1981 Tangerine Bowl

American college football game December 2025 August 2023 Tangerine Bowl December 19 1981 1981 Southern Miss Golden Eagles 9–1–1 Bobby Collins Independent 0 3 7 7 LB Jeff Gaylord (Missouri) 18 15 Missouri Tigers 7–4 Warren Powers Big Eight 7 6 3 3 bg Orlando Stadium Orlando, Florida William McDonald 50,045 Mizlou Citrus Bowl (game) The 1981 Tangerine Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 19, 1981, at Orlando Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The game featured the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Missouri Tigers. Background Southern Miss had finished with 9 wins in the regular season, their most since 1962 in their second straight bowl appearance, their first consecutive bowl seasons since 1957–58. Missouri had finished 5th in the Big Eight Conference, qualifying for their 4th straight bowl appearance. This was the first Tangerine Bowl for Southern Miss since 1958. This was Missouri's first ever Tangerine Bowl. Game summary Bobby Meyer gave the Tigers a 7–0 lead on his three-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The Golden Eagles narrowed the lead to 7–3 on a Steve Clark field goal. Missouri increased their lead with two Bob Lucchesi field goals in the span of 5 minutes to make it 13–3 at halftime. Sammy Winder made it 13–10 on his 4-yard touchdown run in the middle of the third quarter. Lucchesi made it 16–10 on his 30-yard field goal in the third quarter. He added another one from 28 yards out to make it 19–10. Southern Miss narrowed it to 19–17 with 1:03 remaining on a David Sellers touchdown pass to Louis Lipps.2013 Southern Miss Golden Eagles Football Media Guide 2013 History: Bowl History 176 University of Southern Mississippi Department of Athletics Hattiesburg, Mississippi http://www.provationsgroup.org/publications/2013-USM-Football/index.html#?page=176 December 27, 2015 PDF Aftermath Head Coach Bobby Collins left for SMU after the game, and the Eagles did not return to a bowl game until 1988. Southern Miss has not played in the Tangerine (now Citrus) bowl since. Missouri did not return until 2015. Statistics Statistics Southern Miss Missouri First downs 15 15 Yards rushing 133 128 Yards passing 128 141 Total Offense 261 305 Return yards 122 97Punts-Average 8-34.5 7-35.9Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1–0Interceptions Thrown 0 1Penalties-Yards 6-58 7-50 References Tangerine Bowl Category:Citrus Bowl (game) Category:Missouri Tigers football bowl games Category:Southern Miss Golden Eagles football bowl games Tangerine Bowl Tangerine Bowl Category:1980s in Orlando, Florida