1971
January 1, 1971 – Orange Bowl Stadium
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Nebraska Downs LSU for Title
Coach Bob Devaney's Nebraska Cornhuskers won their first of two consecutive national championships by virtue of a 17-12 win over LSU.
Earlier in the day, top-ranked Texas was upset by Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl and number two-ranked Ohio State was shocked by Stanford and Jim Plunkett in the Rose Bowl.
That left the door to the title wide open for the third-ranked 'Huskers. They responded by building a 10-0 first quarter lead.
A pair of Mark Lumpkin field goals and a 31-yard touchdown pass from Buddy Lee to Al Coffee on the last play of the third quarter gave the Tigers a 12-10 lead.
Nebraska showed its grit by regaining the lead with 8:50 left in the game. On fourth-and-one, quarterback Jerry Tagge was stopped inches short of the goal, but he stretched the ball over the line for the national title.
|
|
NEB |
LSU |
|
First Downs |
18 |
20 |
|
Rushing Attempts |
48 |
45 |
|
Rushing Yards |
132 |
51 |
|
Passes Attempted |
28 |
32 |
|
Passes Completed |
14 |
17 |
|
Had Intercepted |
2 |
1 |
|
Passing Yards |
161 |
227 |
|
Total Offense |
293 |
278 |
|
Punts/Avg. |
6/37.7 |
8/32.5 |
|
Fumbles/Lost |
4/3 |
4/3 |
|
Penalties/Yards |
8/67 |
4/27 |
|
SCORE BY QUARTERS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nebraska |
10 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
- |
17 |
|
LSU |
0 |
3 |
9 |
0 |
- |
12 |
SCORING SUMMARY
NEB: Rogers 26-yard FG; NEB: Orduno 3-yard run (Rogers kick); LSU: Lumpkin 36-yard FG; LSU: Lumpkin 25-yard FG; LSU: Coffee 31-yard pass from Lee (kick failed); NEB: Tagge 1-yard run (Rogers kick) MOP: Jerry Tagge (Nebraska), Willie Harper (Nebraska)
Nebraska Head Coach: Bob Devaney
LSU Head Coach: Charlie McClendon