College football game
The
1970 Sugar Bowl
was the 36th
edition
of the
college football
bowl game
, played at
Tulane Stadium
in
New Orleans
,
Louisiana
, on Thursday, January 1. It featured the
third-ranked
Arkansas Razorbacks
of the
Southwest Conference
(SWC) and the #13
Ole Miss Rebels
of the
Southeastern Conference
(SEC).
[1]
Ole Miss upset Arkansas, 27?22.
[2]
[3]
[4]
Teams
[
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]
Arkansas entered the game with a 9?1 record and #3
national ranking
and Ole Miss was at 7?3. The two neighboring states had developed a
rivalry
, with a yearly series ending in 1961, and had met in the Sugar Bowl
seven years earlier
.
Arkansas
[
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]
The Razorbacks were making a return trip to the Sugar Bowl, following up a victory in the
1969 Sugar Bowl
.
[5]
Starting 9?0, the Razorbacks ended the regular season with a loss to the
Texas Longhorns
in
The Big Shootout
, watching a 14?0 lead evaporate into a 15?14 loss when Texas scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
[6]
This loss to the #1 Longhorns cost the Hogs, ranked #2 at the time by the
Associated Press
and #3 by
United Press International
, a
Southwest Conference
championship and a chance at the national championship.
Mississippi
[
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]
Ole Miss, led by coaching great Johnny Vaught and quarterback
Archie Manning
entered the game at 7?3. The Rebels were invited to the Sugar Bowl on the strength of November victories over SEC powers
LSU
(26?23) and
Tennessee
(38?0), both at
Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium
in
Jackson
.
Game summary
[
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]
Ole Miss
running back
Bo Bowen scampered 69 yards to open the scoring, with
Archie Manning
adding another 18-yard TD run. Down 14?0, Arkansas responded with a 12-yard TD run by Bill Burnett, but the
extra point
was missed, and after a Rebel field goal and Archie Manning 30-yard TD strike, the Razorbacks were down 24?6. Before halftime,
Chuck Dicus
hauled in a 47-yard pass from
Bill Montgomery
, but the
two-point conversion
was incomplete, and the Rebels took a 24?12 lead to halftime.
The third quarter produced a field goal from each team, and in the fourth quarter fullback Bruce Maxwell caught a six-yard strike from Montgomery to cut the lead to five, but the rally fell short, the Hogs losing by a 27?22 final.
Though Manning's sons
Peyton
and
Eli
later became star quarterbacks in the SEC (at Tennessee and Ole Miss, respectively), neither played in the Sugar Bowl.
Scoring summary
|
Quarter
|
Time
|
Drive
|
Team
|
Scoring information
|
Score
|
Plays
|
Yards
|
TOP
|
ARK
|
UM
|
1
|
|
|
80
|
|
UM
|
Bo Bowen
69-yard touchdown run,
King
kick good
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
|
|
80
|
|
UM
|
Archie Manning
18-yard touchdown run,
King
kick good
|
0
|
14
|
2
|
|
|
81
|
|
ARK
|
Bill Burnett
12-yard touchdown run, Bill McClard kick no good
|
6
|
14
|
2
|
|
|
57
|
|
UM
|
52-yard field goal by
Hinton
|
6
|
17
|
2
|
|
|
55
|
|
UM
|
Vernon Studdard
30-yard touchdown reception from
Manning
,
King
kick good
|
6
|
24
|
2
|
|
|
80
|
|
ARK
|
Chuck Dicus
47-yard touchdown reception from
Bill Montgomery
, 2-point pass no good
|
12
|
24
|
3
|
|
|
44
|
|
UM
|
36-yard field goal by
Hinton
|
12
|
27
|
3
|
|
|
80
|
|
ARK
|
35-yard field goal by
McClard
|
15
|
27
|
4
|
|
|
11
|
|
ARK
|
Bruce Maxwell
6-yard touchdown reception from
Montgomery
,
McClard
kick good
|
22
|
27
|
"TOP" =
time of possession
. For other American football terms, see
Glossary of American football
.
|
22
|
27
|
|
Statistics
[
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]
(Left): Arkansas QB Montgomery attempts a pass; (right): Ole Miss QB Archie Manning celebrating with the trophy
Statistics
|
Arkansas
|
Ole Miss
|
First downs
|
24
|
21
|
Rushing
|
37?189
|
36?154
|
Passing
|
16?34?2
|
21?35?2
|
Passing yards
|
338
|
273
|
Total offense
|
72?527
|
71?427
|
Punts?avg.
|
2?30.5
|
6?37.6
|
Fumbles?lost
|
1?1
|
0?0
|
Turnovers
|
3
|
2
|
Penalties?yards
|
3?22
|
11?101
|
- Source:
[2]
[3]
Aftermath
[
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]
The playing field was left in very poor condition for
Super Bowl IV
, which was held in the stadium ten days later. When the
National Football League
awarded
Super Bowl VI
to Tulane Stadium in March 1971, it stipulated the university and the
New Orleans Saints
install
artificial turf
.
This was the final bowl game featuring two all-white squads. Arkansas' first black varsity player, Jon Richardson, suited up in
1970
, and Ole Miss followed suit in
1972
with
Ben Williams
. Ole Miss was one of the last major college programs to desegregate their varsity teams, along with SEC rival
LSU
and
BYU
.
Manning returned to the Crescent City less than two years later when the
New Orleans Saints
selected him second overall (behind
Jim Plunkett
) in the
1971 NFL Draft
. Manning played for the Saints from
1971
until he was traded after the first game of the
1982
season.
The Razorbacks and Rebels renewed their annual series in the 1980s, and in 1992, they became conference rivals when Arkansas joined the SEC.
Houston Nutt
was the head coach of both programs: the Razorbacks from 1998 to 2007 and the Rebels from 2008 to 2011.
Arkansas has played in the Sugar Bowl twice since losing to Ole Miss. In
1980
(1979 season), the Razorbacks of
Lou Holtz
lost 24?9 to national champion
Alabama
(coached by Arkansas native
Bear Bryant
), and in
2011
(2010 season), the
Bobby Petrino
-led Hogs lost 31?26 to
Ohio State
(the Buckeyes later vacated the win following the discovery of numerous NCAA violations under the watch of coach
Jim Tressel
).
Ole Miss did not return to the Sugar Bowl until January
2016
, when it defeated
Oklahoma State
48?20.
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
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History & conference tie-ins
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Games
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Notes
|
- The 2006 game took place in
Atlanta, Georgia
due to
Hurricane Katrina
.
- The game was also the national title game for either the
Bowl Coalition
,
Bowl Alliance
, or
Bowl Championship Series
in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004.
- There was a Sugar Bowl in January and December in 1972, 1995 and 2022.
- The game was a
College Football Playoff
semifinal in its 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2024 editions.
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