| 1975 Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 41st Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
 TheMiami Orange Bowl inMiami, Florida, hosted the Orange Bowl. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Orange Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Miami,Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Wayne Bullock (Notre DameFB) Leroy Cook (Alabama DE) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Alabama by 9 to 10 points[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Robert Fallon (Big Ten) (split crew between Big Ten andSEC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 71,801 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Simpson andJohn Brodie | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 28.8 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1975 Orange Bowl was the 41stedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theOrange Bowl inMiami,Florida, on Wednesday, January 1. Part of the1974–75 bowl game season, it matched theninth-rankedindependentNotre Dame Fighting Irish and the undefeated #2Alabama Crimson Tide of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC). It was a rematch of the previous season'sSugar Bowl. In a game dominated by both defenses, underdog Notre Dame held on to upset the Tide, 13–11.[3][4][5][6]
Notre Dame went 9–2 in the regular season, with losses toPurdue andUSC. Following Notre Dame's victory overNavy, Orange Bowl officials announced an invitation to Notre Dame and Alabama.[7] This was Notre Dame's sixthbowl game appearance and their second Orange Bowl. It was notable asAra Parseghian's final game as head coach, as he announced his resignation from the position December 15.[8][9] He was succeeded byDan Devine, the head coach of theNFL'sGreen Bay Packers for four seasons, and previously ledMissouri(1958–1970) andArizona State(1955–1957).
Alabama won all eleven games in the regular season and were conference champions. Following Alabama's victory overMississippi State, Orange Bowl officials announced Alabama had accepted an invitation to play against Notre Dame in a rematch of the previous year's Sugar Bowl.[7] It was Alabama's 28thbowl game appearance and seventh Orange Bowl.[10]
Undefeated Alabama was first in theUPI coaches poll (#2 in AP poll) and favored by nine to ten points.[1][2]
Earlier in the evening in California, fifth-rankedUSC won theRose Bowl by a point over #3Ohio State. Top-rankedOklahoma was bowl ineligible, and #4Michigan was also idle, as this was the final season that theBig Ten Conference (andPac-8) allowed just one bowl team.
The final game ofNew Year's Day, the Orange Bowl kicked off at night; midway through the first quarter, Alabama's Willie Shelbyfumbled apunt that was recovered by Notre Dame's Al Samuel at the Crimson Tide 16-yard line.[11] Five plays later, the Irish scored on a four-yard Wayne Bullocktouchdown run to take a 7–0 lead. Their lead was extended to 13–0 midway through the second quarter after Mark McLane scored on a nine-yard touchdown run to cap a 17-play drive that covered 77 yards. A 21-yardfield goal by Danny Ridgeway cut the lead to 13–3 at the half.[11]
After a scoreless third, the Crimson Tide scored a late touchdown on a 48-yardRichard Todd touchdown pass to Russ Schamun, and with a successfultwo-point conversion closed the gap to 13–11. After a defensive stop, Alabama got the ball back at its own 38 with under two minutes remaining, needing only a field goal to win. After two completions, the ball was on the Irish 38; Todd missed an openOzzie Newsome and threw aninterception to Reggie Barnett, effectively ending the comeback for the Tide.[11][12] Bullock was the leading rusher at 83 yards,[13] and was named thegame's outstanding player, with Alabama defensive endLeroy Cook.
In an era of few postseason games, this was Alabama's sixteenth consecutivebowl appearance, but was the eighth straight without a victory (0–7–1). Their last postseason win was inJanuary1967;[3] starting with thenext season, the Tide won six consecutive bowl games.
| Scoring summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Statistics | Notre Dame | Alabama |
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| First downs | 15 | 14 |
| Rushes–yards | 66–185 | 33–62 |
| Passing yards | 19 | 223 |
| Passes (C–A–I) | 4–8–2 | 15–29–2 |
| Total Offense | 74–204 | 62–285 |
| Punts–average | 6–38.0 | 7–40.0 |
| Fumbles–lost | 1–1 | 5–2 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 4 |
| Penalties–yards | 1–15 | 1–5 |