The 1977 Tangerine 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 played on December 23, 1977 at

Orlando Stadium Orlando Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Soweto, a suburb of Johannesburg, in Gauteng province in South Africa. It is the home venue for Orlando Pirates Football Club, a professional soccer team that plays in the Premier Soccer League. O ...

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 pitted the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...

and the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Background

Texas Tech started the season ranked #8 in the nation, winning their first two games of the season before a face-off with #6 Texas A&M, which they lost 33–17. Three straight wins got them to #14, but a 26–0 loss to #1 Texas dropped them out permanently. Wins over TCU and SMU followed, but they lost to Houston and #6 Arkansas to finish the season. They finished tied for fourth in the Southwest Conference. This was their sixth bowl game of the decade. Florida State had just two losses, compounded with a six-game winning streak. They reached #13 at one point (before a loss to San Diego State), but they finished the season strong with a 37–9 thrashing of Florida. This was their first bowl game since

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

Game summary

*Florida State – Dave Cappelen 23 yard field goal, 5:50 remaining *Texas Tech – Mike Mock 24 yard field goal, 10:24 remaining *Florida State – Larry Key 93 yard kickoff return touchdown (Cappelen kick), 9:37 remaining *Florida State – Roger Overby 37 yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Jordan (Cappelen kick failed), 3:55 remaining *Florida State – Mike Shumann 40 yard touchdown pass from Jordan (King pass from Jordan), 12:30 remaining *Florida State – Cappelen 22 yard field goal, 9:13 remaining *Texas Tech – Nelson 44 yard touchdown pass from Rodney Allison (Allison pass failed), 7:46 remaining *Florida State – Overby 15 yard touchdown pass from Jordan (Cappelen kick), 3:39 remaining *Texas Tech – Billy Taylor 21 yard touchdown run (Taylor pass from Allison), 2:01 remaining *Florida State – Chip Sanders 44 yard touchdown pass from Wally Woodham (Cappelen kick), :48 remaining Jimmy Jordan threw 18-of-25 for 311 yards and three touchdowns en route to an MVP effort. Florida State had 22 first downs to Texas Tech's 21 first downs. Tech had 99 rushing yards (on 44 carries) while the Seminoles had 85 (on 37 carries). Florida State threw for 455 passing yards while the Red Raiders threw for 379. The Seminoles had two turnovers, but the Red Raiders turned it over four times. While Florida State had 10 penalties for 130 yards, they managed to convert their opportunities into points, where as Tech did not do as such, at least until the second half where it was too late.

Statistics

Aftermath

The Red Raiders did not qualify for another bowl game until the

1986 Independence Bowl The 1986 Independence Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Ole Miss Rebels and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Background The Rebels finished tied for 2nd in the Southeastern Conference in their first bowl game since 1983, wh ...

. Florida State's next bowl appearance was the

1980 Orange Bowl The 1980 Orange Bowl was the 46th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, January 1. Part of the 1979–80 bowl game season, it matched the fourth-ranked independent Florida State S ...

References

{{Texas Tech Red Raiders bowl game navbox Tangerine Bowl Citrus Bowl (game) Florida State Seminoles football bowl games Texas Tech Red Raiders football bowl games Tangerine Bowl Tangerine Bowl