| 1969 Liberty Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 11th Liberty Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 13, 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Memphis Memorial Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Memphis, Tennessee | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Bobby Anderson, ColoradoTB | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Colorado by 1[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 50,144 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Chris Schenkel,Bud Wilkinson | ||||||||||||||||||
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The1969 Liberty Bowl, part of the1969 bowl game season, took place on Saturday, December 13, atMemphis Memorial Stadium inMemphis, Tennessee. The competing teams in the eleventh edition of theLiberty Bowl were theAlabama Crimson Tide of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC), and theColorado Buffaloes of theBig Eight Conference.[1][2] Favored by a point,[1] Colorado won 47–33.[3][4]
Alabama finished the regular season with losses toVanderbilt,Tennessee,LSU, andAuburn to compile a 6–4 record. Following their victory overMiami, the Crimson Tide accepted an invitation to play in the Liberty Bowl on November 17.[5] The appearance marked the second for Alabama in the Liberty Bowl, and their 23rd overallbowl game.
Colorado lost toPenn State,Oklahoma, andNebraska to compile a 7–3 record in the regular season. Following their victory overKansas State, the Buffaloes accepted an invitation to play in the Liberty Bowl on November 22.[6] It was the first Liberty Bowl for Colorado and their fifth bowl appearance.
The game kicked off shortly after 12:20 pmCST.[1][2]
In a game dominated by both offenses, Colorado took a 10–0 first quarter lead.Ward Walsh scored first on a 13-yard touchdown run and Dave Haney connected on a 30-yardfield goal for the Buffaloes.[3] Early in the second quarter, Colorado extended their lead to 17–0 after a three-yardBobby Anderson touchdown run. Alabama responded with touchdown runs of 31-yards fromScott Hunter and six-yards from George Ranager to cut the lead to 17–13.[3] With less than three minutes remaining in the half, Walsh scored again on 15-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing drive, Alabama responded with a two-yardJohnny Musso touchdown run to make the score 24–19.[3] However, the followingkickoff was returned 91-yards by Steve Engel to give the Buffaloes a 31–19 lead at the half.[3]
In the third quarter, Alabama took their only lead of the game following a pair of Neb Hayden touchdown passes; the first came on a 55-yard reception by Griff Langston and the second on a ten-yard reception by Musso to give the Crimson Tide a 33–31 lead.[3] Colorado then scored 16 fourth quarter points to seal the 47–33 victory with a pair of Anderson touchdown runs and asafety made whenBill Brundige andHerb Orvissacked Hayden in the endzone.[3]
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