The 1966 Gator Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game that featured the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Collegi ...

and the Syracuse Orangemen.

Background

The Volunteers had finished fifth in 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 ...

, with an 11–10 loss to #3 Alabama being especially damaging. Nevertheless, they were invited to their second straight bowl appearance, the first time they had made consecutive bowls since 1956–57. This was the first Gator Bowl for either team. As for the Orangemen, they were making their fourth bowl appearance in the decade.

Game summary

Gary Wright kicked two 38 yard field goals to make it 6–0, and

Dewey Warren Dewey Warren (born May 7, 1945) is a former American football quarterback for the University of Tennessee football team and the American Football League's Cincinnati Bengals. Warren was nicknamed "The Swamp Rat" due to his early years growin ...

threw touchdown passes to

Austin Denney Austin Cheek Denney Jr. (January 2, 1944 – January 20, 2009) was an American football tight end in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills. He played college football at the University of Tennessee. Early years De ...

and Richmond Flowers to make it 18–0 at halftime. On the first drive of the second half,

Larry Csonka Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Me ...

scored on an 8-yard touchdown plunge to make it 18–6 (after a failed conversion play). With only 46 seconds left in the game,

Floyd Little Floyd Douglas Little (July 4, 1942 – January 1, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a halfback for the Denver Broncos, initially in the American Football League (AFL) and later the National Football League (NFL). He ...

made it 18–12 on a 3-yard touchdown plunge (with another failed conversion play), but it wasn't enough. Little (216 on 29 carries) and Csonka (114 on 18 carries) combined for 330 yards rushing in losing efforts. Warren 17-of-29 for 244 yards.1966 Gator Bowl – Syracuse University Athletics
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Aftermath

The Vols returned to the Gator Bowl three years later. The Orangemen did not play in a bowl game again for 13 years. They returned to the Gator Bowl 30 years later.

Statistics

References

Gator Bowl Gator Bowl Tennessee Volunteers football bowl games Syracuse Orange football bowl games December 1966 sports events in the United States Gator Bowl {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub