1973 Orange Bowl

American college football game August 2023 December 2025 1973 Orange Bowl File:Miami orange bowl stadium cropped.jpg The Miami Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, hosted the Orange Bowl. 39th Orange Bowl 1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish University of Notre Dame Nebraska Cornhuskers University of Nebraska 8–2 Independent 8–2–1 Big Eight Ara Parseghian Bob Devaney 12 12 9 9 0 0 0 6 7 13 20 0 January 1 Orange Bowl Miami, Florida Johnny Rodgers (Nebraska HB) Nebraska by 14 pointshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6dgNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zGwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6963%2C331077 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Associated Press Notre Dame underdog in Orange January 1, 1973 62 Vance Carlson (Big Eight;split crew: Big Eight, Big Ten) 80,010 NBC List of announcers of major college bowl games Jim Simpson and Kyle Rote 24.5 The 1973 Orange Bowl was the 39th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 1. The final game of the 1972–73 bowl season, it matched the ninth-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference and the independent #12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, led by their respective hall of fame coaches, Bob Devaney and Ara Parseghian.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HNBOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AAIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7258%2C6614508 Toledo Blade Ohio Associated Press Devaney looks for that final win December 31, 1972 B4 Two-time defending national champion Nebraska scored early and won 40–6; Notre Dame was held scoreless until the fourth quarter to avoid a shutout.http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1973/01/02/page/53/article/cornhuskers-and-rodgers-shuck-notre-dame-40-6 Chicago Tribune Langford George Cornhuskers and Rodgers 'shuck' Notre Dame 40-6 January 2, 1973 1, sec. 3 https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DbBfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3zIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2498%2C228447 Lewiston Morning Tribune Idaho Associated Press Devaney goes out in style as Nebraska pounds Irish January 2, 1973 11https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8FQqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WVMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7348%2C147064 Pittsburgh Press UPI Rodgers does it all in Orange Bowl January 2, 1973 29https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gBonAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HOEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4561%2C340080 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press What happened? asks Ara January 2, 1973 3Bhttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ajopAAAAIBAJ&sjid=roUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5112%2C448798 Deseret News Salt Lake City, Utah UPI Eidge Frank Flu-ridden Rodgers leads Nebraska romp over Irish January 2, 1973 6B Teams 1972 NCAA University Division football season Notre Dame 1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team Notre Dame opened with four wins, but lost by four points to Missouri at home. In the regular season finale, the Irish lost 45–23 at rival USC, the eventual national champion. It was Notre Dame's first appearance in the Orange Bowl. Nebraska 1972 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team The two-time defending national champion Cornhuskers started the season top-ranked, but were upset by a late field goal in the opener, late at night at UCLA. They later tied Iowa State on the road and lost 17–14 to rival Oklahoma at home, their first loss on artificial turf. Nebraska was appearing in their third consecutive Orange Bowl. Game summary Ninth-ranked Nebraska was favored by two touchdowns. The programs had last matched up over 24 years earlier, in October 1948. Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers scored on an 8-yard touchdown run as Nebraska took the lead. In the second quarter, Gary Dixon scored from a yard out to increase the score to 14–0. I-back Rodgers then found split end Frosty Anderson for a 52-yard touchdown pass and the Huskers led 20–0 at halftime. In the third quarter, Rodgers scored on runs of four and five yards as Nebraska built a 33–0 lead. Quarterback Dave Humm threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Rodgers as Nebraska led 40–0 after three quarters. Notre Dame finally managed six points on a touchdown from Tom Clements to Pete Demmerle against the Husker reserves to avoid a shutout. Scoring First quarter Nebraska – Johnny Rodgers 8-yard run (Rich Sanger kick), 11:19 Second quarter Nebraska – Gary Dixon 1-yard run (Sanger kick), 14:29 Nebraska – Frosty Anderson 52-yard pass from Rodgers (kick blocked), 12:20 Third quarter Nebraska – Rodgers 4-yard run (pass failed), 11:17 Nebraska – Rodgers 5-yard run (Sanger kick), 7:33 Nebraska – Rodgers 50-yard pass from David Humm (Sanger kick), 6:00 Fourth quarter Notre Dame – Peter Demmerle 5-yard pass from Tom Clements (pass failed), 13:51 Source:https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xqdYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pfgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5866%2C684711 Spokane Daily Chronicle Washington Associated Press Rodgers ruins Irish January 2, 1973 18https://www.orangebowl.org/assets/1/7/2019_Capital_One_Orange_Bowl_Media_Guide-proof2.pdf 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl media guide Game-by-game recaps: 1973 January 2019 35 July 25, 2020 August 5, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200805235236/https://www.orangebowl.org/assets/1/7/2019_Capital_One_Orange_Bowl_Media_Guide-proof2.pdf dead http://www.huskersnside.com/pdf4/18478.pdf? https://web.archive.org/web/20200723001548/http://www.huskersnside.com/pdf4/18478.pdf dead July 23, 2020 2005 Nebraska Cornhuskers football media guide (supplement) Bowl games: 1973 Orange Bowl 2005 Statistics {| class=wikitable style="text-align:center" ! Statistics !! Notre Dame !!   Nebraska   |- | align=left|First downs || 13|| 30 |- | align=left|Rushes–yards|| 44–124|| 64–300 |- | align=left|Passing yards || 103|| 260 |- | align=left|Passes (C–A–I)|| 9–23–3 || 19–26–1 |- | align=left|Total offense || 67–227|| 90–560 |- | align=left|Punts–average || 6–37.2|| 4–38.3 |- | align=left|Fumbles–lost ||3–0|| 1–1 |- | align=left|Turnovers|| 3|| 2 |- | align=left|Penalties–yards ||1–15|| 5–68 |} Source: Aftermath Although 1972 was a letdown season after two consecutive national championships,https://www.si.com/vault/1973/01/08/567158/no-doubt-about-whos-champ Sports Illustrated Jenkins Dan Dan Jenkins No doubt about who's champ January 8, 1973 20 the Huskers were the first to three-peat in the Orange Bowl and vaulted to fourth in the final AP poll at 9–2–1. Rodgers scored four touchdowns and threw for another in his final collegiate game, and sat out the final twenty minutes. The final UPI coaches poll was released in early December, prior to the bowls, and had the Huskers ninth. The 1972 season also was the only three-loss season in Parseghian's eleven years at Notre Dame and they fell to fourteenth in the final AP poll; the Irish rebounded in 1973 to finish 11–0 and win the national championship. References 2 External links Nebraska Cornhuskers Orange Bowl Category:Orange Bowl Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers football bowl games Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football bowl games Category:January 1973 sports events in the United States Orange Bowl Category:American football competitions in Miami