The 1971 Tangerine Bowl was held on December 28, 1971, 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

Toledo Rockets The Toledo Rockets are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Toledo. The Rockets compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The ...

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 ...

defeated the

Richmond Spiders The Richmond Spiders represent the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. The Spiders compete in the Division I FCS of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. The Spider na ...

of the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

by a score of 28–3. The Tangerine Bowl is a former name of what is now called the

Citrus Bowl The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Cheez-It Bowl and Florida Classic. The gam ...

. Heading into the game, Toledo had an unblemished 11–0 record. They were MAC champions and were ranked #14 in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

. The Toledo Rockets were heavy favorites; they were riding a 34-game winning streak and attempting to finish their third straight undefeated and untied season in a row. Their nationally ranked defense, led by All-American

Mel Long Mel Long (born November 22, 1946) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Toledo and high school football for Macomber. In 1998, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The 6-1, 230-pound Long p ...

, helped the Rockets outgain the Spiders 395–138 in total yards. Toledo finished #14 in the season's final AP Poll. Richmond entered with a 5–6 record. They were Southern Conference champions after they defeated William & Mary, 21–19, in the regular season finale to clinch the conference title. The Spiders were appearing in their second-ever postseason bowl game; their first had been the 1968 Tangerine Bowl.

Scoring summary

References

{{Richmond Spiders football navbox Tangerine Bowl Citrus Bowl (game) Toledo Rockets football bowl games Richmond Spiders football bowl games Tangerine Bowl Tangerine Bowl