The 1972 Sugar Bowl (December) was the 39th

edition Edition may refer to: * Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies * Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run * Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text * Edition Recor ...

of the college football

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

, played at

Tulane Stadium Tulane Stadium was an outdoor football stadium that stood in New Orleans from 1926 to 1980. It was officially the Third Tulane Stadium and replaced the "Second Tulane Stadium", which was located where the Telephone Exchange Building is now. Th ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, on Sunday, December 31. Part of the 1972–73 bowl game season, it featured the second-ranked

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...

of the Big Eight Conference and the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

. It was played for the first time on New Year's Eve, at night, and Oklahoma shut out Penn State, 14–0. The

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

was the first for Penn State in over six years, and it was their first bowl loss in a

decade A decade () is a period of ten years. Decades may describe any ten-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement that "du ...

. This was the only Sugar Bowl between 1950 and January 1995 without a team from the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC).

Teams

Oklahoma

The Sooners' only loss was at

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. They broke a three-year losing streak to

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

Penn State

After dropping their opener at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, Penn State had won ten straight.

Game summary

The game kicked off on New Year's Eve at 8 pm CST. ABC rejected the Sugar Bowl's request for a 7 pm CST kickoff in order to televise ''

The F.B.I. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and Baton Rouge were blacked out. Penn State was without their leading rusher, junior running back

John Cappelletti John Cappelletti (born August 9, 1952) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) with the Los Angeles Rams and the San Diego Chargers. Prior to his professional career, he att ...

, who was suffering from a virus and a temperature of . Without the future Heisman Trophy winner, the Lions' defense was forced to step up and it held the Sooners explosive Wishbone offense to only 14 points while forcing eight fumbles, recovering five. However, Oklahoma out gained the Lions 543 to 196 yards, 278 to 49 on the ground.

Scoring

First quarter :''No scoring'' Second quarter *Oklahoma –

Tinker Owens Charles Wayne "Tinker" Owens is a former professional American football player who played wide receiver for four seasons for the New Orleans Saints (1976, 1978–1980) in the National Football League The National Football League (NFL) ...

27-yard pass from Dave Robertson (Rick Fulcher kick) Third quarter :''No scoring'' Fourth quarter *Oklahoma – Leon Crosswhite 1-yard run (Fulcher kick)

Statistics

: :

Aftermath

Oklahoma was forced to forfeit nine games from the 1972 season after they had used two ineligible freshmen. Despite the forfeit, Penn State refused to accept the win in the 1972 Sugar Bowl, thus the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

does not recognize the Penn State forfeit win over Oklahoma. The NCAA also stated that forfeits were not part of the NCAA sanctions levied against the Sooners. The NCAA says it only restricted OU's scholarships, TV appearances, and bowl The scandal however, prevented the Sooners from playing in bowl games for two seasons after Chuck Fairbanks's departure to the New England Patriots. Offensive coordinator

Barry Switzer Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former American football coach and player. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football Le ...

, who spearheaded Oklahoma's adoption of the

Wishbone formation The wishbone formation, also known simply as the bone, is an offensive formation in American football. The style of attack to which it gives rise is known as the wishbone offense. Like the spread offense in the 2000s to the present, the wishbon ...

during the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

season, succeeded Fairbanks. The 1974 Sooners were named national champions by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

, but could not be ranked by the coaches' poll, due to a rule adopted following the 1973 season by the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

which prohibited teams on major NCAA probation from the rankings. The Sooners were allowed to appear on television in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, but were banned in 1974 and the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

regular season. Oklahoma returned to television with the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...

on January 1, 1976, when it defeated

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

to secure its second consecutive national championship. Oklahoma did not return to the Sugar Bowl until after the 2003 season, losing in the Bowl Championship Series

championship game In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

21-14. Penn State lost the Sugar Bowl twice more in the 1970s to

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

before breaking through vs.

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in the 1983 game to win the national championship for 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1972 Sugar Bowl (12) Sugar Bowl Sugar Bowl Oklahoma Sooners football bowl games Penn State Nittany Lions football bowl games Sugar Bowl Sugar Bowl