The 1973

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 ...

, part of the 1973 bowl game season, took place on December 31, 1973, at

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New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. The top-ranked

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a mem ...

of the

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(SEC) met the

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

; both teams Underdog Notre Dame won 24–23; the game received a 25.3

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, making it one of the highest-rated college football games in history.

Teams

Alabama

Alabama completed the

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. ...

regular season with an 11–0 record, as conference champions and as national champions as determined by the final UPI coaches poll, released in early Following their victory over

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, university officials announced they accepted an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl. The appearance marked the sixth for Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, their 27th overall bowl game appearance and their first all-time meeting against Notre Dame.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame finished the regular season with a 10–0 record. Following their victory over

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, university officials announced they accepted an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl. The appearance marked the first for Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, and their fifth overall bowl game appearance.

Game summary

With a cold rain falling, Notre Dame opened the scoring with a Wayne Bullock 6-yard touchdown run, and after a missed

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

took an early 6–0 lead. In the second quarter, Alabama took the lead on a 6-yard Randy Billingsley touchdown run, only to see the Irish go up 14–7 on the following play. The ensuing

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was returned 93-yards for a touchdown by Al Hunter. The Tide cut the lead to 14–10 late in the quarter on a 39-yard Bill Davis

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

. In the third quarter, the teams traded touchdowns with Alabama scoring first on a 5-yard

Wilbur Jackson Wilbur Jackson (born November 19, 1951) is a former American football running back for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted in the first round of the 1974 NFL Draft out of University of Alabama by the 4 ...

touchdown run and Notre Dame on a 12-yard Eric Penick touchdown run to make the score 21–17 entering the final period. After quarterback

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made a 25-yard touchdown reception from Mike Stock on a trick play, Davis missed the extra point to only put Alabama up 23–21. The Irish responded with a 19-yard field goal by Bob Thomas to take the lead 24–23 with 4:26 remaining in the game. Late in the fourth quarter, Alabama pinned Notre Dame back deep in Irish territory with a punt, hoping to get the ball back within easy range of a game-winning field goal. During the punt, the Alabama punter was run into and Notre Dame was flagged with a 15-yard roughing the kicker personal foul. In 1973, a personal foul wasn't an automatic first down in college football, so since it occurred on a 3rd and 20, accepting the penalty would have given Alabama a fourth and 5 on their own 45 yard line, only down one with mere minutes remaining. Coach Bear Bryant, knowing even a safety would win the game, decided to decline the penalty and try to stop Notre Dame who had to start on their own 1 yard line. Bryant's strategy seemed ready to pay off when his defense stymied Notre Dame on two plays and forced 3rd and 10 on their 1-yard line. However, on third and long Irish QB Tom Clements connected with backup TE Robin Weber on a long pass that gave the Irish a first down and allowed them to run out the clock. With their victory, the

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awarded the Irish the national championship in ranking them first in their final poll.

Scoring summary

References

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Sugar Bowl Alabama Crimson Tide football bowl games Notre Dame Fighting Irish football bowl games