1973 Orange Bowl


The 1973 Orange Bowl was the 39th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 1. The final game of the 1972–73 bowl season, it matched the ninth-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference and the independent #12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, led by their respective hall of fame coaches, Bob Devaney and

Teams

Notre Dame

Notre Dame opened with four wins, but lost by four points to Missouri at home. In the regular season finale, the Irish lost 45–23 at rival USC, the eventual national champion. It was Notre Dame's first appearance in the Orange Bowl.

Nebraska

The two-time defending national champion Cornhuskers started the season top-ranked, but were upset by a late field goal in the opener, late at night at UCLA. They later tied Iowa State on the road and lost 17–14 to rival Oklahoma at home, their first loss on artificial turf. Nebraska was appearing in their third consecutive Orange Bowl.

Game summary

Ninth-ranked Nebraska was favored by two touchdowns.
Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers scored on an touchdown run as Nebraska took the lead. In the second quarter, Gary Dixon scored from a yard out to increase the score to I-back Rodgers then found split end Frosty Anderson for a touchdown pass and the Huskers led at halftime.
In the third quarter, Rodgers scored on runs of four and five yards as Nebraska built a 33–0 lead. Quarterback Dave Humm threw a touchdown pass to Rodgers as Nebraska led after three quarters. Notre Dame finally managed six points on a touchdown from Tom Clements to Pete Demmerle against the Husker reserves to avoid a shutout.

Scoring

;First quarter:
;Second quarter:
;Third quarter:
;Fourth quarter:

Aftermath

Although 1972 was a letdown season after two consecutive national championships, the Huskers were the first to three-peat in the Orange Bowl and finished fourth in the final AP poll at Rodgers scored four touchdowns and threw for another in his final collegiate game, and sat out the final twenty minutes. The final 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 in 1973 to finish and win the national championship.