The 1972 Gator Bowl was held on December 30, 1972, at the

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. The sixth-ranked

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

defeated the 13th-ranked

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 ...

by a score of 24–3.

Game summary

The scoring was opened in the second quarter by Auburn, as they converted a 27-yard field goal to take a 3–0 lead. They extended their lead to ten as they found the end zone later in the same quarter off of a 1-yard run. They took a 10–0 lead into halftime. They controlled the third quarter as well, scoring on a 22-yard pass to take a 17–0 lead into the fourth quarter. The Tigers lost their shutout when the Buffaloes hit a 33-yard field goal, but Auburn quickly responded, scoring a 16-yard touchdown pass to make the score 24–3. The game finished with the same score.

Aftermath

6th-ranked Auburn rose to #5 following their win; #13 Colorado fell to #16.

References

Gator Bowl Auburn Tigers football bowl games Colorado Buffaloes football bowl games December 1972 sports events in the United States

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