1972 Liberty Bowl

American college football game December 2025 August 2023 Liberty Bowl 14th Liberty Bowl December 18 1972 1972 Iowa State Cyclones 5–5–1 Johnny Majors Big Eight 14 7 3 6 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 6–4–1 Bill Fulcher Independent 3 14 7 7 QB Jim Stevens (Georgia Tech) bg Memphis Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee John Miskovsky (Big Eight) (split crew: Big Eight, SEC) 50,021 ABC Chris Schenkel (Play-by-play), Bud Wilkinson (Color commentary) The 1972 Liberty Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game played on December 18, 1972, in Memphis, Tennessee. In the 14th edition of the Liberty Bowl, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defeated the Iowa State Cyclones, 31–30. Background The Cyclones finished 5th in the Big Eight Conference, after falling from 8–4 to 5–5–1 in their second straight bowl appearance. The Yellow Jackets were in a bowl for the third straight year under first year head coach Bill Fulcher. This was the first Liberty Bowl for both teams. The game was nationally televised in primetime on ABC.Turnbull Buck December 18, 1972 Confusion Shrounds ISU In Bowl 1S, 4S Des Moines Register https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64800664/dm-register-1972-liberty-bowl-preview/Craig Jack December 17, 1972 Schenkel, pal Friday have worked 423 games 101 Boston Globe https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64801078/chris-schenkel-and-bill-friel-interview/ Game summary An Iowa State fumble led to a Cam Bonifay field goal to make it 3-0 Georgia Tech less than two minutes into the game. Iowa State responded with two touchdowns in the first quarter, one of them on a George Amundson touchdown pass and the other on a Moses Moore touchdown run. Jimmy Robinson caught a touchdown pass from backup quarterback Jim Stevens to make it 14-9 midway through the second quarter. Gary Faulkner returned an interception for a touchdown to make it 17-14 with 1:46 remaining in the 1st half. But on the ensuing kickoff return, Moore returned it 93 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-17 at halftime. Rob Healy caught a touchdown pass from Stevens to make it 24-21 Georgia Tech. Iowa State responded with a Tom Goedjen field goal with 1:40 remaining in the third to make it a 24-24 tie going into the final quarter. Kevin McNamara caught a touchdown pass from Stevens to make it 31-24 with 11:28 remaining. On a pitchout pass attempt by Stevens, the Cyclones recovered the ball at the Jacket 33 with the chance to tie/win. An Ike Harris touchdown from George Amundson had made it 31-30 with 1:36 to go. But on the ensuing two-point conversion, Amundson threw the ball away, and Mark Fields recovered the ensuing onside kick for Georgia Tech to clinch the game. Jim Stevens completed 12 of 15 passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns and was named Most Valuable Player.http://www.ramblinwreck.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/geot/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/bowls01 Georgia Tech Official Athletic Site - RamblinWreck.com ramblinwreck.com 2015-12-25 December 25, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151225181129/http://www.ramblinwreck.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/geot/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/bowls01 deadhttp://www.cyclones.com/pdf9/3655007.pdf?SPSID=48323&SPID=4653&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=10700 Archived copy 2015-08-14 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20150814193256/http://www.cyclones.com/pdf9/3655007.pdf?SPSID=48323&SPID=4653&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=10700 2015-08-14 Aftermath Majors announced that he would leave Iowa State to coach Pittsburgh, and he was replaced by Earle Bruce. Fulcher left Georgia Tech the following season. While Georgia Tech has not returned to the Liberty Bowl since this game, Iowa State returned in 2012 and 2017. Statistics Statistics Iowa State Georgia TechFirst downs 18 18Rushing yards 185 123Yards passing 153 157Total offense 338 280Interceptions thrown 2 1Fumbles-lost 3-2 5-2Punts-average 3-24.6 5-36.6Penalties-yards 4-39 1-5 References Liberty Bowl Category:Liberty Bowl Category:Iowa State Cyclones football bowl games Category:Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football bowl games Category:December 1972 sports events in the United States Category:1972 in sports in Tennessee