1973 Liberty Bowl

American college football game December 2025 August 2023 Liberty Bowl 15th Liberty Bowl December 17 1973 1973 Kansas Jayhawks 7–3–1 Don Fambrough Big Eight 19 15 0 10 0 8 NC State Wolfpack 8–3 Lou Holtz ACC 16 NR 7 3 7 14 bg Memphis Memorial Stadium Memphis, Tennessee FB Stan Fritts (North Carolina State) Robert Cooper (ACC;split crew: ACC, Big Eight) 50,011 The 1973 Liberty Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game played on December 17, 1973, in Memphis, Tennessee. In the 15th edition of the Liberty Bowl, the NC State Wolfpack defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, 31–18. Background The Wolfpack went a perfect 6–0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, winning their first ACC title since 1968. This was the first time the Wolfpack made bowl appearances in consecutive seasons. Kansas tied for second in the Big Eight Conference but was badly thinned by injuries to key personnel. This was their first bowl appearance since 1969. This was North Carolina State's third Liberty Bowl in 10 years (1963 and 1967 being the other two times). Game summary With the game a 10–10 tie early in the third quarter, Kansas' Bruce Adams called for a fair catch on a punt, but in the midst of heavy traffic he fell down on the field, with the ball bouncing off him. NC State recovered the ball deep in Kansas territory. Adams' argument that he was tripped were ignored by the referees (television replay appeared to show that he, indeed, had been tripped). The Wolfpack soon scored two plays later, and with momentum in their favor, scored twice more. Stan Fritts went for 83 yards on 18 carries in an MVP effort.http://www.gopack.com/news/2012/2/7/1973_Liberty_Bowl_Recap.aspx NC State Athletics – 1973 Liberty Bowl Recap gopack.com December 25, 2015 Scoring summary NC State – Stan Fritts 2 yard touchdown run (Sewell kick), 4:09 remaining in the 1st. Kansas – Miller 12 yard touchdown pass from Dave Jaynes (Love kick), 14:15 remaining in the 2nd. NC State – 33 yard field goal by Sewell, 4:54 remaining in the 2nd. Kansas – 28 yard field goal by Love, 0:28 remaining in the 2nd. NC State – Fritts 8 yard touchdown run (Sewell kick), 9:20 remaining in the 3rd. NC State – Charley Young 12 yard touchdown run (Sewell kick), 4:50 remaining in the 4th. NC State – Jim Henderson 31 yard interception return (Sewell kick), 4:03 remaining in the 4th. Kansas – Miller 12 yard touchdown run (Jaynes pass to Adams), :34 remaining in the 4th. Aftermath The Jayhawks returned to the Liberty Bowl in 2022. In the next 30 years, they went to bowl games only 5 times. While the Wolfpack have not returned to the Liberty Bowl since the game, they played in 16 bowl games over the next 30 years. Statistics Statistics Kansas NC StateFirst downs 24 17Rushing yards 130 188Passing yards 218 86Passes intercepted 2 1Fumbles–lost 2–1 2–0Penalties–yards 4–373–35Punting Average 37.0 38.0 References Liberty Bowl Category:Liberty Bowl Category:Kansas Jayhawks football bowl games Category:NC State Wolfpack football bowl games Category:December 1973 sports events in the United States Category:1973 in sports in Tennessee