| 1965 Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 29th Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1965 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1964 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Cotton Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Dallas,Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Ronnie Caveness (Arkansas LB) Fred Marshall (Arkansas QB) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Arkansas[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 75,504[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1965 Cotton Bowl Classic was the twenty-ninthedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played on January 1, 1965 at theCotton Bowl inDallas,Texas. The game matchedSouthwest championArkansas againstBig Eight championNebraska.
In a tightly contested defensive battle, second-ranked Arkansas rallied to defeat No. 6 Nebraska 10–7 to win its first Cotton Bowl, and was later named national champion by multiple selectors.
Under third-year head coachBob Devaney, Nebraska won its first nine games and ascended to fourth in the AP poll, the highest ranking in school history. NU won the Big Eight outright for the second consecutive year, but a 17–7 loss at rivalOklahoma on November 21 snapped a sixteen-game win streak and eliminated the Cornhuskers from national championship contention.[3]
No. 2 Arkansas entered the Cotton Bowl 10–0, including a victory over top-rankedTexas inAustin, to earn theSouthwest Conference title. All-American two-way linemanRonnie Caveness led the Razorbacks' top-ranked scoring defense that allowed just 5.7 points per game. Head coachFrank Broyles made liberal use of the NCAA's new unlimited-substitution rule, which was adopted at the beginning of the 1964 season but was still a rarity among elite teams.[4]
Arkansas had lost three consecutive major bowl games, but entered its 1965 meeting with Nebraska as a slight favorite.[1]
Astanding-room only crowd watched as Arkansas opened the scoring on a Tom McKnelly field goal minutes into the game. Nebraska responded midway through the second quarter, using a pair ofFred Marshall fumbles and a long pass to Harry Wilson to score the first points against Arkansas in six games.[5] The Cornhuskers took a 7–3 lead into halftime, Arkansas's first deficit since October 3.[6]
Nebraska's aggressive defensive gameplan frustrated Arkansas for much of the afternoon, and the Razorbacks made a switch at quarterback after a scoreless third quarter.[5] NU advanced into Arkansas territory early in the fourth quarter, but was turned back without extending the lead.[6] With time winding down, Marshall completed five passes while engineering an eighty-yard Arkansas drive, capped by a three-yard touchdown by running backBobby Burnett with 4:41 remaining.[4]
Nebraska was unable to mount a threat and Arkansas held on to win 10–7, the program's first victory in a major bowl and its twelfth consecutive win. Marshall and Cavenass, who finished with fifteen tackles, were named the game's most valuable players.[7]
| Qtr | Team | Time | Detail[2] | NU | ARK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ARK | 9:47 | Tom McKnelly 31-yd field goal | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | NU | 7:45 | Harry Wilson 1-yd run (Duncan Drum kick) | 7 | 3 |
| 4 | ARK | 4:41 | Bobby Burnett 3-yd run (McKnelly kick) | 7 | 10 |
| Statistic[2] | Nebraska | Arkansas |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 11 | 11 |
| Rushes–yards | 44–100 | 34–45 |
| Comp.–att.–yards | 6–16–68 | 11–19–131 |
| Total offense | 168 | 176 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 3 |
| Punts–average | 6–33.3 | 6–40.1 |
| Penalty yards | 25 | 50 |
Broyles rushed his team through postgame festivities so they could watch theOrange Bowl between top-rankedAlabama andTexas.[4] The Longhorns' 21–17 upset left Arkansas as the only unbeaten major-conference team in the country, though the Crimson Tide was still named national champion by theAP andUPI, which released their final polls prior to bowl season.[8] Arkansas was named champion by theFWAA and theHelms Athletic Foundation, the school's only national title claim. Partially due to the results of the Cotton and Orange Bowls in 1964, the AP waited until after bowl season to select a champion in 1965.[9]
Arkansas co-captainJerry Jones later purchased theDallas Cowboys and facilitated the construction ofCowboys Stadium in suburbanArlington, where the Cotton Bowl Classic has been played since 2010.[10]
The 1965 Cotton Bowl Classic is the only time Arkansas and Nebraska have met.