1980 Liberty Bowl
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| 1980 Liberty Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 22nd Liberty Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 27, 1980 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1980 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Memphis, Tennessee | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | QB Mark Herrmann (Purdue) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | R. Pete Williams (SEC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 53,667 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Lampley Steve Davis | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1980 Liberty Bowl, a college football postseason bowl game, was played on December 27, 1980, in Memphis, Tennessee. The 22nd edition of the Liberty Bowl saw the Purdue Boilermakers defeat the Missouri Tigers, 28–25.
After 9–2–1 and 10-2 seasons the prior two years, Purdue was ranked #9 to begin the season. However, they began the season 1-2 after losses to Notre Dame and UCLA and out of the polls. They promptly won their next six games to be ranked #16 going into a game versus Michigan, which they lost handily, 26-0. A victory over Indiana in the Old Oaken Bucket gave them eight victories on the season. Mark Herrmann broke the NCAA's career record for passing yardage, finishing his collegiate career 772 of 1,309 for 9,946 yards, 71 touchdowns, and 75 interceptions. As for Missouri, they had won their first three games en route to being ranked #9 prior to playing Penn State at home. However, they lost 29-21, though they would win their next three games to be at 6-1 before losing to Nebraska and losing to Oklahoma two weeks later to finish third in the Big Eight Conference. This was Purdue's first ever Liberty Bowl and Missouri's second Liberty Bowl appearance in two years.