Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14 Houston Oilers 20 Sunday 19 October 1980 at the Houston Astrodome
SCORING HOU 2:22-1Q Fritsch FG21 HOU 8:14-2Q Fritsch FG33 HOU 4:27-2Q Barber 17 pass from Stabler (Fritsch kick) TB 1:25-2Q Jones 17 pass from Williams (Yepremian kick) HOU 3:34-3Q Carpenter 10 run (Fritsch kick) TB 3:37-4Q Brown 80 fumble return (Yepremian kick)
Earl Campbell rushed for a record 203 yards against the Buc defense but the Oilers only secured victory when the Bucs were unable to go 82 yards in the final 1:18 to claim an improbable victory. Houston outgained Tampa 467 yards to 193, but three lost fumbles kept the Bucs in contention. Cedric Brown's fumble return came courtesy of Danny Reece who lateraled the ball to the Bucs' safety who took it back for the score.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: J.Davis 6-23, Eckwood 6-21, Bell 6-14, Williams 2-13, Hagins 1-(-4). OILERS: Campbell 33-203, Carpenter 7-32, Wilson 4-11, Barber 1-1, Stabler 1-(-2). PASSING BUCS: Williams 28-16-142-2-1. OILERS: Stabler 26-19-242-1-1. RECEIVING BUCS: Jones 4-58, Eckwood 4-39, Bell 4-14, Giles 3-19, Hagins 1-12. OILERS: Wilson 4-28, Renfro 3-75, Barber 3-26, Carpenter 3-20, Johnson 2-32, Caster 1-25, Coleman 1-14, Casper 1-14, Campbell 1-8. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: Brown 1-0. OILERS: Perry 1-7, Hartwig 1-0. KICK RETURNS BUCS: G.Davis 4-60, T.Davis 1-16. OILERS: Roaches 3-55. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Reece 1-(-1). OILERS: Roaches 3-8. SACKS BUCS: Kollar 1-13, L.Selmon 1-7. OILERS: Dorris 1-16.
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 75 Reavis DE 77 Kollar LG 68 Yarno DT 76 Logan C 62 Leonard DE 63 L Selmon RG 69 Austin LOLB 57 Lewis RT 73 Hannah LILB 58 D Selmon TE 88 Giles RILB 54 Wood TE 80 Samuels ROLB 56 Johnson WR 81 Hagins LCB 25 Jordan FB 38 J Davis RCB 40 Washington RB 42 Bell SS 33 Cotney QB 12 Williams FS 34 Brown PLAYED 1 Yepremian, 16 Blanchard, 20 Colzie, 27 T Davis, 28 G Davis, 36 Berns, 41 Thomas, 43 Eckwood, 46 Reece, 50 Wilson, 52 Brantley, 55 Brown, 59 Hawkins, 65 Stalls, 72 Snell, 78 Radford, 79 Lewis, 84 Jones, 86 Obradovich, 87 Mucker DID NOT PLAY 14 Fusina, 61 Roberts, 89 House INACTIVES none
COMMENTARY CREW Unknown
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes to view the big plays Another touchdown reception for Gordon Jones Cedric Brown had the big defensive play of the game for the Buccaneers Bill Kollar took down Kenny Stabler for a big loss with his sack