The 1971 Liberty Bowl 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

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

and the

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

, played on December 20, 1971, in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. In the 13th edition of 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 ...

, ninth-ranked Tennessee defeated 18th-ranked Arkansas, 14–13. The game was wrought with controversy, mainly due to two calls in the game by SEC official Preston Watts that favored Tennessee. An Arkansas field goal was wiped out due to a phantom holding call on Arkansas tight end Bobby Nichols. Nichols stated after the game that a Vols player grabbed him and pulled him to the ground, yet Watts flagged Nichols for the holding penalty. The second controversial call came in the fourth quarter when Arkansas fumbled the ball, but Razorback player Tom Reed recovered, and actually handed the ball to Preston Watts. Watts unceremoniously signaled that the ball had been recovered by Tennessee, and gave possession to the Volunteers at the Arkansas 37 yard line. Tennessee would score a touchdown a few plays later to take the lead. Watts was born and raised in Tennessee. This controversy prompted the NCAA to change its rules concerning officiating in bowl games. No longer would bowl game officiating crews be split between the conferences of the competing teams; rather, officiating crews would be composed of officials from conferences not playing in that bowl game.

Setting

#18 Arkansas

Arkansas defeated #7 Cal in

War Memorial Stadium War Memorial Stadium may refer to: * Ada War Memorial Stadium, in Ada, Ohio, also known as ''War Memorial Stadium'' * War Memorial Stadium (Arkansas), Little Rock, Arkansas * War Memorial Stadium (Austin, Texas) (former official name 1924–1947), ...

to open the season, but suffered a one-point defeat to an unranked Tulsa team two weeks later. The Hogs would upset #10 Texas in Little Rock also, but lost to Texas A&M and tied Rice, costing the Hogs the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

#9 Tennessee

Game summary

The Volunteers took the lead first, with a two-yard run by Bill Rudder. The Hogs responded with a 36-yard TD strike from Joe Ferguson to Jim Hodge. Scoring wouldn't resume until the fourth quarter, when Razorback Bill McClard kicked 19- and 30-yard field goals. A third McClard kick was good, set up by Louis Campbell's third interception, but a penalty kept the Hogs off the board a fourth time. Arkansas fumbled at their own 36-yard line, and Tennessee's Curt Watson scored three plays later. Arkansas set a Liberty Bowl record with 104 interception return yards in the contest. This record still stands today. Louis Campbell of Arkansas had three interceptions, also a Liberty Bowl Record."Liberty Bowl – Individual Records.
Article.
Retrieved December 13, 2009.

References

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

Arkansas Razorbacks football bowl games Tennessee Volunteers football bowl games December 1971 sports events in the United States

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