1981 Cotton Bowl Classic

{{Infobox college football game

| name =

| year_game_played = 1981

| game_name = Cotton Bowl Classic

| subheader = 45th Cotton Bowl Classic

| image = Cotton Bowl Classic 1981.png

| football_season = 1980

| visitor_name_short = Alabama

| visitor_nickname = Crimson Tide

| visitor_school = University of Alabama

| home_name_short = Baylor

| home_nickname = Bears

| home_school = Baylor University

| visitor_record = 9–2

| visitor_conference = SEC

| home_record = 10–1

| home_conference = SWC

| visitor_coach = Bear Bryant

| home_coach = Grant Teaff

| visitor_rank_AP = 9

| visitor_rank_coaches = 6

| home_rank_AP = 6

| home_rank_coaches = 7

| visitor_1q = 6

| visitor_2q = 7

| visitor_3q = 3

| visitor_4q = 14

| home_1q = 2

| home_2q = 0

| home_3q = 0

| home_4q = 0

| date_game_played = January 1

| stadium = Cotton Bowl

| city = Dallas, Texas

| MVP = Warren Lyles (Alabama NG)
Major Ogilvie (Alabama RB)

| odds = Alabama by 3½ points{{Cite news |date=January 1, 1981 |title=The latest line |page=25 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0-sNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8G0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6146%2C116204}}

| referee = Vance Carlson (Big Eight)

| attendance = 74,281

| us_network = CBS

| us_announcers_link = List of announcers of major college bowl games

| us_announcers = Lindsey Nelson (Play-by-play)
Roger Staubach (Color)
Frank Glieber (Sideline)

}}

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.{{Cite news |date=January 2, 1981 |title=Bama's Bear outwits Baylor Bears, 30-2 |page=13 |work=Youngstown Vindicator |agency=Associated Press |location=(Ohio) |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UI5JAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VIQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3134%2C357473}}{{Cite news |date=January 2, 1981 |title=Alabama bombs Baylor in Cotton |page=3D |work=Eugene Register-Guard |agency=wire service reports |location=(Oregon) |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ABBWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TuIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6663%2C421012}}{{Cite news |last=Browning |first=Al |date=January 2, 1981 |title=Bama dee-fense big in Big D |page=1 |work=Tuscaloosa News |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=liodAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QaUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5901%2C190260}}

Teams

=Alabama=

=Baylor=

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.{{Cite news |date=January 1, 1981 |title=Sports menu: television |page=29 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Rk9OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=z-4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5228%2C164041}}

Alabama took a 6–0 lead on a pair of Peter Kim field goals.{{Cite book |url=http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/alab/graphics/docs/80-m-footbl-recaps.pdf |title=1980 Season Game Recaps |publisher=The University of Alabama |access-date=November 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112145057/http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/alab/graphics/docs/80-m-footbl-recaps.pdf |archive-date=November 12, 2012 |url-status=dead}} 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.{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Mike |date=January 2, 1981 |title=Tidal wave spoils Baylor's Cotton |work=The Dallas Morning News |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/cottonbowl/history/1981.html |access-date=November 16, 2010}} The Crimson Tide extended their lead to 13–2 at the half following a one-yard Major Ogilvie touchdown run in the second quarter.

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. Alabama linebacker Warren Lyles was named the defensive MVP,{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Steve |date=January 2, 1981 |title=Lyles' play sacks MVP award |page=13 |work=Tuscaloosa News |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=liodAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QaUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6752%2C245045 |access-date=November 16, 2010}} 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)

:{{small|Source:}}

Statistics

:

class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !! Alabama !! Baylor
align=left\|First Downs	17	13
align=left\|Rushes–yards	67–241	35–54
align=left\|Passing yards	98	104
align=left\|Passes	5–12–0	12–27–3
align=left\|Total Offense	79–339	62–158
align=left\|Punts–average	6–37	7–35
align=left\|Fumbles–lost	5–1	5–4
align=left\|Turnovers	1	7
align=left\|Penalties–yards	5–89	6–59

:{{small|Source:}}

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.

References

Category:1980–81 NCAA football bowl games

1981

Category:1981 in sports in Texas

Category:January 1981 sports events in the United States