The 1965 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 29th edition of the college football

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 Subdivi ...

, played at the Cotton Bowl in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, on Friday, January 1. With

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

implications,Robertson, Walter. "Porkers, Longhorns Bowling Champs." 1/2/1965
Story.

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the '' Galvest ...

. Retrieved on February 19, 2009. the game matched 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 ...

champion

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 ...

and the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

, champions of the Big Eight Conference."Major Conference Champions.
1964 SWC Champions.
Infoplease.com. Retrieved on July 13, 2008. Second-ranked Arkansas rallied to defeat #6 Nebraska 10–7 in front of 75,504 to win their first Cotton Bowl and claim to a first national title."2009 AT&T Cotton Bowl-Past Classics.
History.
The official site of the

2009 Cotton Bowl Classic The 2009 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic was the 73rd edition of the annual college football bowl game that was part of the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was one of 34 games in the 2008–09 bowl season. The game featured the Ole Miss ...

. Retrieved on February 19, 2009"Arkansas 10, Nebraska 7.
Summary.
Retrieved on February 19, 2009.

Setting

Arkansas

The Razorbacks stormed into Dallas after winning all ten of its games to earn the

title and a #2 ranking in the AP and Coaches polls. The Hogs defeated #1

14–13 in Austin to clinch the bowl berth, and the conference championship. Longhorn head coach

Darrell Royal Darrell K Royal (July 6, 1924 – November 7, 2012) was an All-American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Mississippi State University (1954–1955), the University of Washington (1956), and the University of Texas (1957� ...

went for two in the game and failed, giving the game, conference, bowl bid, and later the national crown to the Razorbacks. Razorback guard

Ronnie Caveness Ronald Glen Caveness (March 6, 1943 – May 10, 2014) was an American football linebacker for the American Football League's Houston Oilers and Kansas City Chiefs from 1965 to 1968. Caveness played college football for the University of Arkansas ...

was named an All-American.

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 ...

again led the nation in punt return yards, with 518. Tom McKnelly scored 45 points kicking 27

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 ...

s and 6 field goals, which tied him with LSU's

Doug Moreau Douglas Paul Moreau (born February 15, 1945) is a former American football tight end in the American Football League and current broadcaster along with being a literature teacher. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the sixth round of the 19 ...

for fourth place nationally. Arkansas entered the bowl season on a sour note, with losses in major bowl games in January

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

, and

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

; they didn't play in a bowl the previous season due to their 5–5 record.

Nebraska

Under third-year head coach

Bob Devaney Robert Simon Devaney (April 13, 1915 – May 9, 1997) was a college football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1957 to 1961 and at the University of Nebraska from 1962 to 1972, compiling a career record of . ...

, Nebraska won its first nine games and was fourth in the rankings, but lost 17–7 at

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Oklahoma on November 21, which snapped a sixteen-game winning streak. The Huskers' previous bowl trips were split at 2–2, with both wins in the last two seasons.

Game summary

This was the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Arkansas' number-one rated defense was giving up only 5.7 points per game, while Nebraska's #7 offense was scoring 24.9 points per contest. A standing room only crowd watched as Arkansas opened the scoring on a Tom McKnelly field goal in the first quarter. Nebraska responded in the second, with Harry Wilson punching it into the end zone from one yard out for a touchdown, giving the Huskers a 7–3 lead at halftime. The third quarter passed with no scoring. Fred Marshall took over at quarterback for the Razorbacks in the fourth quarter and engineered an 80-yard drive with little time left on the game clock. Marshall pitched to running back Bobby Burnett, who scampered in from the three-yard line for the game's final touchdown, giving Arkansas a 10-7 victory. It was their first win in a major bowl and their first bowl win in four years.

Aftermath

The Razorbacks were selected as national champions by the Football Writers Association of America and the Helms Athletic Foundation, after the

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 me ...

lost their

against the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...

. Arkansas defeated Texas in Austin earlier in the season. Because the final major polls (AP and Coaches (UPI)) were released in early December before bowl games were played, the Crimson Tide was selected national champions. Because of the controversy, the AP Poll decided to wait until after the bowl games to select their champion in the 1965 season. Nebraska entered the game sixth in the final AP poll, while Arkansas was second."Final AP Top 10.
1964 AP Poll.
Infoplease.com. Retrieved on July 11, 2008. Arkansas improved to in bowls with the win, while Nebraska's record in the postseason dropped to

Jerry Jones Jerral Wayne Jones (born October 13, 1942) is an American businessman who has been the owner, president, and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) since February 1989. Early life Jones was born in Los Ange ...

, the Arkansas co-captain, went on to build AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington, where the Cotton Bowl Classic is now played.

of Arkansas returned to the Cotton Bowl Classic in January

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

as the Razorbacks' head coach; Arkansas was defeated by

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

(quarterbacked by

Troy Aikman Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from Oklahoma, he played college football at UCLA, ...

whom Jones signed for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

References

{{Nebraska Cornhuskers bowl game navbox

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

Cotton Bowl Classic Arkansas Razorbacks football bowl games Nebraska Cornhuskers football bowl games Cotton Bowl January 1965 sports events in the United States