The 1973 Gator Bowl was an American

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 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 ...

played on December 29, 1973, at

Gator Bowl Stadium The Gator Bowl was an American football stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. Originally built in 1927, all but a small portion was razed in 1994 in preparation for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars' inaugural season; the reconstructed stadium became Jac ...

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 ...

. The game pitted the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raide ...

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, ...

Background

The Red Raiders started the season 2–1, losing to #14 Texas in Austin 28–12. They would promptly win the rest of their regular season games, finishing with 10 victories (though not a

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 ...

title), the first time that happened since 1953, which also culminated in a Gator Bowl appearance. This was their third bowl game in three years along with their first Gator Bowl since 1965. The Volunteers started the season with five straight victories before facing off against #2 Alabama, which they lost 42–21. A win over TCU was followed by losses to Georgia and Ole Miss that dropped them out of the rankings. Victories over Kentucky and Vanderbilt to end the season got them back into the polls as they limped to a fourth place finish 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 of ...

, though they were invited to a bowl game for the seventh straight year.

Game summary

*Texas Tech – Joe Barnes, 7 yard touchdown run (Don Grimes kick) *Texas Tech – Lawrence Williams, 79 yard touchdown pass from Barnes (Grimes kick) *Tennessee – Ricky Townsend, 30 yard field goal *Tennessee – Haskel Stanback, 5 yard touchdown run (Townsend kick) *Texas Tech – Andre Tillman, 7 yard touchdown pass from Barnes (Grimes kick) *Tennessee – Townsend, 37 yard field goal *Tennessee – Stanback, 7 yard touchdown pass from

Condredge Holloway Condredge Holloway Jr. (born January 25, 1954) is a former quarterback for the University of Tennessee and later in the Canadian Football League. Holloway was one of the first African-American quarterbacks to receive national exposure. His nickna ...

(pass failed) *Texas Tech – Larry Isaac, 3 yard touchdown run (Grimes kick) 1973 Gator Bowl Game Program

Joe Barnes went 8-of-11 for 154 yards while throwing for two touchdowns and rushing the ball 73 yards on 16 carries for a touchdown as the Red Raiders outran the Volunteers 276 to 153, while turning the ball over only once. Tennessee threw for 190 yards over Tech's 154, but they turned the ball over twice. Haskel Stanback rushed for 95 yards on 19 carries for the Vols.

Statistics

Aftermath

The Red Raiders would make three more bowl games in the decade, though they did not win another bowl game until 1989. The Red Raiders did not return to the Gator Bowl again until

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. The Volunteers made two more bowl games in the decade, splitting the two games. The Volunteers did not return to the Gator Bowl again until

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

References

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 ...

Gator Bowl Tennessee Volunteers football bowl games Texas Tech Red Raiders football bowl games December 1973 sports events in the United States

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