1990 Cotton Bowl Classic

1990 Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic
1990 Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic
54th Cotton Bowl Classic
Tennessee Volunteers	Arkansas Razorbacks
(10–1)	(10–1)
SEC	SWC
31	27
Head coach: ; Johnny Majors	Head coach: ; Ken Hatfield
AP	Coaches
8	8
AP	Coaches
10	9
Date	January 1, 1990
Season	1989
Stadium	Cotton Bowl
Location	Dallas, Texas
MVP	FS Carl Pickens (Tennessee); TB Chuck Webb (Tennessee)
Attendance	74,358
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Jim Nantz and Pat Haden
Cotton Bowl Classic
< 1989	1991 >

The 1990 Cotton Bowl Classic featured the Tennessee Volunteers and the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Background[]

The Razorbacks won their 2nd consecutive Southwest Conference championship, attended their 6th consecutive bowl appearance and second consecutive Cotton Bowl Classic. A loss to Texas midway through the season made them fall from #7 to #18, but they bounced back to finish #10 at the end of the season. The Volunteers were co champions of the Southeastern Conference with Auburn and Alabama (who gave the Vols their only loss) after a 5-6 campaign the previous year. It was their first Cotton Bowl Classic since 1969.

Game summary[]

Despite being outgained in yards and first downs, Tennessee edged out a win, aided by Chuck Webb's 250 yards of rushing on 26 attempts and Arkansas' three turnovers. It was a Greg Burke field goal that started off the scoring less than five minutes into the game. But Arkansas retaliated with a Barry Foster touchdown run four minutes later. Nine minutes into the second quarter, Carl Pickens intercepted a Quinn Grovey pass while the Razorbacks were in Vols territory, returning it to the 13. Two plays later, Anthony Morgan caught an 84 yard touchdown pass from Andy Kelly. Chuck Webb added in a touchdown run to make the lead 17-6 at halftime. Arkansas was driving and was at the Vols 32 when Barry Foster fumbled and Martin Williams recovered it. 8 plays and 68 yards later, scored on a touchdown run to make the lead 24-6. Midway through the quarter the Razorbacks narrowed the lead with a James Rouse touchdown run. But Webb ran in for his second touchdown of the day to make the lead 18 again. 14 seconds into the fourth quarter, Foster scored on another touchdown run and scored a conversion to make it 31-21. Arkansas had three more drives in the quarter, but only managed seven points out of them, turning the ball over on downs on one, and missing a field goal on the other. The Razorbacks scored with 1:25 remaining on a pass from Grovey to narrow it to 31-27 after the missed conversion. Arkansas tried to get the ball back on the onside kick, but Alvin Harper of the Vols recovered, as they ran out the clock and won their first Cotton Bowl Classic since 1951.^[1]

Aftermath[]

Hatfield left for Clemson after the season, and Arkansas has not won a conference championship since 1989. It would take Arkansas 10 years to reach another Cotton Bowl Classic. The Volunteers would not reach the Classic again until 2001.

Statistics[]

Statistics	Tennessee	Arkansas
First Downs	16	31
Yards Rushing	320	361
Yards Passing	150	207
Total Yards	470	568
Punts-Average	5–39.0	3–44.3
Fumbles-Lost	0–0	3–2
Interceptions	2	1
Penalties-Yards	4–36	3–20

References[]

^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 5, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

This college football bowl article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[1] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 5, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1]

v t Cotton Bowl Classic
History & conference tie-ins	History Cotton Bowl AT&T Stadium College Football Playoff Broadcasters Playoff At-Large Group of Five
Games	1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 (January) 1966 (December) 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (January) 2015 (December) 2017 (January) 2017 (December) 2018 2019 2020 2021
Notes	There was a Cotton Bowl Classic in January and December in 1966, 2015, and 2017 The 2015 (December), 2018, and 2021 editions were College Football Playoff semifinals.