| 1972 Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 38th Orange Bowl National Championship Game[1][a][b] | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Alabama's media guide for the game | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1972 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Orange Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Miami,Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Jerry Tagge (Nebraska QB) Willie Harper (Nebraska DE) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Nebraska by 6 points[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | R. Pete Williams (SEC) (split crew between SEC andBig 8) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 78,151 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Simpson,Kyle Rote, andBill Enis | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 28.0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1972 Orange Bowl was the 38thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theOrange Bowl inMiami,Florida, on Saturday, January 1.[4] The final game of the1971–72 bowl season, it matched thetop-rankedNebraska Cornhuskers of theBig Eight Conference and the #2Alabama Crimson Tide of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC). This was a rematch of the1966 Orange Bowl, where Alabama defeated Nebraska to win the national championship. Both teams were undefeated; Nebraska, the defendingnational champion, built a large lead in the first half and won38–6.[3][5][6][7][8]
Six-point favorite Nebraska entered the game on a 31-game unbeaten streak,[3][9] and scored first on a two-yard touchdown run byJeff Kinney. FutureHeisman Trophy winnerJohnny Rodgers scored on a 77-yard punt return on the final play of the first quarter, as Nebraska led14–0. In the second quarter, quarterbackJerry Tagge and Gary Dixon added touchdown runs of one and two yards respectively, as Nebraska led convincingly 28–0 with over eight minutes remaining in the first half. There was no additional scoring before halftime as the Husker defense stifled the Tide's previously potentWishbone offense withAll-American running backJohnny Musso.[10]
In the third quarter, Bama'sTerry Davis scored on a three–yard touchdown run making the score28–6, eliminating theshutout. Nebraska's Rich Sanger kicked a 21-yard field goal at the end of the third quarter, and a one-yard touchdown run by reserve senior QB Van Brownson made the final score38–6.[7]
With top-ranked Nebraska's 32-point victory, the 1972 Orange Bowl was one of the most lopsided meetings of #1 vs #2, specifically in a season-endingbowl game. It was also Alabama's largest margin of defeat in a postseason game until the2026 Rose Bowl againstIndiana, which the Hoosiers won 38–3.
| Statistics | Alabama | Nebraska |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 16 | 15 |
| Rushes–yards | 58–241 | 47–133 |
| Passing yards | 47 | 159 |
| Passes (C–A–I) | 3–13–2 | 11–20–0 |
| Total offense | 71–288 | 67–292 |
| Punts–average | 7–43.3 | 5–42.4 |
| Fumbles–lost | 5–2 | 3–2 |
| Turnovers | 4 | 2 |
| Yards penalized | 4–58 | 4–50 |
Nebraska(13–0) was first inboth major polls and was the consensus national champion, having defeated the next three teams in the finalAP Poll released on January 3:Oklahoma,Colorado,and Alabama.[13][14][15]The Huskers earned all 55 first-place votes in the AP poll; in theUPI coaches poll released in early December, they received 29 of the 31 first-place votes, with the other twoto Alabama.[16]
...it was decided not to award a championship by ballot but rather to let these teams meet on the field and play for the MacArthur Bowl.
Only luck ensures one of the many current bowl games gets the No. 1 and No. 2 teams to play each other.
Now the Orange Bowl is ecstatic, for right there on the Poly-Turf it has the absolute grand final battle for No. 1, the only bowl game that will truly matter among the eight or 10 thousand others to be staged through the holidays.