Hey, Marino! Remember the Cotton Bowl?

[MrMustang1965]

On today's date, when former Pitt Panther and Miami Dolphin QB Dan Marino is inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, here's a story for all of us Mustang fans to remember him by! GO MUSTANGS!

By TEMPLE POUNCEY / The Dallas Morning News

On a gray and bitter day, Pittsburgh passer Dan Marino ended his college career Saturday running for success.

He didn't find it.

The SMU defense, overshadowed for two years by its own Pony Express offense, joined the foul, numbing weather to smother the best aerial artist Pitt has ever had.

The fourth-ranked Mustangs won the Cotton Bowl Classic, 7-3, before 60,359 to compete an 11-0-1 season and keep alive faint hopes of a national championship.

"As far as I'm concerned, this is the No. 1 team in the nation," SMU coach Bobby Collins said. "They seem to play best when things are not going that well. We do what we have to do. How else can you judge a team than from what they do?"

The Mustangs emerged victorious, largely because the shut out Marino.

Substituting more than they had all year, the Nasty Boys flushed Marino out of his passing pocket 11 times with blitzes and second-effort rushes, helped by a secondary that took away Marino's prime targets.

Those 11 crucial plays resulted in an end-zone interception that ended Pitt's next-to-last drive, seven incomplete pasts, one sack by nose guard Michael Carter and two scrambles on which Marino managed negligible yardage.

Marino went deep only once all day, and that pass fell incomplete. Thus Pitt (9-3 and rated sixth) was held to its lowest point total in 89 games, since Navy beat the Panthers, 17-0, in 1975. Marino completed 19 of 37 passes for 181 yards, with no TDs, one interception and one sack. And thus SMU, which outscored its opponents, 116-57, in the fourth quarter, had to get only one touchdown in the last period to overcome Eric Schubert's 43-yard third-quarter field goal.

And that's when Mustang quarterback Lance McIlhenny proved he could go deep.

First McIlhenny connected with his Miracle Man, sophomore split end Bobby Leach, for a 20-yard gain to the SMU 49. The Ponies then called their split-end reverse, for the first time this year, but Leach was nailed for an 11-yard loss by safety Dan (Peep) Short and end Chris Doleman.

Now facing second-and-21 from his 38, McIlhenny faked a handoff, went back and let fly for Leach running a streak down the right sideline with left cornerback Troy Hill. Leach ran around the back judge, screening Hill from the ball, then made an over-the-shoulder catch at the Pitt 20 for a 42-yard gain.

It was the longest play of the game.

On third-and-1 from the 11, McIlhenny pitched left to Craig James, who got a first down at the nine and would have scored had he not slipped trying to cut inside free safety Tom Flynn.

But on the next play, McIlhenny ran the option out of Collins' power-I – the same play on which he scored the TD against Arkansas that clinched the Southwest Conference championship.

McIlhenny faked up the middle to Eric Dickerson, faked the pitch right to James, cut inside and ran out of linebacker Yogi Jones' arm tackle at the four to score standing up.

Jeff Harrell converted, and the Ponies had their 7-3 lead with 13:43 left in the game.

Pitt got two more assaults.

Marino moved the Panthers to the SMU seven, converting a fourth-and-3 at the SMU 33 with an 11-yard pass to tailback Bryan Thomas.

On second down from the seven, Marino scrambled and overthrew Keith Williams in the left corner of the end zone. On third down, Marino scrambled to his right and threw an instant before blitzing linebacker Clarence McDade hit him. Safety Wes Hopkins stepped in front of receiver Dwight Collins and tipped the ball, and the other safety, Blaine Smith, intercepted in the end zone with 8:08 to play.

Pitt's last drive, which consisted mainly of a 15-yard late-hit penalty against nose guard Michael Carter, reached the Mustangs' 37. On third-and-9, SMU blitzed, and tackle Eric Holle got to Marino as he threw incomplete. Pitt had to go for it on fourth down, and Marino's low, but catchable slant-out pass went through a falling Collins' arms at the SMU 26.

Panther receivers suffered six drops of catchable balls, no thanks to the 36-degree cold, rain and, later, sleet.

Pitt coach Foge Fazio said, "They play great football down here. SMU and Penn State would be a great football game. I'd better not say who I'd think would win. It really wouldn't matter."

Pitt had the game's first threat, on its opening possession, when upback Rick Dukovich ran 11 yards out of punt formation to the Mustang 27. Fullback Joe McCall sprinted 26 yards with a screen pass. But when McCall charged into the middle of a stacked defense at the one, he lost the ball before Carter and linebacker Gary Moten met him. Hopkins recovered.

From its two, SMU staged a bizarre 91-yard, 22-play drive. The series that took 9:35 was helped by four penalties against an intimidation-minded defense: 15-yard personal fouls against Al Wenglikowski and Ray Weatherspoon for collaring McIlhenny and Dickerson around the throat, and 5-yarders for Tim Lewis' face mask and for an offside.

However, at the Panther seven, McIlhenny made a rare mistake on the option, keeping when pitch man James was uncovered, and Lewis knocked the ball loose. Middle guard J.C. Pelusi recovered.

SMU hauled out every gadget in its book. McIlhenny passed up the middle to James, in a play put in especially for this game, for 32 yards to the Pitt 34. But James fumbled three plays later, as Flynn hit him on a pass reception, and Short recovered.

The half ended scoreless, fittingly, when Schubert missed a 26-yard field goal wide left.

Pitt drove 36 yards in the third period to take the lead. The key play was Fazio's fourth-down gamble at the SMU 41. McCall leaped center and was met by Hopkins, and when the measurement was taken, the nose of the ball was barely touching the first-down stick. Schubert kicked true seven plays later.

Though he didn't figure in the scoring, Dickerson played a major role in his final SMU game.

The All-America tailback gained 50 yards in the first quarter, got 17 yards on the touchdown drive, and punched out 23 tough yards in the final 2:11 to keep Marino from getting another shot. Dickerson wound up with 124 yards on 27 carries, the 28th 100-yard game of his career, and CBS's vote as the top offensive player in the game.

McIlhenny received that honor from the Cotton Bowl press, however. The feisty junior QB completed five of eight passes for 101 yards. McIlhenny had the superior NCAA pass-efficiency ranking during the season, 133.7 compared to Marino's 118.2. Though McIlhenny took a beating early, making two pitchouts that resulted in costly losses, he was the architect of the game's only touchdown.

Hopkins, another of SMU's 17 senior regulars, was voted the game's top defensive player. He recovered a fumble at the SMU one, tipped the pass that resulted in Marino's only interception and had three tackles and an assist.

Pitt's first-half aggression cost Marino valuable time. The Panthers took seven penalties from the Southeastern Conference officiating crew for 69 yards in the half – five of those infractions committed by the defense. Pitt settled down for only one 5-yard penalty after the half.

The Panthers also were called for offensive holding once, a rarity for their big and much-honored line. But Marino's blockers were under siege on this deplorable day, a siege that the Mustangs will remember proudly.

[Diamond Girl]

Funny that this article came out. I was watching NFL Classics yesterday, and one of the stories was about Marino. They spent time glorifying his first 3 years at Pitt, but, wouldn't you know it, they glossed over his sucky senior year, jumpled clean over the Cotton Bowl and went straight to the '83 draft.

[MrMustang1965]

DG: Actually, I dug into the DMN archives and pulled this story. It was originally published the day after the Cotton Bowl Classic.

[EastStang]

That was an awful day except for the result. It rained, hailed, sleeted and snowed during the game. I froze my tail off. If there were 60,000 people in the stadium, I'd be very surprised (that must have been paid attendance). The defense played great and the Mustangs showed why they deserved a National Championship against a top opponent. But then again, Joe Pa deserved a gift NC, and the rest is history.

[HixsontoLeVias]

I remember Marino making some indirect, not so flattering cooments about our D before and AFTER the game.....he is an [deleted], never liked the guy, especially after his "their not so good" comments about SMU....REALLY glad he NEVER won the big game, couldn't happen to a nicer guy......long live Wes Hopkins!!

[mustangkip]

That was an awful day except for the result. It rained, hailed, sleeted and snowed during the game. I froze my tail off. If there were 60,000 people in the stadium, I'd be very surprised (that must have been paid attendance). The defense played great and the Mustangs showed why they deserved a National Championship against a top opponent. But then again, Joe Pa deserved a gift NC, and the rest is history.

What are you talking about, it was a glorious day, beating Pitt in the Cotton Bowl. I was there and honestly I can't remember anything but the joy of watching our Mustangs prevail, while proudly wearing my [deleted] on Pitt Button.

[SMUBob83]

And I remember Ron Stanford, mike man extraordinaire, shimmying up the icy goalposts after the game. I don't think he had enough reinforcements to bring them down. It was too damn cold to do anything but head for the car and turn up the heater.

[mustangkip]

And I remember Ron Stanford, mike man extraordinaire, shimmying up the icy goalposts after the game. I don't think he had enough reinforcements to bring them down. It was too damn cold to do anything but head for the car and turn up the heater.

By any chance were you a Lambda Chi? My those days 79 to 83 were wild days for football. Do you remember the beer busses to Texas Stadium?

[SMUBob83]

That was a great party idea, I believe it was a Greg Schroder original.

A better idea than the mixer flyers using the Penthouse girls in Kappa t-shirts. I am not sure the Kappas ever spoke to us again after that.

[HixsontoLeVias]

Lambda Chi's had mixers with girls?