The 1973 Orange Bowl was the 39th

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of the

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, played at the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, on Monday, January 1. The final game of the 1972–73 bowl season, it matched the ninth-ranked

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

of the

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and the

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#12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, led by their respective

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coaches, Bob Devaney and

Teams

Notre Dame

Notre Dame opened with four wins, but lost by four points to

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

at home. In the regular season finale, the Irish lost 45–23 at rival

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, the eventual national champion. It was Notre Dame's first appearance in the Orange Bowl.

Nebraska

The two-time defending national champion Cornhuskers started the season top-ranked, but were upset by a late field goal in the opener, late at night at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. They later tied Iowa State on the road and lost 17–14 to rival

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 ...

at home, their first loss on

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

. Nebraska was appearing in their third consecutive Orange Bowl.

Game summary

Ninth-ranked Nebraska was favored by two touchdowns. The programs had last matched up over 24 years earlier, in October

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

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 an touchdown run as Nebraska took the lead. In the second quarter, Gary Dixon scored from a yard out to increase the score to I-back Rodgers then found split end Frosty Anderson for a touchdown pass and the Huskers led at halftime. In the third quarter, Rodgers scored on runs of four and five yards as Nebraska built a 33–0 lead. Quarterback Dave Humm threw a touchdown pass to Rodgers as Nebraska led after three quarters. Notre Dame finally managed six points on a touchdown from Tom Clements to Pete Demmerle against the Husker reserves to avoid a

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Scoring

;First quarter: *Nebraska – Johnny Rodgers 8-yard run (Rich Sanger kick), 11:19 ;Second quarter: *Nebraska – Gary Dixon 1-yard run (Sanger kick), 14:29 *Nebraska – Frosty Anderson 52-yard pass from Rodgers (kick blocked), 12:20 ;Third quarter: *Nebraska – Rodgers 4-yard run (pass failed), 11:17 *Nebraska – Rodgers 5-yard run (Sanger kick), 7:33 *Nebraska – Rodgers 50-yard pass from

David Humm David Henry Humm (April 2, 1952 – March 27, 2018) was an American professional football player who played as a quarterback in the NFL from 1975– 84 for the Oakland / Los Angeles Raiders, the Buffalo Bills, and the Baltimore Colts. He playe ...

(Sanger kick), 6:00 ;Fourth quarter: *Notre Dame –

Peter Demmerle Peter Kirk Demmerle (September 6, 1953 – May 24, 2007) was an American football player. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame as a wide receiver and was a consensus first-team Demmerle was a member of the national cham ...

5-yard pass from

Tom Clements Thomas Albert Clements (born June 18, 1953) is an American football coach and a former Canadian Football League (CFL) quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He also served as a ...

(pass failed), 13:51 :

Statistics

: :

Aftermath

Although

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 ...

was a letdown season after two consecutive

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

, the Huskers were the first to

three-peat In North American sports, a three-peat is winning three consecutive championships. The term, a portmanteau of the words ''three'' and ''repeat'', originated with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, during their unsuccess ...

in the

and vaulted to fourth in the final AP poll at Rodgers scored four touchdowns and threw for another in his final collegiate game, and sat out the final twenty minutes. The final UPI coaches poll was released in early December, prior to the bowls, and had the Huskers ninth. The 1972 season also was the only three-loss season in Parseghian's eleven years at Notre Dame and they fell to fourteenth in the final AP poll; the Irish rebounded in

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. ...

to finish and win the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

References

External links

Nebraska Cornhuskers
{{Notre Dame Fighting Irish bowl game navbox

Orange Bowl Nebraska Cornhuskers football bowl games Notre Dame Fighting Irish football bowl games January 1973 sports events in the United States