The Sugar Bowl Has Enjoyed Memorable December 31 Games
By Ted Lewis
[This story originally appeared in the Official Game Program for the 12/31/2022 Allstate Sugar Bowl.]
Over the years, the Sugar Bowl and New Year’s Eve have been infrequent companions. But the five times the Bowl has been played on Dec. 31 have certainly been memorable. To wit:
- The first time the national championship was actually on the line, the largest crowd in Bowl history, arguably its most memorable play and two claimants for the title when it was over.
- The last game in Tulane Stadium.
- The first game in the Superdome.
- The most-bizarre pregame incident.
- The first night game, the first Sunday game and an unaccepted forfeit.
Starting with that last one which was the first played exactly 50 years ago:
Dec. 31, 1972 – Oklahoma 14, Penn State 0
For its first 38 years, the Sugar Bowl had been played on the afternoon of Jan. 1, or Jan. 2 on the five times when New Year’s Day fell on a Sunday. However, early in 1972, Sugar Bowl broadcast partner ABC pressed for playing on New Year’s Eve, and the Bowl acquiesced (thanks to a significant financial inducement as well).
Exhibit A for how college football has changed: kickoff was scheduled for 8 p.m. because ABC wanted to air The FBI at 7.
When Bear Bryant, the coach of the Southeastern Conference champion (Alabama) opted to take his team to the Cotton Bowl to face the Southwest Conference champion (Texas), the Sugar Bowl wound up with its first game without an SEC team since 1949; albeit one matching the nation’s No. 2 and No. 5 teams, the best combined rankings since No. 2 LSU vs. No. 3 Ole Miss in 1960.
The game itself was one-sided as Penn State, without future Heisman winner John Cappelletti who was ill with a 102-degree temperature, was held to 196 total yards and had five turnovers.
The Nittany Lions’ defense forced five turnovers as well, but the Sooners scored a on a 27-yard pass from Dave Robertson to Tinker Owens in the second quarter and sealed it early in the fourth period after a fumbled punt return.
Three months after the game, an NCAA investigation found that Oklahoma had altered the transcripts of two incoming freshman and the Sooners offered to forfeit their 11 victories from the 1972 season, including the Sugar Bowl.
However, Penn State coach Joe Paterno refused to accept the forfeits, saying, “our players and the Oklahoma players know who won the game.”
In the 1973 Sugar Bowl, Notre Dame quarterback Tom Clements completed one of the biggest passes in Sugar Bowl history on 3rd-and-8 from his own 3-yard line.
Dec. 31, 1973 – Notre Dame 24, Alabama 23
Alabama had already been declared the national champion by the final 1973 UPI coaches’ poll, which was released after the regular season.
But Bryant wanted the bowl game to be something special. So he persuaded third-ranked Notre Dame to forego a better money offer from the Orange Bowl to face the Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl. No. 2 Oklahoma was on probation and not eligible for a bowl.
The first meeting between the two storied programs with the national championship at stake brought a “Game of the Century” tag from many quarters and produced a Bowl-record crowd of 85,161 a phenomenal 25.3 Nielsen rating (For comparison’s sake, the 2020 LSU-Clemson CFP championship game rating was 14.3).
As Howard Cosell said in his introduction that cold, rainy evening at Tulane Stadium, “This is the dream matchup. At Notre Dame, football is a religion. At Alabama, it’s a way of life.”
It was one of those times the “Game of the Century” lived up to its billing and is always among the first brought up when the best Sugar Bowl games are discussed.
After scoring first but then falling behind 7-6 because of a mixed extra point, the Irish immediately retook the lead on Al Hunter’s 93-yard kickoff return.
The teams exchanged touchdowns in the third quarter with Notre Dame going up 21-17 entering the fourth period. Alabama then went back in front on a trick play with quarterback Richard Todd scoring on a 25-yard pass from Mike Stock.
But senior Bill Davis missed the extra point, leaving Alabama ahead 23-21 with 9:33 left.
Notre Dame went on an 11-play, 79-yard drive and took a one-point lead with 4:26 left on Bob Thomas’ 19-yard field goal after a goal-line stand by Alabama.
The Irish then stopped the Tide at midfield although Greg Gnatt’s punt was downed at the 1. Roughing the kicker was called on the play, but because it happened on fourth-and-20 and the penalty did not bring an automatic first down in those days, Bryant declined the chance to go for the first down on the theory that his team could force a punt or perhaps even get a safety.
Either seemed likely when Notre Dame faced third-and-eight from its 3.
Irish coach Ara Parseghian called a pass for future college and pro Hall of Famer Dave Casper. But while Casper was held up at the line of scrimmage, backup tight end Robin Weber was uncovered going down the sideline.
Irish quarterback Tom Clements saw Weber, who had only one previous catch that season, and hit him at the 38, just in front of the Alabama bench for the first down. Notre Dame then ran out the clock.
“I saw the ball and realized this was for real – I had to catch it,” Weber recounted years later. “Next thing I know, Bear Bryant is walking towards me surrounded by red jerseys. I got up and ran away.”
Said Bryant at the time, “We had ‘em backed up, and if I had been a betting man, I would have bet anything we were going to win.”
The Associated Press, which had been awarding its national championship after the bowls since 1965, would name Notre Dame No. 1. Alabama still claims its UPI title and the coaches’ poll was changed the following season.
Dec. 31, 1974 – Nebraska 13, Florida 10
In the 1970s, many bowl bids were awarded well before the end of the regular season. The 1974 season was a year in which that methodology bit the Sugar Bowl. Florida was having an excellent season when the Bowl invited it to New Orleans – and then the Gators closed with two losses. Meanwhile, a strong Nebraska team closed its season with a loss to Oklahoma, resulting in two 8-3 teams in the Sugar Bowl.
Despite limping to the regular season finish line, Florida built a 10-0 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Gators drove again to the Cornhuskers’ 1, but then the tide changed. Nebraska registered one of the top goal-line stands in Bowl history – the critical fourth-down stop being made by Jimmy Burrow, the father of Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow.
And then the Huskers finally got their ground game going, first with an 18-play, 99-yard drive following its goal-stand at the 1 and then two shorter ones resulting in a pair of Mike Coyle field goals to pull out the victory.
It was the final college game in Tulane Stadium, although the structure wasn’t demolished until 1980.
In 1975, Richard Todd directed Alabama to its first bowl victory since 1967 in the first Sugar Bowl in the Superdome.
Dec. 31, 1975 – Alabama 13, Penn State 6
After using his considerable influence to get the SEC to agree to enter into a contract to send its champion to the Sugar Bowl each year, Bear Bryant was no longer in charge of his bowl destination. He could still pick who his team was playing though, and this time he went with eighth-ranked Penn State, coached by his good friend Joe Paterno, for the first Sugar Bowl in the newly-opened Superdome.
Both Nebraska and Oklahoma were ranked higher than the No. 8 Nittany Lions, and both schools were publicly miffed by the snub.
“We have no apologies to make to anyone,” retorted Bryant.
It turned out to be another low-scoring Sugar Bowl. Danny Ridgeway of Alabama and Chris Barr of Penn State had two field goals each, and the difference was Mike Stock’s 13-yard TD run in the third quarter.
Alabama quarterback Richard Todd hit 10 of 12 passes for 210 yards and won the Miller-Digby Trophy as the game’s outstanding player.
The victory was Alabama’s first in a bowl game since 1967 and started a streak of six straight bowl victories for Alabama, two of which came in the Sugar Bowl and earned the Bryant his fifth and sixth national championships.
The game also ended the four-year New Year’s Eve deal between ABC and the Sugar Bowl.
Bryan Still’s sensational performance in the 1995 Sugar Bowl launched the Virginia Tech football program to the elite level.
Dec. 31, 1995 – Virginia Tech 28, Texas 10
This game was played on New Year’s Eve because the Sugar Bowl was part of the Bowl Alliance in which the champions of SEC, Big Eight, Southwest Conference, Big East and ACC plus one at-large team were slotted into the Sugar, Fiesta and Orange bowls to determine a national champion. It was precursor to the BCS which came into existence in 1998 when the Big Ten and Pac-12 came on board.
The three games were spaced over three nights with the Orange Bowl, between Florida State and Notre Dame, played on Jan. 1 and the title game, between Florida and Nebraska, on Jan. 2 at the Fiesta Bowl.
Eleventh-ranked Virginia Tech represented the Big East because champion Miami was on NCAA probation and ninth-ranked Texas won the final SWC title.
On Virginia Tech’s first night in New Orleans center Keith Short missed the team’s 2 a.m. curfew, whereupon Hokies coach Frank Beamer put him on a bus back home to Richmond, forcing Short to pay his own fare. It was a message, Beamer said, to his team not to be distracted by being in the Big Easy.
If that sounded bizarre, considered what happened later.
Joel Ron McKelvey was listed as a defensive back on the Texas roster. Two days before the game, a California newspaper revealed “McKelvey” was actually 30-year-old Ron Weaver, who had fabricated his identity and had two standout seasons at L.A. Pierce Junior College after earlier using up his eligibility at two other California schools.
McKelvey/Weaver had played in all 11 games for the Longhorns but without having much of an impact. But the incident may have embarrassed the favored Longhorns into a subpar performance.
Wide receiver Bryan Still had 179 all-purpose yards, 119 on six receptions including a 54-yard TD reception from Jim Druckenmiller and a 60-yard punt return for another score.
Meanwhile, the Hokies defense limited Texas 78 rushing yards and four interceptions plus a 20-yard fumble return by Jim Barron to close out a 21-0 second half for Tech.
“All the talk was that we didn’t belong here,” Still said. “We showed we do belong with the great teams in college football.”
Winning the Sugar Bowl was a recruiting bonanza for the Hokies. Four years later, led by Michael Vick, they returned to New Orleans to play Florida State for the BCS championship.
The Sugar Bowl hasn’t been played on New Year’s Eve again until this year when the NFL television schedule had the Sugar Bowl adjusting to a New Year’s Eve daytime start.
Next year’s game, a CFP semifinal, will be played in prime time on Jan. 1 as the NFL has agreed to move its Monday night game of that week to Dec. 30.
