The 1971 Gator Bowl (January) was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

postseason

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 Subdivis ...

between the unranked

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 10th-ranked

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

, 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 of ...

. It was played in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, on January 2, 1971, the day after the major bowl games.

Background

This was a matchup of two SEC teams, fourth-place Ole Miss and second-place Auburn, that rarely played each other. Although in the same conference, they had met only once since

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

, in the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City ...

in December

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

. The Rebels made their fourteenth straight bowl appearance in Johnny Vaught's final full season as head coach, but it was their first Gator Bowl since

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

. This was Archie Manning's final game as Rebel quarterback. This was Auburn's third straight bowl game and first

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

since

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

. Auburn quarterback Pat Sullivan won the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

the following season. Neither head coach was on the sidelines due to medical reasons: from a mild heart attack and Auburn's

Ralph Jordan Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

was recovering from an

appendectomy An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acu ...

Scoring

First quarter *Auburn – Terry Beasley 8 pass from Pat Sullivan (Gardner Jett kick) *Auburn – Alvin Bresler 7 pass from Sullivan (Jett kick) Second quarter *Auburn – Sullivan 37 run (Jett kick) *Ole Miss – Archie Manning 2 run (Poole kick) *Ole Miss – Floyd Franks 34 pass from Manning (Poole kick) Third quarter *Auburn – Mickey Zofko 6 run (Jett kick) *Ole Miss – Jim Poole 23 pass from Shug Chumbler (Poole kick) *Auburn – Larry Willingham 55 punt return (Jett kick) Fourth quarter *Ole Miss – Chumbler 1 run (Poole kick) : Auburn jumped out to a lead and Ole Miss pulled to within seven at halftime, but could get no closer as the teams traded touchdowns in the second half. Manning went 19-of-28 for 180 yards while rushing for 95 yards on 11 carries, with two touchdowns and one interception. Sullivan went 27-of-43 for 351 yards and rushed for 35 yards on 10 carries, with three touchdowns and one interception.

Aftermath

Vaught was replaced by

Billy Kinard Billy Russell Kinard (December 16, 1933 – June 30, 2018) was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as a defensive back for the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Buf ...

before the next season started. Kinard reached one bowl in his tenure before being fired midway through the

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

season, and Vaught replaced Kinard for the final eight games, going

led Auburn for five additional seasons and the Tigers reached four more bowl games.

Statistics

: :

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1971 Gator Bowl (01)

Gator Bowl Ole Miss Rebels football bowl games Auburn Tigers football bowl games Gator Bowl (January) Gator Bowl (January)

Background

Scoring

Aftermath

Statistics

See also

References