The 1972 Orange Bowl was the 38th
edition of the
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 ...
bowl game, played at the
Orange Bowl in
Miami,
Florida, on Saturday, January 1. The final game of the
1971–72 bowl season, it matched the
top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers of the
Big Eight Conference
The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...
and the #2
Alabama Crimson Tide of the
Southeastern Conference (SEC). Both teams were undefeated; Nebraska, the defending
national champion, built a large lead in the first half and won
Teams
Alabama
Nebraska
Game summary
Six-point favorite Nebraska entered the game on a 31-game unbeaten streak,
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 ...
winner Johnny Rodgers scored on a 77-yard punt return on the final play of the first quarter, as Nebraska led In the second quarter, quarterback Jerry Tagge and Gary Dixon added touchdown runs of one and two yards respectively, as Nebraska led convincingly 28–0 with over eight minutes remaining in the first half. There was no additional scoring before halftime as the Husker defense stifled the Tide's previously potent Wishbone offense with All-American running back Johnny Musso
Johnny Musso (born March 6, 1950) is an American former football player, a running back for three seasons with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears.
Early years
Born and rai ...
.
Scoring
;First quarter:
*Nebraska – Jeff Kinney 1-yard run (kick failed), 3:01
*Nebraska – Johnny Rodgers 77-yard punt return (Maury Damkroger
Maurice Albert Damkroger (born January 8, 1952) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Nebraska and was drafted by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 1974 NFL Draft. At Nebraska, he played at fu ...
pass from Jerry Tagge), 0:00
;Second quarter:
*Nebraska – Tagge 1-yard run (Rich Sanger kick), 12:43
*Nebraska – Gary Dixon 2-yard run (Sanger kick), 8:49
;Third quarter:
*Alabama – Terry Davis 2-yard run (run failed), 5:49
*Nebraska – Sanger 21-yard field goal, 0:00
;Fourth quarter:
*Nebraska – Van Brownson 1-yard run (Sanger kick), 4:45
:
Statistics
:
:[
]
Final polls
Nebraska was first in both major polls and was the consensus national champion, having defeated the next three teams in the final AP Poll released on January 3: Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, Colorado,
The Huskers earned all 55 first-place votes in the AP poll; in the UPI coaches poll released in early December, they received 29 of the 31 first-place votes, with the other two
References
External links
HuskerPedia.com
- 1972 Orange Bowl
Starting rosters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orange Bowl, 1972
1971–72 NCAA football bowl games
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
January 1972 sports events in the United States
Orange Bowl