Tony Davis
Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame
Nebraska
Sugar Bowl: 1974
Inducted: 2021
Trailing Florida 10-0 late in the third quarter, Nebraska rallied behind a tough running effort from Tony Davis, who would earn Most Outstanding Player honors for the 1974 Sugar Bowl. Davis, a native of Tecumseh, Neb., ran 11 times for 110 yards in the final 20 minutes of the game. His 40-yard run with just over three minutes to go was the key play to set up Mike Coyle’s game-winning 39-yard field goal. He finished the game with 126 rushing yards on 17 carries as Nebraska defeated Florida, 13-10. Davis was head coach Tom Osborne’s first 1,000-yard rusher as a sophomore in 1973 and graduated as the Cornhuskers’ all-time leading rusher. He was also the MVP of the Cotton Bowl in January of 1974 and he would play six years in the NFL. He was elected to the Nebraska Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.
