The 1974 Tangerine 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 ...

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 21, 1974, at the Tangerine Bowl stadium in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. The game featured the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

and the

Miami Redskins The Miami RedHawks are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Miami is a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Divis ...

(located in

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

and now nicknamed the RedHawks).

Background

Miami was champion of the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

(MAC) for the second straight year, while having a season with no losses for the second straight year as well, earning another Tangerine trip. Georgia finished tied for second 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 ...

(SEC), despite losing three of their last four games. This was their first Tangerine Bowl appearance. Delays with stadium renovation work had led to the previous Tangerine Bowl game being played in Gainesville; this year the game returned to

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

, where it has remained since.

Game summary

On the first play of scrimmage, the Bulldogs fumbled the ball and Miami recovered it at the Georgia 25. Rob Carpenter scored on a one-yard touchdown run to give Miami a 7–0 lead. Despite driving into Miami territory, Georgia settled for an Allan Leavitt field goal that narrowed the lead to 7–3.

Sherman Smith Sherman Smith (born November 1, 1954) is a former professional American football running back who played eight seasons for the Seattle Seahawks and San Diego Chargers between 1976 and 1983. He was also the running backs coach for the Seahawks ...

threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Taylor to make it 14–3. A fumble at the Bulldogs 22 gave the ball back to the Redskins, who capitalized with a touchdown run by Smith to make it 21–3. All Georgia could do in the second half was make the score 21–10 on a

Ray Goff Ray Goff (born July 10, 1955) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Georgia from 1989 to 1995, compiling a record of 46–34–1. Playing career Goff attended the University of Georgia, ...

touchdown plunge, but Georgia could not get any more points.

Aftermath

Miami returned to the Tangerine Bowl the following year, after winning their third straight MAC title. Georgia returned to the Tangerine Bowl ten years later; by then the game had changed names and was the 1984 Florida Citrus Bowl.

Statistics

References

{{Miami RedHawks bowl game navbox Tangerine Bowl Citrus Bowl (game) Georgia Bulldogs football bowl games Miami RedHawks football bowl games Tangerine Bowl Tangerine Bowl