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Bluebonnet Bowl 1982
Arkansas 28 |
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Dallas Morning News January 1, 1983
The Arkansas defense, nationally ranked, was mentioned off and on, but there was little talk about what the Razorback offense could do with the football. It seems everyone forgot about Gary Anderson.
But the senior running back-wide receiver from Columbia, Mo., voted most valuable player in the Razorbacks' last two bowl appearances, picked up where he left off last December. Anderson rushed for 161 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead Arkansas to a 28-24 victory last night over Florida before 31,557 Astrodome fans. Anderson shared game MVP honors, scoring the Razorbacks' first touchdown in each half and helping Arkansas overcome a 10-point halftime deficit.
But the winning play belonged to quarterback Tom Jones. The Ruston, La., senior pushed the ball over the goal line at 8:04 of the fourth quarter, capping an 80-yard drive and erasing a 24-21 Florida advantage (video).
Trailing 24-14 entering the final 15 minutes, Arkansas scored two touchdowns and controlled the ball 11 minutes, 21 seconds.
"I've coached in well over 100 football games, but I've never gotten wet until I came to the Astrodome," Arkansas coach Lou Holtz said. "It was a great game. The momentum kept swinging back and forth and there were a lot of big plays. But none bigger than the way we held onto the ball in the final quarter."
The third quarter was a mirror image of the first half, as Florida moved at will on a very porous Arkansas defense. The Gators, behind senior quarterback Bob Hewko, moved 74 yards on their second possession of the period, with split end Dwayne Dixon again on the receiving end, this time from 17 yards out. The TD catch was Dixon's third of the game, breaking a Bluebonnet Bowl record previously held by seven players.
That enabled Florida to extend its lead to 24-14 following Arkansas' 83-yard scoring drive, which ended with running back Gary Anderson going over from one-yard out. The seven points were the first scored on the Florida defense in the second half in the past four games.
But the Razorbacks were able to strike again in the opening seconds of the final quarter, when Jones found Jesse Clark in the end zone with a 5-yard scoring pass to close the Gators' advantage to 24-21 with 14 minutes still to play (video).
The Razorbacks scored the first points of the game after a Florida turnover on the Gators' first possession. Using just seven plays, all on the ground, the Razorbacks easily covered the 50 yards in front of them for a 7-0 lead at 10:07 of the first quarter. Anderson accounted for 38 of those yards and the TD, carrying five of the seven plays and scoring on a 16-yard run around the left side (video).
After that, the half belonged-to the Gators and quarterback Hewko. Starting in place of Peace, Hewko led Florida to 17 first-half points as the Gator offense easily moved up and down the field on the Razorbacks.
Hewko pulled the Gators even at 7-7, as he engineered an 11-play,-74- yard drive which concluded at 5:30 of the opening quarter. Rolling left, Hewko found Dwayne Dixon, who had gotten inside of Arkansas cornerback Kevin Wyatt, over the middle for three yards and the score (video).
The Hewko-to-Dixon connection did not stop there. On Florida's next possession, Hewko drove the Gators 77 yards following a Brad Taylor punt that sailed out of bounds at the Florida 5-yard line. The drive finally stalled at the Razorback-18, when Bob Raymond connected on a 34-yard field goal for a 10-7 Gator lead at 12:16 of the second quarter.
Two possessions later, it was Hewko and Dixon again, this time on a 13-yard scoring pass with 42 seconds remaining in the opening 30 minutes (video).
The Florida running game, considered the weak link in the Gator attack, accounted for 140 yards in the first half against a defense that had allowed just 96.7 yards a game during the regular season. Hewko connected on 13-of-18 attempts for 167 yards and two TD’s. Dixon grabbed seven of those completions for 71 yards and the two scores. |
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Arkansas’s David Brazzel stops Gator advance. |
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Billy Ray Smith, Jr. was a dominant Arkansas defensive force in the early 80's.
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It was Holtz's last bowl victory at Arkansas. |
Gary Anderson was the MVP. |
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Attendance: 31,557
Scoring Summary
ARK- Anderson 16 run (Smith kick) FLA- Dixon 3 pass from Hewko (Raymond kick)
Second Quarter FLA- FG Raymond 34 FLA- Dixon 13 pass from Hewko (Raymond kick)
Third Quarter ARK- Anderson 1 run (Smith kick) FLA- Dixon 17 pass from Hewko (Raymond kick)
Fourth Quarter ARK- Clark 5 Pass from Jones (Smith kick) ARK- Jones 1 run (Smith kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing Florida- Jones 12-89, Hampton 21-61 Arkansas- Anderson 26-161, Clark 17-77
Passing Florida- Hewko 19-28-234 Arkansas- Taylor 5-7-123, Jones 2-5-0
Receiving Florida- Dixon 8-106, Faulkner 3-27, Hampton 2-37 Arkansas- Anderson 3-37.
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HOUSTON- The buildup to the 24th
Bluebonnet Bowl concerned the Florida Gators and their high-powered
offense. The talk centered around quarterback Wayne Peace and the Gator
passing game, both of which set NCAA records during the course of 1982.
