The 1971 Orange Bowl featured the third-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, champions of the Big Eight Conference, and the fifth-ranked LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference.
Earlier in the day, the two top-ranked teams lost their bowl games: #1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl and #2 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. The Huskers were aware when they took the field that night that they could claim the top ranking in the AP writers poll with a victory. An LSU victory would likely have given Notre Dame the national title.
Scoring
Paul Rogers kicked a 25-yard field goal for Nebraska to take an early 3-0 lead. Joe Orduna scored on a 3 yard touchdown run, as Nebraska extended its lead to 10-0. In the second quarter, LSU got a 36 yard field goal to cut the lead to 10-3, the score at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Tigers added a 25-yard field goal to make it 10-6. On the final play of the third quarter, Buddy Lee threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Al Coffey to put LSU ahead 12-10. Quarterback Jerry Tagge scored from a yard out midway through the fourth quarter; it was the game's last scoring play and gave Nebraska the 17-12 win.[1]
National champions
Undefeated Nebraska (11-0-1) was named national champion in the AP poll, released after the bowls in January. With the narrow defeat, LSU (9-3) fell only two spots, from fifth to seventh. The UPI coaches poll was released in early December (before the bowls) through the 1973 season; it had Texas as first as it did not consider the Longhorns' 24-11 loss to Notre Dame on New Year's Day.
Artifical turf
This was the first Orange Bowl played on artificial turf, on Poly-Turf, similar to AstroTurf. It was installed prior to the 1970 season and would last for just six seasons, removed shortly after Super Bowl X, played in January 1976.
References
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Nebraska Cornhuskers bowl games |
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