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Garden State Bowl 1980
Houston 35 Navy 0 |
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Clark and Terry Elston scored on 1-yard runs following Navy mistakes in the first period, David Barren and Clark had second-quarter touchdown runs of 14 and 26 yards, and Clark, who rushed for 859 yards during the regular season, added a 2-yard TD run to cap a 71-yard drive following the second half kickoff.(video)
Navy's problems started on the first scrimmage play when Eddie Meyers fumbled and Houston's Kelly McDonald recovered at the Middies' 31. Leo Truss set up the Cougars' second touchdown by blocking a Navy punt that fluttered out of bounds at the losers' 43 after traveling only 8 yards.
Navy, which lost only eight fumbles during an 8-3 regular season, lost the ball for the second time in the game when Jon Ross fumbled at his 26 midway through the second period after a 21-yard return on the kickoff following Barrett's touchdown. Calvin Eason recovered for Houston.
Clark, who finished the first half with 112 yards on 18 of his 26 overall carries, covered the distance in one quick smash up the middle for the Cougars' fourth touchdown, and Elston's 2-point conversion run made it 28-0 at halftime.(video)
The Cougars, who tied for second place in the Southwest Conference, wound up the season with a 7-5 mark.
In addition to suffering its only blocked punt of the season, Navy lost its top rusher when Meyers had his ribs banged up late in the opening period. The Middies also had a pass intercepted by defensive end Greg Harmon late in the second quarter, while Steve Fehr, who made 17 of 23 field goal attempts during the regular season, blew a chip shot 27-yarder.
Although 61,235 tickets were sold, only 41,417 turned out on a mostly sunny but windy day- a few snowflakes also fell- with the temperature at 35 degrees for the kickoff. Both figures wrere Garden Stale Bowl records as were the 19,818 no-shows.
The crowd was asked to stand just before the game for a moment of silent prayer for the American hostages in Iran and for the late John Lennon.
Navy came into the game as the nation's sixth-rated defensive unit, yielding 223.3 yards per game, but Houston had 226 of its total of 450 by halftime, even though its only sustained drive of the first half was a 7-play, 69-yard strike capped by Barrett's 14-yard run.
Houston threw only two passes in first half, completing one from Elston to Hubert Miller for 28 yards to trigger its third score. The Cougars never had to punt in the first half. They scored on four of their seven possessions, but also turned the ball over with their 33rd and 34lh lost fumbles of the season and missed a 30 yard field-goal attempt.
Following McDonald's fumble recovery, Houston covered the 31 yards in eight plays, with Clark plunging through the right side at 4:19. Truss’ block of Lex Lauletta's punt put the Cougars in business again at the Navy 43 less than 1 1/2 minutes later. Clark carried six limes for 37 yards before Elston scored on a keeper around right end to make it 14-0.
Navy yanked quarterback Fred Reitzel in favor of Tom Tarquinio early in the second period, but nothing helped as the Middies-suffered another embarrassment in Giants Stadium, where they lost to Notre Dame 33-0 six weeks ago.
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The Middies take the field. |
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It was a very cold day as the players experienced during warmups. |
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Navy stops Terald Clark, something they didn't do very often. |
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Attendance- 41,417
Scoring Summary
First Quarter UH- Clark 1 run (Shaffer kick) UH- Elston 1 run (Shaffer kick)
Second Quarter UH- Barrett 14 run (kick failed) UH- Clark 26 run (Elston run)
Third Quarter UH- Clark 2 run (Shaffer kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing UH- Clark 26-163, Polk 17-76, Barrett 9-61, Elston 12-45 USNA- Tolbert 7-53, Sherlock 15-41, Meyers 3-13
Passing UH- Elston 1-4-28, Chinn 2-3-17 USNA- Reitzel 5-12-42, Tarquinio, 2-12-23
Receiving UH- Miller 1-28, Phea 1-11, Herring 1-6 USNA- Papajohn 3-36, Dent 2-23
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EAST
RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Terald Clark rushed for 163 yards and three
touchdowns, one in each of the first three periods, as Houston
manhandled error-plagued Navy 35-0 Sunday in the third Garden State Bowl
game.
