| 1969 Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 35th Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
 TheMiami Orange Bowl inMiami, Florida, hosted the Orange Bowl. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1968 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Orange Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Miami, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Donnie Shanklin (Kansas HB) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Penn State by 3 points[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Earl Jansen (Big Eight) (split crew: Big Eight,ECAC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 77,719 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Simpson,Al DeRogatis | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 23.6 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1969 Orange Bowl was the 35thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theOrange Bowl inMiami,Florida, on Wednesday, January 1. The final game of the1968–69 bowl game season, it matched theindependentthird-rankedPenn State Nittany Lions and the #6Kansas Jayhawks of theBig Eight Conference. Favored Penn State rallied to win with a late touchdown andtwo-point conversion, 15–14.[2][3][4][5][6]
Penn State was going for their first undefeated season, though anational championship was unlikely due to being ranked third with #1Ohio State and #2USC matched up in theRose Bowl.[1] This was the Nittany Lions' firstappearance in the Orange Bowl.
The Jayhawks were co-champion of theBig Eight withOklahoma, who went to theAstro-Bluebonnet Bowl. This was Kansas' first conference title since1947, their firstbowl game inseven years, and first Orange Bowl since1948. Their only loss in the regular season was to Oklahoma by four points.[7]
This was the fifth straight year for a night kickoff at the Orange Bowl, following theRose Bowl. The temperature was 65 °F (18 °C).[2]
Fullback Mike Reeves scored from two yards out to give Kansas the lead in the first quarter. Penn State tied the game at seven before halftime on halfback Charlie Pittman's thirteen-yard run.
After a scoreless third quarter,John Riggins gave the Jayhawks a 14–7 lead on his one-yard touchdown plunge. Kansas had another chance to score with the ball at Penn State's 14 on fourth down with one yard to go. Instead of kicking the field goal, they went for the first down, but Riggins was stuffed for no gain.
With 1:16 remaining, Kansas had fourth down on their own 25-yard line; a partially blocked punt gave the ball back to Penn State at the Penn State 49 yard line. On the next play wingback Bob Campbell caught a pass from quarterback Chuck Burkhart on a long play and was tackled at the three-yard line. After two runs for no gain, Burkhart bootlegged left to make it 14–13 with fifteen seconds remaining, and Penn State opted to go for the win with a two-point conversion attempt.
The conversion attempt was denied as Burkhart's pass to the right was batted down in the end zone, which prompted the Kansas fans to rush the field. But the game was not over, a penalty had been called on Kansas for twelve men on the field. On the second attempt, Campbell scored around left end and the two point conversion was successful, to give the Nittany Lions the one-point win.[2][3][5][8]
| Statistics | Penn State | Kansas |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 17 | 16 |
| Rushing yards | 55–207 | 59–76 |
| Passing yards | 154 | 165 |
| Passes (C–A–I) | 12–23–2 | 9–18–1 |
| Total offense | 78–361 | 77–241 |
| Punts–average | 9–38.1 | 10–38.3 |
| Fumbles–lost | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| Turnovers | 4 | 1 |
| Penalties–yards | 1–15 | 2–10 |
Despite Riggins' return for his junior season, the graduations of quarterbackBobby Douglass and defensive endJohn Zook hurt the Jayhawks, and they won just once in1969. The Jayhawks improved to 5-6 in1970, Riggins' senior season and Rodgers' last in Lawrence before succeedingTommy Prothro atUCLA.
Kansas did not have another winning season until1973, and did not return to the Orange Bowl until January2008.
Penn State returned to the Orange Bowl thefollowing year, and won again, defeating Kansas' archrival,Missouri to complete another 11-0 season. When head coachJoe Paterno was later asked what football game was his favorite game of all time he answered, the 1969 Orange Bowl.