| 1973 Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 39th Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1973 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1972 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Orange Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Miami,Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Johnny Rodgers (Nebraska HB) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Nebraska by 14 points[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Vance Carlson (Big Eight; split crew: Big Eight,Big Ten) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 80,010 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Simpson andKyle Rote | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 24.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1973 Orange Bowl was the 39thedition of thecollege footballbowl game, played at theOrange Bowl inMiami,Florida, on Monday, January 1. The final game of the1972–73 bowl season, it matched theninth-rankedNebraska Cornhuskers of theBig Eight Conference and theindependent #12Notre Dame Fighting Irish, led by their respectivehall of fame coaches,Bob Devaney andAra Parseghian.[2] Nebraska scored early and won 40–6.[3][4][5][6][7]
Notre Dame opened with four wins, but lost by four points toMissouri at home. In the regular season finale, the Irish lost 45–23 at rival USC, the eventualnational champion. It was Notre Dame's firstappearance in the Orange Bowl.
The two-time defending national champion Cornhuskers started the seasontop-ranked, but were upset by a late field goal in the opener, late at night atUCLA. They later tiedIowa State on the road and lost 17–14 torivalOklahoma at home, their first loss onartificial turf. Nebraska wasappearing in their third consecutive Orange Bowl.[2]
Ninth-ranked Nebraska was favored by two touchdowns.[1] The programs had last matched up over 24 years earlier, in October1948.[2]
Heisman Trophy winnerJohnny Rodgers scored on an8-yard touchdown run as Nebraska took the lead. In the second quarter, Gary Dixon scored from a yard out to increase the score to14–0. I-back Rodgers then found split end Frosty Anderson for a52-yard touchdown pass and the Huskers led20–0 at halftime.[4][7]
In the third quarter, Rodgers scored on runs of four and five yards as Nebraska built a 33–0 lead. QuarterbackDave Humm threw a50-yard touchdown pass to Rodgers as Nebraska led40–0 after three quarters. Notre Dame finally managed six points on a touchdown fromTom Clements toPete Demmerle against the Husker reserves to avoid a shutout.[4][7]
| Statistics | Notre Dame | Nebraska |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 13 | 30 |
| Rushes–yards | 44–124 | 64–300 |
| Passing yards | 103 | 260 |
| Passes (C–A–I) | 9–23–3 | 19–26–1 |
| Total Offense | 67–227 | 90–560 |
| Punts–average | 6–37.2 | 4–38.3 |
| Fumbles–lost | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 2 |
| Penalties–yards | 1–15 | 5–68 |
Although1972 was a letdown season after two consecutivenational championships,[11] the Huskers were the first tothree-peat in theOrange Bowl and vaulted to fourth in thefinal AP poll at9–2–1. Rodgers scored four touchdowns and threw for another in his final collegiate game, and sat out the final twenty minutes. Thefinal UPI coaches poll was released in early December, prior to the bowls, and had the Huskers ninth.
The 1972 season also was the only three-loss season in Parseghian's eleven years at Notre Dame and they fell to fourteenth in the final AP poll; the Irish rebounded in1973 to finish11–0 and win thenational championship.