The 1969 Orange Bowl was the 35th

edition Edition may refer to: * Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies * Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run * Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text * Edition Recor ...

of the

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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

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 at 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 in ...

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 ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, on Wednesday, January 1. The final game of the 1968–69 bowl game season, it matched the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

third-ranked

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The inte ...

and the #6

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a mem ...

of the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associati ...

. Favored Penn State rallied to win with a late touchdown and

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

, 15–14.

Teams

Penn State

Penn State was going for their first undefeated season, though a national championship was unlikely due to being ranked third with #1

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and #2

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

matched up in the Rose Bowl. This was the Nittany Lions' first appearance in the Orange Bowl.

Kansas

The Jayhawks were co-champion of the Big Eight with

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, who went to the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl. This was Kansas' first conference title since

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

, their first

in seven years, and first Orange Bowl since

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. Their only loss in the regular season was to Oklahoma by four points.

Game summary

This was the fifth straight year for a night kickoff at the Orange Bowl, following the Rose Bowl. The temperature was . Fullback Mike Reeves scored from two yards out to give Kansas the lead in the first quarter. Penn State tied the game at seven before halftime on halfback Charlie Pittman's thirteen-yard run. After a scoreless third quarter,

John Riggins Robert John Riggins (born August 4, 1949), nicknamed "Riggo" and "Diesel", is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. He played col ...

gave the Jayhawks a 14–7 lead on his one-yard touchdown plunge. Kansas had another chance to score with the ball at Penn State's 14 on fourth down with one yard to go. Instead of kicking the field goal, they went for the first down, but Riggins was stuffed for no gain. With 1:16 remaining, Kansas had fourth down on their own 25-yard line; a partially blocked punt gave the ball back to Penn State at midfield. On the next play, wingback Bob Campbell caught a pass from quarterback Chuck Burkhart and was finally tackled at the three-yard line. After two runs for no gain, Burkhart bootlegged left to make it 14–13 with fifteen seconds remaining, and Penn State opted to go for the win with a two-point conversion attempt. The conversion attempt was denied as Burkhart's pass to the right was batted down in the end zone, which prompted the Kansas fans to rush the field. But the game was far from over; a penalty had been called on Kansas for twelve men on the field. On the second attempt, Campbell scored around left end to give the Nittany Lions the one-point win.

Scoring

;First quarter: *Kansas – Mike Reeves 2-yard run (Bill Bell kick) ;Second quarter: *Penn State – Charlie Pittman 13-yard run (Rusty Garthwaite kick) ;Third quarter: :''No scoring'' ;Fourth quarter: *Kansas –

1-yard run (Bell kick) *Penn State – Chuck Burkhart 3-yard run (Bob Campbell run) :

Statistics

: :

Aftermath

Despite Riggins' return for his junior season, the graduations of quarterback

Bobby Douglass Robert Gilchrist Douglass (born June 22, 1947) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) who played most of his career with the Chicago Bears, who drafted him in the second round of the 1969 NFL Draft. During ...

and defensive end

John Zook John Eldon Zook (September 24, 1947 – June 6, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Falcons. Zook ...

hurt the Jayhawks, and they won just once in

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 ...

. The Jayhawks improved to 5-6 in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, Riggins' senior season and Rodgers' last in Lawrence before succeeding

Tommy Prothro James Thompson "Tommy" Prothro Jr. (July 20, 1920 – May 14, 1995) was an American football coach. He was the head coach at Oregon State University from 1955 to 1964 and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1965 to 1970, compil ...

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 ...

. Kansas did not have another winning season until

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, and did not return to the Orange Bowl until January

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Penn State returned to the Orange Bowl the following year, and won again, defeating Kansas' archrival,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

to complete another 11-0 season. When head coach

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2 ...

was later asked what football game was his favorite game of all time he answered, the 1969 Orange Bowl.

References

{{Penn State Nittany Lions bowl game navbox

Orange Bowl Kansas Jayhawks football bowl games Penn State Nittany Lions football bowl games January 1969 sports events in the United States