The 1962 Orange Bowl was the 28th

edition Edition may refer to: * Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies * Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run * Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text * Edition Recor ...

of the college football

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

, played at the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, on Monday, January 1. Part of the 1961–62 bowl game season, the fourth-ranked

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) defeated the #7

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...

of the Big Eight Conference, 25–7.

Teams

Colorado

LSU

LSU implemented their "three-platoon system." which included the "

Chinese Bandits The Chinese Bandits were the backup defensive unit on coach Paul Dietzel's LSU Tigers football teams, most notably the 1958 and 1959 teams. The name was also used briefly by the Army Cadets football team during Dietzel's coaching tenure at the U.S. ...

" defensive unit.

Game summary

The game kicked off at 1 pm and was played in a drizzle, the first rain at an Orange Bowl.

Scoring

First quarter *LSU - FG-

Wendell Harris Wendell Preston Harris Jr. (born October 2, 1940) is a former American football defensive back in the National Football League in the 1960s. He played college football at Louisiana State University, where he guided the Tigers to the 1961 Southe ...

30 yds; 3–0 LSU *LSU -

Safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

—punt blocked out of end zone; 5–0 LSU Second quarter *Colo - TD-Loren Schweninger 59-yard interception return (Hillebrand kick); 5–7 Colorado *LSU - TD-Charles Cranford 1-yard run (2-point conversion failed); 11–7 LSU Third quarter *LSU - TD-

Jimmy Field James Morgan Field, known as Jimmy Field (born April 16, 1940), is a part-time attorney in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a Republican former member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. The five-member public regulatory agency oversees uti ...

9-yard run (Harris kick); 18–7 LSU *LSU - TD-

Gene Sykes Eugene Charle Sykes (September 26, 1941 – October 26, 2018) was an American football defensive back. Sykes scored a touchdown in LSU's 25–7 defeat of Colorado in the 1962 Orange Bowl. In 1963, he appeared with the LSU team in the Cotton B ...

recovered blocked punt in end zone (Harris kick); 25–7 LSU Fourth quarter :''No scoring''

Aftermath

It was the final game for both head coaches: Colorado's Sonny Grandelius was fired in March in the wake of numerous NCAA rule violations, and

Paul Dietzel Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

left for

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, then returned to LSU as athletic director in 1978. The next season, Colorado won just two games under interim head coach Bud Davis (who later served as LSU's Chancellor), who was succeeded by

Eddie Crowder Eddie Crowder (August 26, 1931 – September 9, 2008) was an American football player and coach. He was an All-American quarterback (QB) and safety at the University of Oklahoma (OU) in the early 1950s and a successful head coach and athletic d ...

in January

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

. The program's next

appearance Appearance may refer to: * Visual appearance, the way in which objects reflect and transmit light * Human physical appearance, what someone looks like * ''Appearances'' (film), a 1921 film directed by Donald Crisp * Appearance (philosophy), or p ...

in a major bowl was after the

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

season, also in the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

. LSU's next major bowl

was the following year, with a

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

win in the

Cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

; their next Orange Bowl was in January 1971.

Charles McClendon Charles Youmans McClendon (October 17, 1923 – December 6, 2001), also known as "Cholly Mac", was an American football player and coach. He served at the head coach at Louisiana State University from 1962 to 1979. McClendon was inducted into th ...

, Dietzel's top assistant, ascended to head coach and remained through the 1979 season, compiling a 137-59-7 record. McClendon remains LSU winningest coach as of 2023.

References

Orange Bowl Colorado Buffaloes football bowl games LSU Tigers football bowl games January 1962 sports events in the United States

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