The 1984 Liberty 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 ...

postseason

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 27, 1984, at

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (originally named Memphis Memorial Stadium, and later Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium) is a football stadium located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds in the Midtown area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The st ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. The 26th edition of the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City ...

pitted the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

and the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

Background

Auburn, off the heels of an 11–1 season, a

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 ...

championship and a win in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

, were ranked #1 to begin the 1984 season. However, they were beaten by #14

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20–18 in the

Kickoff Classic The Kickoff Classic was a season-opening college football game played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey from 1983 to 2002. History In 1978, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA), which operated and scheduled ...

, and a loss to #4 Texas the following game meant that the Tigers dropped all the way to #19 in the polls. However, the team won six straight from that point on, including a victory over #9 Florida State to rise to #11. But a loss to #13 Florida dashed their conference title hopes, and they finished the regular season with a 17–15 loss to Alabama in the

Iron Bowl The Alabama–Auburn football rivalry, better known as the Iron Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between the Auburn University Tigers and University of Alabama Crimson Tide, both charter members of the Southeastern Conferenc ...

. This was Auburn's third straight bowl game appearance, along with their first Liberty Bowl appearance since

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

. The Razorbacks were in their first season under head coach

Ken Hatfield Kenneth Wahl Hatfield (born June 6, 1943) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Air Force Academy (1979–1983), the University of Arkansas (1984–1989), Clemson University (1 ...

, who had taken over after

Lou Holtz Louis Leo Holtz (born January 6, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at The College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York ...

was fired the previous year following a 6–5 season and a fourth place finish in the

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 ...

. Hatfield's team won seven games while finishing tied for 2nd in the conference with TCU. They went 0-2 against ranked opponents, losing 24-18 to #3 Texas in the middle of the season and losing 31-28 to #11 SMU to close out the regular season. This was the 7th bowl game for Arkansas in eight seasons and first Liberty Bowl appearance 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 ...

. This also served as the first meeting of the two teams.

Game summary

Arkansas got on the board first on a 31-yard field goal from Greg Horne to make it 3–0 with 7:27 left in the first quarter. Auburn scored four minutes later on a

Bo Jackson Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Jackson's el ...

touchdown plunge that finished off an 80 yard drive, although the extra point was no good, making it 6–3. Auburn struck again after cornerback Kevin Porter intercepted a pass from Brad Taylor and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. Auburn went for two and on the ensuing possession, quarterback Pat Washington ran in for the 2 point score to make it 14–3, which proved to be the end of scoring for the rest of the first half. The game heated back up in the fourth quarter, with Arkansas taking advantage of a

Brent Fullwood Brent Leanrd Fullwood (born October 10, 1963), from Saint Cloud High School, is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the first ...

fumble that Arkansas recovered on the Auburn 6, responding with a touchdown from fullback Marshall Foreman from two yards out. The two point conversion was no good, keeping it at 14–9. With 5:38 remaining in the game, Jackson took a pass from his left and ran 39 yards for a touchdown, making the score 21–9. Arkansas responded with 3:10 remaining on a 25 yard touchdown pass from Taylor to James Shibest, but the extra point was no good, making it 21–15. Auburn held on in the final minutes to clinch the victory. Jackson finished with 88 yards on 18 carries, with two touchdowns while also having one reception for 25 yards in an MVP effort. Foreman finished with 62 yards on 15 carries with one touchdown.

Bobby Joe Edmonds Bobby Joe Edmonds, Jr. (born September 26, 1964 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a former professional American football running back who played for the Seattle Seahawks, the Los Angeles Raiders, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1986 to 1989 and 19 ...

caught 10 passes for 68 yards.

Game statistics

Aftermath

Auburn went on to play in four more bowl games in the decade, although they have not returned to the Liberty Bowl since this game. Arkansas went to five more bowl games in the decade, returning to the Liberty Bowl three years later. After Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992, the two teams began meeting regularly with each other. It was not until 1995 that Arkansas managed to beat Auburn.

References

{{Arkansas Razorbacks bowl game navbox

Liberty Bowl Auburn Tigers football bowl games Arkansas Razorbacks football bowl games