Revisiting The 1978 Orange Bowl

In the summer of 1979, I was 17 years old and attending a Fellowship of Christian Athletes camp on the campus of the University of Arkansas.

During some free time one afternoon, some friends and I were exploring Razorback Stadium. I am not sure if we were supposed to be in the facility that housed the football coaches’ offices (at that time on the north end of the stadium) but we were.

I walked right up to a door with a name plate that read, “Coach Lou Holtz.” I looked around, thinking at any moment someone was going to come by and tell us that we couldn’t be in there.

Down the hallway we saw a very impressive photo that reached from the floor to the ceiling. It featured the first play from scrimmage in the 1978 Orange Bowl, a game in which Arkansas upset the Oklahoma Sooners, 31-6.

In the photo was Oklahoma’s Billy Sims, who would eventually win the Heisman Trophy, and he was buried under a pile of 10 Razorback tacklers. The caption simply read, “The job of being an Arkansas Razorback is not given to the timid or the weak.”

I felt like I was standing in a sacred shrine.

I remember watching the game on television as a 10th-grader, and I remember how excited I was when I saw the opening play that was featured in the photo, a play in which an Oklahoma runner was literally buried in an avalanche of Hog defenders.

It set the tone for a game that turned out to be an overwhelming upset of an Oklahoma team that was ranked second in the country.

It’s hard to believe, but on Jan. 2 it will be 40 years since that game, but many of us remember it well.

Because Holtz had suspended three of the team’s biggest stars before the 1978 Orange Bowl, the odds-makers had made the Hogs 18.5-point underdogs, even though Arkansas was ranked sixth in the nation. As the days went on, the projected point spread grew even more, and in Las Vegas they took the game completely off the boards.

In his book called Winning Every Day, Holtz described how Arkansas held a team meeting just four days before the game.

The Razorbacks had heard all of the stories in the media about how they had no chance to win the game, and it was taking a toll.

Holtz said, “We’ve read all the reasons why we can’t win. I want to hear why we can.”

The team thought of the positives, pointing out that their defense was still intact and ranked first in the nation. The offensive line was also very good. Quarterback Ron Calcagni was a fierce competitor and team leader. Kicker and punter Steve Little was probably the best in the country.

Holtz wrote, “The more the players talked, the more positive they became…. I almost felt sorry for our opponents.”

After that, Arkansas hit the field on Jan. 2 with a resolve that produced results similar to those that David inflicted upon Goliath thousands of years before.

I was almost 16 years old when I watched the game on TV at home.

It began with Arkansas kicking off into the end zone, forcing Oklahoma to begin on their own 20-yard line. Then, on the first play from scrimmage, the Arkansas defense roared to life.

The Sooners handed the ball to fullback Kenny King. He was hit at the line and fumbled; Simms grabbed the ball, and was then crushed in a pile of white Razorback jerseys.

It made for a heck of a photo, the one I would see in Razorback Stadium during FCA camp more than 18 months later.

Holtz reflected upon the game’s beginning many years afterwards. “We had 10 players in on the play,” he said. “I had never seen a group swarm like that.”

Arkansas’ enthusiasm led the Hogs to a convincing win. In fact, it was so convincing that after the contest, Arkansas was one of the few college football teams that had a legitimate claim to being ranked number 1.

NBC game announcers Jim Simpson and Merlin Olsen discussed the issue as Arkansas established a 24-0 lead in the Orange Bowl’s third quarter.

With Little getting ready to kick off for the Razorbacks and the Arkansas crowd calling the Hogs in the background, Simpson said, “Alabama is sitting there thinking, ‘Maybe we’ll be the national champions.’ Penn State is hoping so. Texas, beaten today, hopes so. Notre Dame, who beat Texas, hopes so. But if this score holds up, Arkansas is going to hold up its hand and say, ‘Hey folks, what about us?’ They would be 11-1, and would’ve knocked off the number 2 team.”

As it turned out, the Associated Press ranked Notre Dame number 1, Alabama second, Arkansas third, Texas fourth, and Penn State fifth. It wasn’t a national championship for the Razorbacks, but 40 years ago being ranked third in the country was still a great way to finish.