The 1964
Sugar Bowl was the thirtieth
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
Tulane Stadium
Tulane Stadium was an outdoor football stadium that stood in New Orleans from 1926 to 1980. It was officially the Third Tulane Stadium and replaced the "Second Tulane Stadium", which was located where the Telephone Exchange Building is now. Th ...
in
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, on Wednesday, January 1. Part of the
1963–64 bowl game season, it matched the
seventh-ranked Ole Miss Rebels
The Ole Miss Rebels are the 18 men's and women's intercollegiate athletic teams that are funded by and represent the University of Mississippi, located in Oxford. The first was the football team, which began play in 1893.
Originally known as th ...
and the #8
Alabama Crimson Tide
The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a me ...
, both 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), although the two teams had not met in years.
The
matchup was the first between the flagship universities of these neighboring states in almost two decades (
1944
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 2 – WWII:
** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...
), and only the second in over thirty years. In a defensive struggle, Alabama upset the Rebels 12–7 without scoring a touchdown.
New Orleans received a rare substantial
snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
fall of the previous day,
and cleared snow lay in large banks around the edges of the field.
Teams
Alabama
This was
Bear Bryant's sixth season as head coach at Alabama. The Crimson Tide lost to
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 ...
and
long-time rival Auburn en route to an 8–2 regular season.
Originally wanting to pit
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
against Ole Miss, the Sugar Bowl extended the invitation to Alabama with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
This was their seventeenth
bowl appearance and the fourth in the Sugar Bowl.
On December 9, several days prior to the regular season finale against
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 ...
, junior quarterback
Joe Namath was suspended for the remainder of the season by Bryant.
Sophomore
Steve Sloan started at quarterback for the Crimson Tide in the final two games.
Mississippi
The 1963 squad was
Johnny Vaught
John Howard Vaught (May 6, 1909 – February 3, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) from 1947 to 1970 and aga ...
's seventeenth as head coach at Ole Miss. The Rebels did not lose a regular season game, but tied
Memphis State
}
The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students.
The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering, the Center for Ea ...
and
long-time rival Mississippi State
Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...
en route to a 7–0–2 record. This was their twelfth
bowl appearance and the seventh in the Sugar Bowl.
Game summary
The Sugar Bowl kicked off at 1 pm
CST, as did 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 ...
and
Orange Bowls.
The temperature was .
The game was a defensive slugfest, with thirteen turnovers and nine punts. Alabama scored its first points on a 31-yard
field goal by Tim Davis.
Scoring
Statistics
:
:
See also
* Alabama–Ole Miss football rivalry
References
{{Ole Miss Rebels bowl game navbox
Sugar Bowl
Sugar Bowl
Alabama Crimson Tide football bowl games
Ole Miss Rebels football bowl games
Sugar Bowl
Sugar Bowl