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Mississippi State bowl game history: Every bowl game the Bulldogs have played in

By Ethan Lee

TAMPA, FLORIDA - JANUARY 02: Nathaniel Watson #14, Will Rogers III #2, and Jett Johnson #44 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs wave a Mike flag in memory of Mike Leach after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini 19-10 in the ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium on January 02, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - JANUARY 02: Nathaniel Watson #14, Will Rogers III #2, and Jett Johnson #44 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs wave a Mike flag in memory of Mike Leach after defeating the Illinois Fighting Illini 19-10 in the ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium on January 02, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /
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An exterior view shows Sun Bowl Stadium before the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl
EL PASO, TEXAS – DECEMBER 30: An exterior view shows Sun Bowl Stadium before the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl game between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the UCLA Bruins on December 30, 2022 in El Paso, Texas. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /

1980 Sun Bowl: Miss. State Bulldogs blown out in El Paso by Nebraska Cornhuskers

Six years after Mississippi State’s last bowl appearance, the Bulldogs made their way back to El Paso for another Sun Bowl. This time the Miss. State football program got the lovely opportunity to meet up with the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

And that means the Bulldogs were tasked with taking on legendary Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne and his very, very talented Cornhuskers team on December 27, 1980.

This Sun Bowl didn’t go as well as the last one did.

Emory Bellard brought a nine-win team to El Paso and the Bulldogs were riding a five-game winning streak, but State’s offense just didn’t show up as it had six years prior. The Huskers held MSU to under 100 rushing yards and then Nebraska jumped out to a very quick 17-0 lead over the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State had five fumbles on the day (that’s a lot) and the Huskers recovered four of them (that’s also a lot).

MSU ended up attempting a comeback attempt, but Nebraska didn’t allow for that and it’s not like the 1980 edition of the Mississippi State Bulldogs were running the Air Raid or other fun forms of high powered passing offenses that enable teams to make quick comebacks.

And so, MSU lost 31-17.

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