| Game Name: | Cotton Bowl Classic |
| Year Game Played: | 1976 |
| Subheader: | 40th Cotton Bowl Classic |
| Football Season: | 1975 |
| Date Game Played: | January 1 |
| Stadium: | Cotton Bowl |
| City: | Dallas, Texas |
| Home Name Short: | Georgia |
| Home Nickname: | Bulldogs |
| Home Record: | 9–2 |
| Home Rank Ap: | 12 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 11 |
| Home Coach: | Vince Dooley |
| Home Conference: | SEC |
| Home 1Q: | 10 |
| Home 2Q: | 0 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Arkansas |
| Visitor Nickname: | Razorbacks |
| Visitor Record: | 9–2 |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 18 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 15 |
| Visitor Coach: | Frank Broyles |
| Visitor Conference: | SWC |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 10 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 21 |
| Referee: | Vance Carlson (Big Eight) |
| Attendance: | 77,500 |
| Mvp: | HB Ike Forte (Arkansas) LB Hal McAfee (Arkansas) |
| Odds: | Arkansas by 6 |
| Us Network: | CBS |
| Us Announcers: | Lindsey Nelson and Alex Hawkins |
The 1976 Cotton Bowl Classic was a post-season college football bowl game between the co-Southwest Conference champion Arkansas Razorbacks[1] and the Georgia Bulldogs. Arkansas defeated Georgia, 31–10 in front of 77,500 spectators.[2]
See also: 1975 Arkansas Razorbacks football team. Arkansas finished the regular season 9–2, came into the game on a five-game winning streak. The Hogs were part of a three-way tie for the Southwest Conference Championship with Texas and Texas A&M. The Hogs lost to Texas, 18–24, but gave #2 Texas A&M its first loss in the regular season finale. The 31-6 upset of the Aggies in War Memorial Stadium is one of the most memorable games in Razorback football history.
See also: 1975 Georgia Bulldogs football team. Georgia was 9–2 entering the game, tied for second in the Southeastern Conference.
The Bulldogs took an early 10–3 lead. Arkansas wouldn't score a touchdown until Georgia's QB Ray Goff tried a 'shoestring' play. He bent as if to tie his shoe and flipped the ball to Gene Washington, a legal play as long as in one motion, but Razorback Hal McAfee scooped up the ball at the 13 yard line.[3] Ike Forte scored for the Hogs, knotting the game at 10. The two teams were scoreless in the third period, with Arkansas missing three field goals, before the Hogs exploded for 21 unanswered to close the game.