1999 Sugar Bowl

1999 Nokia Sugar Bowl
1999 Nokia Sugar Bowl
BCS Bowl Game; 65th Sugar Bowl
Texas A&M Aggies	Ohio State Buckeyes
(11–2)	(10–1)
Big 12	Big Ten
14	24
Head coach: ; R.C. Slocum	Head coach: ; John Cooper
Date	January 1, 1999
Season	1998
Stadium	Louisiana Superdome
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	David Boston (WR, Ohio State)
Favorite	Ohio State by 12 points (49.5)
Referee	Al Ford (SEC)
Attendance	76,503
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC
Announcers	Brent Musburger, Dan Fouts; and Jack Arute
Nielsen ratings	11.5
Sugar Bowl
< 1998	2000 >

The 1999 Sugar Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on January 1, 1999. It was the 65th edition of the Sugar Bowl and featured the Ohio State Buckeyes, and the Texas A&M Aggies. Ohio State entered the game ranked number 4 in the BCS at 10–1, whereas Texas A&M entered the game at 11–2, and ranked number 6 in the BCS. Sponsored by Nokia, the game was officially known as the Nokia Sugar Bowl.

Teams

The Sugar Bowl during the BCS era usually selected the SEC champion, however the winner of the SEC, Tennessee was selected to play in the Fiesta Bowl for the national title. The next-highest ranked SEC team, Florida was selected to play in Orange Bowl instead, leaving no SEC representatives for the Sugar Bowl. As a result, Big 12 champion Texas A&M and Big Ten co-champion Ohio State were selected.

Texas A&M Aggies

Texas A&M defeated Kansas State in the 1998 Big 12 Championship Game to earn a BCS berth as their conference's champion. Texas A&M entered the bowl with an 11–2 record (7–1 in conference).

Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State ended up in a three-way tie for first place in the Big Ten with Michigan and Wisconsin. At the time, the Big Ten awarded the Rose Bowl invitation to the tied team which had gone the longest period of time without an invitation: Michigan had been in the 1998 Rose Bowl, Ohio State had been in the 1997 Rose Bowl, while Wisconsin had last been in the 1994 Rose Bowl, meaning the Badgers would get the invitation. Ohio State entered the bowl with a 10–1 record (7–1 in conference).

Game summary

Texas A&M scored first on a 9-yard touchdown run by Dante Hall to open the game 7–0. Joe Germaine threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Germany to tie the game at 7–7. Later in the quarter, running back Joe Montgomery rushed 10 yards for a touchdown, and Ohio State opened up a 14–7 lead.

Derek Ross blocked an A&M punt, that Kevin Griffin returned 16 yards for a touchdown. Ohio State led 21–7 after the first quarter. Ohio State kicked a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter to open up a 24–7 halftime lead. Texas A&M closed to 24–14 on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Branndon Stewart to Leroy Hodge. Ohio State's defense was stout throughout the contest, and they held on to win, 24–14.

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	A&M	OSU
1	10:53	6	59	2:26	A&M	Dante Hall 9-yard touchdown run, Russell Bynum kick good	7	0
1	8:34	8	71	2:19	OSU	Reggie Germany 18-yard touchdown reception from Joe Germaine, Dan Stultz kick good	7	7
1	4:10	6	71	2:41	OSU	Joe Montgomery 10-yard touchdown run, Dan Stultz kick good	7	14
1	1:59	1	16	0:10	OSU	Kevin Griffin 16 yd blocked punt return, Dan Stultz kick good	7	21
2	0:16	9	40	1:45	OSU	31-yard field goal by Dan Stultz	7	24
3	5:24	11	68	3:32	A&M	Leroy Hodge 7-yard touchdown reception from Branndon Stewart, Russell Bynum kick good	14	24
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							14	24

Statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Aggies	7	0	7	0	14
No. 4 Buckeyes	21	3	0	0	24

Statistics	A&M	OSU
First downs	17	25
Plays–yards	66–283	80–432
Rushes–yards	27–96	42–210
Passing yards	187	222
Passing: comp–att–int	22–39–0	21–38–0
Time of possession	28:18	31:42

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Texas A&M	Passing	Branndon Stewart	22/39, 187 yds, 1 TD
	Rushing	Ja'Mar Toombs	10 car, 62 yds
	Receiving	Chris Taylor	5 rec, 52 yds
Ohio State	Passing	Joe Germaine	21/38, 222 yds, 1 TD
	Rushing	Joe Montgomery	9 car, 96 yds
	Receiving	David Boston	11 rec, 105 yds

References

^ "Orange Bowl Odds". Orange Bowl Odds. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
^ "Betting line". Orange Bowl Odds. p. D7.

[latln-1] "Orange Bowl Odds". Orange Bowl Odds. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.

[betln-2] "Betting line". Orange Bowl Odds. p. D7.

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v t e 1998–99 NCAA football bowl game season
Las Vegas (Dec. 19) Motor City (Dec. 23) Aloha (Dec. 25) Oahu (Dec. 25) Insight.com (Dec. 26) Alamo (Dec. 29) Music City (Dec. 29) MicronPC (Dec. 29) Holiday (Dec. 30) Humanitarian (Dec. 30) Liberty (Dec. 31) Peach (Dec. 31) Sun (Dec. 31) Independence (Dec. 31) Cotton (Jan. 1) Outback (Jan. 1) Gator (Jan. 1) Florida Citrus (Jan. 1)
Bowl Championship Series games: Rose Bowl (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 2) Fiesta (Jan. 4)
All-Star Games: East–West Shrine Game (Jan. 16) Senior Bowl (Jan. 23)

v t e Sugar Bowl
History & conference tie-ins	History Tulane Stadium Georgia Dome Caesars Superdome College Football Playoff Southeastern Conference Big 12 Conference
Games	1935 1936 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 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 (Jan) 1972 (Dec) 1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 (Jan) 1995 (Dec) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (Jan) 2022 (Dec) 2024 2025
Notes	The 2006 game took place in Atlanta, Georgia due to Hurricane Katrina. The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004. There was a Sugar Bowl in January and December in 1972, 1995 and 2022. The game was a College Football Playoff semifinal in its 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2024 editions.