The1968 Orange Bowl was the 34thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theOrange Bowl inMiami,Florida, on Monday, January 1. Thethird-rankedOklahoma Sooners of theBig Eight Conference defeated theTennessee Volunteers of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC), 26–24.^[4][5]

Oklahoma won all seven games inBig Eight Conference play for their first title since1962 and first Orange Bowl since1963. The only blemish was a two-point loss torivalTexas at theCotton Bowl inDallas on October 14.

Entering his second season as head coach, 37-year-oldJim Mackenzie suffered a fatalheart attack at hisNorman home in late April.^[6][7] Assistant coachChuck Fairbanks, age 33, was promoted several days later.^[8]

After a four-point loss atUCLA in the season opener, Tennessee won nine consecutive games. They were perfect inSoutheastern Conference play and were champions for the first time since1956. It was Tennessee's first Orange Bowl since1947.

Tennessee did not get to play top-rankedUSC in theRose Bowl; the Trojans met #4Indiana, the Big Ten co-champion, due to the Pac-8 – Big Ten contract.

The Volunteers' soccer-style placekickerKarl Kremser was awar refugee fromGermany.^[4][5]

This was the fourth straight year for a night kickoff at the Orange Bowl, following theRose Bowl. Both teams wore their home jerseys, Oklahoma in crimson and Tennessee in orange. The temperature was 70 °F (21 °C).^[4][5]

Quarterback Bob Warmack gave the Sooners a 7–0 lead on his ten-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He added a twenty-yard touchdown pass toEddie Hinton in the second quarter, and running backSteve Owens scored from a yard out to make it 19–0 at halftime.

Held scoreless until midway into the third quarter, Tennessee's Jimmy Glover returned an interception 36 yards for a touchdown. Two minutes later, another interception by Jim Weatherford set up a five-yard touchdown run by Charley Fulton (19–14).

AKarl Kremser field goal from 26 yards closed the gap to 19–17 early in the fourth quarter. Oklahoma went up 26–17 on Bob Stephenson's 25-yard interception return for a touchdown. Tennessee then answered with quarterbackDewey Warren's touchdown plunge to pull back to two points at 26–24.

Oklahoma was at their own 43-yard line with just under two minutes remaining. First-year head coach Fairbanks opted to go for the first down, despite only leading by two points. Owens was given the ball, but was stopped by linebackerJack Reynolds, and the ball went back to the Volunteers. With seven seconds to go, Tennessee sent Kremser in to attempt a 43-yard field goal, but his kick sailed wide right, and Oklahoma won.^[4][5][9]

First quarter

• Oklahoma – Bob Warmack 7-yard run (Mike Vachon kick)

Second quarter

• Oklahoma –Eddie Hinton 20-yard pass from Warmack (kick failed)
• Oklahoma –Steve Owens 1-yard run (run failed)

Third quarter

• Tennessee – Jimmy Glover 36-yard interception return (Karl Kremser kick)
• Tennessee – Charley Fulton 5-yard run (Kremser kick)

Fourth quarter

• Oklahoma – Bob Stephenson 23-yard interception return (Vachon kick)
• Tennessee – Kremser 26-yard FG
• Tennessee –Dewey Warren 1-yard run (Kremser kick)

Source:^[10]

Statistics	Oklahoma	Tennessee
First Downs	18	18
Rushes–yards	50–203	44–172
Passing yards	107	160
Passes (C–A–I)	9–18–3	12–23–2
Total Offense	68–310	67–332
Punts–average	5–47.0	2–32.0
Fumbles–lost	0–0	1–1
Turnovers	3	3
Penalties–yards	2–10	4–27

Source:^[4][5][10]

The two teams received a then-record payout of about$285,000 each.^[3]

Oklahoma next played in the Orange Bowl in1976; Tennessee waited three decades, returning in1998.

• 1967–68 NCAA football bowl games
• Orange Bowl
• Oklahoma Sooners football bowl games
• Tennessee Volunteers football bowl games
• January 1968 sports events in the United States
• 1968 in sports in Florida
• American football competitions in Miami

• Use mdy dates from January 2019
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata