite news |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1978/11/20/823162/nebraska-was-on-the-loose-the-cornhuskers-pounced-on-six-fumbles-by-oklahoma-and-the-sooners-did-not-recover |magazine=Sports Illustrated |title=Nebraska was on the loose |last=Looney |first=Douglas S. |date=November 20, 1978 |page=22}} their first win in the rivalry since the Game of the Century {{nowrap|in 1971,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SPZLAAAAIBAJ&pg=6243%2C5744887 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Grid frustration ends in Huskers' triumph |date=November 12, 1978 |page=C4}}}} and appeared headed toward a national championship showdown with Penn State. But unranked Missouri {{nowrap|(6–4)}} stunned the #2 Huskers 35–31 in Lincoln the following {{nowrap|week,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7steAAAAIBAJ&pg=4227%2C7345363 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=Powers' Tigers upset Nebraska |date=November 19, 1978 |page=5B}}}} dropping Nebraska into a tie with Oklahoma for the Big Eight championship and knocking them out of the national championship {{nowrap|picture.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QP4jAAAAIBAJ&pg=6309%2C1686174 |work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |location=(Florida) |agency=UPI |title=Orange Bowl lands Nebraska, Oklahoma |date=November 19, 1978 |page=1C}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BrssAAAAIBAJ&pg=2780%2C4189877|work=Sunday Star-News |location=(Wilmington, North Carolina) |agency=Associated Press |title=Bowl roundup |date=November 19, 1978 |page=1C}}}}

Penn State instead faced Alabama for the national title in the Sugar Bowl, and the Orange Bowl found itself with a selection dilemma. Nebraska earned the Big Eight's automatic Orange Bowl berth by virtue of its victory over the Sooners, but, with Penn State and Notre Dame (which accepted an invitation to the Cotton Bowl) off the board, the Orange Bowl committee decided to set up a bowl rematch with Oklahoma to create the best possible {{nowrap|matchup.}} This was the last time a non-championship postseason bowl featured two teams from the same conference until the 2015 season at the Arizona Bowl,{{cite news | url=http://www.coloradoan.com/story/sports/csu/football/2015/12/06/colorado-state-football-arizona-bowl-nevada/76795278/ | title=Colorado State heads to Arizona Bowl to face MW foe Nevada | work=Fort Collins Coloradoan | date=December 6, 2015 | access-date=December 6, 2015 | author=Lyell, Kelly}} and remains (as of 2019) the last non-championship bowl to be a rematch of a regular-season conference game.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Despite the road loss to the Huskers in the regular season, Oklahoma was a double-digit favorite.