| 1968 Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 34th Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
 Tulane Stadium inNew Orleans, Louisiana, hosted the Sugar Bowl. | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1968 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Tulane Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | New Orleans,Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Glenn Smith (LSU RB) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | LSU by 7[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | James M. Artley (SEC); split crew: SEC,WAC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 78,963 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Charlie Jones Elmer Angsman | ||||||||||||||||||
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The1968 Sugar Bowl was the 34thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played atTulane Stadium inNew Orleans,Louisiana, on Monday, January 1. The unrankedLSU Tigers of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) rallied to top the undefeated andsixth-rankedWyoming Cowboys of theWestern Athletic Conference (WAC), 20–13.[2][3][4]
Entering thebowl season, Wyoming was the only undefeated team in the nation among major schools,[5] but LSU was favored by a touchdown, largely because it had faced a tougher schedule than the Cowboys and virtual home field advantage, as the Tigers were playing just eighty miles (130 km) from their campus.[1]
The first game of a major bowl tripleheader (Rose,Orange) onNBC, it kicked off at 1 pmCST. Following morning rains, the game was played on soggy natural turf in clammy 45 °F (7 °C) temperatures.
After a scoreless first quarter, Wyoming drove eighty yards and scored on a one-yard sweep run from halfbackJim Kiick;Jerry DePoyster added field goals of 24 and 49 yards and the Cowboys led13–0 at halftime.
In the third quarter, LSU running back Glenn Smith came off of the bench and scored on a one-yard touchdown run, making the score13–7. In the fourth quarter, Tiger quarterbackNelson Stokley completed touchdown passes of eight and fourteen yards to end Tommy Morel as LSU rallied for a20–13 win.[3][6] The last score occurred with more than four minutes remaining; quarterbackPaul Toscano advanced the Cowboys deep into LSU territory, but Wyoming flanker Gene Huey was tackled in-bounds on the five-yard line andtime ran out.[6]
Smith, a third-string sophomore from New Orleans' Holy Cross High School, entered the game late in the third quarter and was named the game's most valuable player.[4]
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
| Statistics | Wyoming | LSU |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 20 | 12 |
| Rushing yards | 48–167 | 48–151 |
| Passes | 14–24–4 | 6–20–1 |
| Passing yards | 239 | 91 |
| Total offense | 72–406 | 68–242 |
| Punts–average | 4–49.0 | 9–37.1 |
| Fumbles lost | 1 | 0 |
| Turnovers | 5 | 1 |
| Penalties–yards | 5–65 | 3–25 |
This was the only victory for theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) this bowl season:Ole Miss lost theSun Bowl,Alabama theCotton, andTennessee theOrange.
LSU's next major bowlappearance wasthree years later in theOrange Bowl. They did not return to the Sugar Bowl until1985, and their next major bowl win was the2002 Sugar Bowl.
This remains Wyoming's only New Year's Day bowlappearance.