The 1972 Tangerine Bowl, part of the
1972 bowl game season, took place on December 29, 1972, at the
Tangerine Bowl stadium in
Orlando, Florida. The competing teams were the
Tampa Spartans
The Tampa Spartans are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tampa, located in Tampa, Florida, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Spartans compete as members of the Sunshine State Conference for all sports besides beach ...
, that competed as a
College Division Independent, and the
Kent State Golden Flashes
The Kent State Golden Flashes are the athletic teams that represent Kent State University. The university fields 19 varsity athletic teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level with football competing in ...
, that competed as a member of the
Mid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...
(MAC). In the game, Tampa took a 21–0 halftime lead, and then held off a Golden Flashes comeback to win 21–18.
The game featured two eventual
College Football Hall of Fame coaches,
Earle Bruce
Earle Bruce (March 8, 1931 – April 20, 2018) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Tampa (1972), Iowa State University (1973–1978), Ohio State University (1979–1987), the University of N ...
at Tampa and
Don James at Kent State.
Other players of note that played in the game included eventual
Alabama head coach Nick Saban
Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...
,
Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel
Gary Robin Pinkel (born April 27, 1952) is a former American college football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Toledo from 1991 to 2000 and the University of Missouri from 2001 to 2015, compiling career record ...
and
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...
linebacker
Jack Lambert for Kent State and eventual
number one NFL Draft pick John Matuszak
John Daniel Matuszak (October 25, 1950 – June 17, 1989) was an American football defensive end in the National Football League who later became an actor.
Matuszak was the first overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft and played most of his career ...
for Tampa.
Tampa's
Paul Orndorff
Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Cham ...
would go on to have a successful
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
career.
Teams
Tampa
The Spartans entered their game against
Bowling Green
A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls.
Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...
with an overall record of seven wins and two losses (7–2), and it was speculated the winner of the game would be invited to compete in the Tangerine Bowl.
This was the case as a Falcons victory would give them the MAC championship and an automatic bid to the game thus making a rematch against the Spartans unlikely.
Tampa did win the game 29–22, and on November 20, they accepted a bid to play in the Tangerine Bowl.
The appearance marked the first for the Spartans in a
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
(NCAA) sanctioned bowl game and their first postseason appearance since their victory in the 1954
Cigar Bowl.
Kent State
The Golden Flashes entered their game against
Toledo with an overall record of five wins, four losses and one tie (5–4–1).
With a victory over the Rockets, Kent State won their first all-time MAC Championship and secured the league's automatic bid to the Tangerine Bowl.
Game summary
The 1972 edition of the Tangerine Bowl kicked off at 8:00 p.m. before what was the largest crowd to date for the game.
The Spartans took a 14–0 first quarter lead on a pair of Buddy Carter touchdown passes to Paul Orndorff. The first was set up after
Gerald Tinker
Gerald Alexander Tinker (born January 19, 1951) is a former track athlete and American football player, winner of gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Early years
Gerald Tinker attended Coral Gables Senior Hig ...
fumbled a
punt at the Flashes' 15-yard line that was recovered by Terry Grantham.
On the next play, Tampa led 7–0 with Orndorff's 15-yard touchdown reception.
Later in the quarter, the second Spartans touchdown was set up by a Tommy Thomas
interception
In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...
return of a Greg Kokal pass to the Kent 38-yard line.
Two plays later, Tampa led 14–0 with Orndorff's 35-yard touchdown reception.
Tampa's final touchdown drive of the night was again set up by a Kent turnover. For the second time, Kokal threw an interception, and on the drive that followed
Freddie Solomon
Freddie Solomon (January 11, 1953 – February 13, 2012) was a professional American football player who was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the 2nd round of the 1975 NFL Draft. A native of Sumter, South Carolina, he was a graduate of Sumt ...
gained 60 yards on five carries that included the final two for a touchdown and a 21–0 halftime lead.
Kent responded in the third quarter with their first touchdown on a 76-yard Kokal pass to Tinker, and after a missed extra point the score was 21–6.
A pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns on a ten-yard Kokal pass to Dooner and on a 78-yard Renard Harmon punt return made the final score 21–18.
For his performance of 103 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown, Freddie Solomon was named outstanding back of the game, along with Kent State's
Jack Lambert who was named outstanding lineman.
Scoring summary
References
{{Tampa Spartans football navbox
Tangerine Bowl
Citrus Bowl (game)
Kent State Golden Flashes football bowl games
Tampa Spartans football bowl games
Tangerine Bowl
Tangerine Bowl