Sugar Bowl

41st Annual
Sugar Bowl
December 31, 1974

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#8 Nebraska 13 (Final: 9-3-0, #9)
#18 Florida 10 (Final: 7-4-0, #15)

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Official Game Stats – PDF

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Goal-Line Stand Sparks Nebraska to 13-10 Sugar Bowl Comeback Win Over Florida

How Nebraska and Florida Met in the 1974 Sugar Bowl

There may never have been a Sugar Bowl which turned so completely on one play.
 
The underdog Florida Gators held a 10-0 lead in the third quarter and were camped on the Nebraska 1, ready to put the Cornhuskers away. With the way the Husker offense had been sputtering against the aggressive, swarming Gator defense, a Florida touchdown at that point would have been monumental.
 
After Florida had a first-and-goal from the five, it could only gain four yards on three plays. Gator coach Doug Dickey waved off the field goal team and had his team go for it.  Don Gaffney pitched to James Richards who slipped, then was dropped by defensive back Jim Burrow (a former walk-on at Ole Miss, where he was told he was too small).
 
Dickey didn’t really feel the situation was that much of a gamble. “I thought maybe (even) if we left the ball there (at the 1),” the coach said, “we’re going to get it back and kick the field goal anyway.”
 
Huskers’ coach Tom Osborne, however, made a critical change in strategy: he benched quarterback David Humm, a normally-feared passer but who the Gators harnessed (at that juncture, Humm had two completions in 14 attempts – and four interceptions) and sent in reserve Terry Luck with orders to junk the passing game and use the runners.
 
Nebraska began worming its way out of the shadows of the goal posts as Don Westbrook, Monte Anthony, and Tony Davis consistently gained ground – short gains, maybe, but steady yardage. By the end of the third period, the Huskers were planted on the Gator 12. Anthony bounced into the end zone two minutes later to cut the lead to 10-7.
 
The 18-play, 99-yard drive consumed eight minutes and 50 seconds of playing time – all three marks are Sugar Bowl records.
 
There was more of the same the next time Nebraska got the ball. Luck’s unit came to a fourth-and-two at the 49. Osborne signaled “Go for it” and Anthony gained three yards. The drive eventually slowed, but Mike Coyle’s line-drive field goal of 37-yards tied the score with 7:12 to play.
 
The dynamics of the game had completely changed. Florida again could not get its offense in gear and the Huskers got the ball at their 25 with four minutes to go. A 40-yard gain by Davis brought the ball to the Gators 31 and put Nebraska in position for the victory. Davis had been mostly unstoppable in the second half, but then Gator defensive back Alvin Cowan took down the hard-running back at the Florida 22 to set up a fourth-and-one play with 2:22 to go. Osborne called for Coyle once again and the junior from Omaha was true on his 39-yard field-goal attempt.
 
“I didn’t think that last one was good,” he said, “but it had that famous Coyle hook on it.”
 
Nebraska had somehow pulled itself not only from defeat but also from humiliation.
 
The Florida locker room was steamy and somber afterward.  Dickey spent a lot of time talking individually with his warriors. Preston Kendrick, who was absolutely superb on the field with two interceptions, eight solo tackles and four assists, couldn’t look up.
 
In another corner, defensive back Randy Talbot stopped taking his jersey off, looked around, then expressed what everyone else seemed to be thinking: “I’ll tell you what, I’d like to play them again.”
 
Unfortunately for the Gators, Burrows should not have even had the opportunity to make his huge stop. On third-and-four from the Nebraska 18, tailback Tony Green took a pitch-out from Gaffney and bolted for the end zone. Knocked off balance, Green went the final five yards sideways while trying to stay in-bounds. He reached the end zone, but the officials ruled he stepped out at the 5. Films later showed he had not.

Recap excerpted from the book “Sugar Bowl Classic: A History” by Marty Mulé, who covered the game and the organization for decades for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

1974

Tulane Stadium
Att: 68,890

Nebraska	0	0	0	13	-	13
Florida	7	3	0	0	-	10

SCORING SUMMARY
Fla: Tony Green 21-yard run (Dave Posey kick), 9:49 (1st)
Fla: Posey 40-yard field goal, 0:02 (2nd)
Neb: Monte Anthony 2-yard run (Mike Coyle kick), 13:24 (4th)
Neb: Coyle 37-yard field goal, 7:13 (4th)
Neb: Coyle 39-yard field goal, 1:46 (4th)

Nebraska	Team Stats	Florida
18	First Downs	13
60-304	Rushing	55-178
2-14-4	Passing	5-10-1
16	Passing Yards	97
74-320	Total Offense	65-275
4-37.0	Punting	6-32.5
3-1	Fumbles-Lost	3-1
1-17	Penalties-Yds	5-41

Rushing Leaders
Neb: Tony Davis 17-126; Monte Anthony 15-64 TD; John O’Leary 18-50
UF: Jimmy Dubose 17-84; Tony Green 14-73 TD; James Richards 6-22

Passing
Neb: David Humm 2-12-4, 18 yards; Terry Luck 0-2-0, 0 yards
UF: Don Gaffney 5-10-1, 97 yards

Receiving
Neb: Don Westbrook 2-16
UF: Lee McGriff 2-52; Alvis Darby 1-32; Tony Green 1-9; Larry Brinson 1-4

Miller-Digby Award recipient: Tony Davis, Nebraska fullback