The 1969 Liberty Bowl, part of the 1969 bowl game season, took place on Saturday, December 13, at Memphis Memorial Stadium in

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 competing teams in the eleventh 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 ...

were 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 ...

of the

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 o ...

(SEC), and the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...

of the Big Eight Conference. Favored by a point, Colorado won 47–33.

Teams

Alabama

Alabama finished the regular season with losses to Vanderbilt,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, and Auburn to compile a 6–4 record. Following their victory over

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, the Crimson Tide accepted an invitation to play in the Liberty Bowl on November 17. The appearance marked the second for Alabama in the Liberty Bowl, and their 23rd overall

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 ...

Colorado

Colorado lost to Penn State, Oklahoma, and

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

to compile a 7–3 record in the regular season. Following their victory over

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, the Buffaloes accepted an invitation to play in the Liberty Bowl on November 22. It was the first Liberty Bowl for Colorado and their fifth bowl appearance.

Game summary

The game kicked off shortly after 12:20 pm CST. In a game dominated by both offenses, Colorado took a 10–0 first quarter lead. Ward Walsh scored first on a 13-yard touchdown run and Dave Haney connected on a 30-yard field goal for the Buffaloes. Early in the second quarter, Colorado extended their lead to 17–0 after a three-yard Bobby Anderson touchdown run. Alabama responded with touchdown runs of 31-yards from Scott Hunter and six-yards from George Ranager to cut the lead to 17–13. With less than three minutes remaining in the half, Walsh scored again on 15-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing drive, Alabama responded with a two-yard Johnny Musso touchdown run to make the score 24–19. However, the following

kickoff Kickoff or kick-off may refer to * Kick-off (association football) * Kickoff (gridiron football) * ''Kick Off'' (series), a series of computer association football games * ''Kick Off'' (album), a 1985 album by Onyanko Club * ''Kick Off'' (mag ...

was returned 91-yards by Steve Engel to give the Buffaloes a 31–19 lead at the half. In the third quarter, Alabama took their only lead of the game following a pair of Neb Hayden touchdown passes; the first came on a 55-yard reception by Griff Langston and the second on a ten-yard reception by Musso to give the Crimson Tide a 33–31 lead. Colorado then scored 16 fourth quarter points to seal the 47–33 victory with a pair of Anderson touchdown runs and a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

made when

Bill Brundige William Glenn Brundige (November 13, 1948 – December 29, 2018) was an American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins for eight seasons, from 1970 through 1977. He is currently sixth on the Reds ...

and Herb Orvis sacked Hayden in the endzone.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberty Bowl, 1969 1969–70 NCAA football bowl games

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

1969 in sports in Tennessee December 1969 sports events in the United States