1984 Fiesta Bowl


The 1984 Fiesta Bowl was the thirteenth edition of the college football bowl game, played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1983–84 bowl game season, it matched the fourteenth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference, and the #15 Pittsburgh Panthers, an independent. Slightly favored, Ohio State rallied late in the fourth quarter to win 28–23.
New Year's Day was on Sunday in 1984, and the college bowl games were played the following day.

Teams

Ohio State

The Buckeyes were ranked third until a loss at Iowa in late September; they later lost on the road to Illinois and rival Michigan. This was their second Fiesta Bowl appearance.

Pittsburgh

The Panthers opened with two wins, but lost two road games at Maryland and West Virginia. They won six straight, then tied rival Penn State. This was Pittsburgh's third Fiesta Bowl appearance.

Game summary

The first game of a tripleheader on NBC, the Fiesta kicked off shortly after 11:30 p.m. MST, as did the Cotton Bowl on CBS.
Ohio State scored first when quarterback Mike Tomczak scored on a three-yard quarterback keeper. Pittsburgh tied the score at seven on a 6-yard pass from John Congemi to wide receiver Clint Wilson. Running back Keith Byars scored on an 11-yard run before halftime, to give Ohio State a 14–7 halftime lead.
After a scoreless third quarter, the action increased in the fourth. Pitt wide receiver Clint Wilson recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown to tie the game at 14. Byars took the kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, and Ohio State reclaimed the lead at 21–14. Congemi then found Dwight Collins for a touchdown, butthe two-point conversion attempt failed, and Ohio State held on to a one-point lead. A 37-yard field goal from Tom Everett with 2:39 left, gave Pittsburgh a 23–21 lead. Tomczak threw a 39-yard touchdown strike to Thad Jemison for the game-winning touchdown, with 39 seconds left, and Ohio State escaped with a 28–23 win.

Scoring

First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter

Aftermath

Ohio State climbed to ninth in the final AP poll, and Pittsburgh fell to eighteenth.