| Game Name: | Sun Bowl |
| Date Game Played: | December 27 |
| Year Game Played: | 1980 |
| Football Season: | 1980 |
| Home Name Short: | Nebraska |
| Home Nickname: | Cornhuskers |
| Home Record: | 9–2 |
| Home Rank Ap: | 8 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 9 |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 10 |
| Home 3Q: | 7 |
| Home 4Q: | 7 |
| Mvp: | Jeff Quinn (QB, Nebraska) |
| Visitor Name Short: | Mississippi State |
| Visitor Nickname: | Bulldogs |
| Visitor Record: | 9–2 |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 17 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 17 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 14 |
| Odds: | Nebraska by 13½ points [1] |
| Type: | bg |
| Referee: | Gene Wurtz (WAC) |
| Attendance: | 34,723 |
The 1980 Sun Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game played on December 27 in El Paso, Texas, between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Mississippi State Bulldogs.[2]
An all-too-familiar loss to #9 Oklahoma in the regular season finale cost the Cornhuskers the Big Eight Conference title and an Orange Bowl invitation, and they settled for the Sun Bowl.
The Bulldogs finished third in the Southeastern Conference behind eventual national champion Georgia and Alabama in Emory Bellard's second year as head coach, closing the regular season on a five-game winning streak. Among those November victories were a 6–3 defeat of two-time defending national champion Alabama, a 55–31 rout of LSU, and a conquest of archrival Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. All three of those big victories came at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson.
Todd Brown gave Nebraska an early 7–0 lead with his 23–yard touchdown run 2:30 into the game. The Huskers scored twice in the second quarter in a span of 86 seconds on a field goal from 22 yards and an eight-yard touchdown pass from to tight end the score was
Dana Moore narrowed the lead with his 47-yard field goal with 7:12 left in the third quarter, but Nebraska responded less than five minutes later on two-yard touchdown run to make it at the end of three quarters.
John Bond scored the Bulldogs' first touchdown from a yard out with 11:44 remaining, but caught a touchdown pass of 52 yards from Quinn and it was it with 3:21 left. ended the scoring at with his 11-yard touchdown reception with a minute remaining, and Nebraska won by fourteen. Quinn was for 151 yards with an interception and two touchdown passes en route to being named MVP. The Cornhusker defense forced two interceptions, four lost fumbles, and
Nebraska climbed to seventh in the final AP poll and Mississippi State fell to nineteenth.
The attendance of 34,723 was a Sun Bowl record, aided by favorable weather.[2]
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
| Statistics | Mississippi State | Nebraska | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First downs | 15 | 16 | |
| Rushes–yards | 53–156 | 56–161 | |
| Passing yards | 102 | 159 | |
| Total yards | 258 | 320 | |
| Passes (C–A–I) | 7–19–2 | 9–19–1 | |
| Fumbles–lost | 5–4 | 1–1 | |
| Turnovers by | 6 | 2 | |
| Penalties–yards | 5–50 | 8–42 |