The 1966 Liberty Bowl was a post-season American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

between the Virginia Tech Gobblers and the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

, both independent programs. The eighth edition of the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic Cit ...

, it was played on December 10, 1966, at Memphis Memorial Stadium in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. The game was the final contest of the

1966 NCAA University Division football season The 1966 University Division football season was marked by some controversy as the year of "The Tie", a famous 10–10 game between the two top-ranked teams, Michigan State and Notre Dame on November 19. Both teams were crowned national champio ...

for both teams, and ended in a 14–7 victory for Miami. A then-record 39,101 tickets were sold for the game, but due to temperatures at game time, only 25,012 spectators attended.

Teams

This was the second time that the two programs had faced each other. The previous meeting, held in 1953, ended in a 26–0 shutout victory for Miami.Opponent History: Miami
Opponent history database, Hokiesports.com. Accessed January 23, 2008.

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech was led on defense by

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

safety Frank Loria, who caught three interceptions and returned three punts for touchdowns as a junior during the 1966 season. In addition,

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

George Foussekis was named to the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

second-team All-America team, and helped keep the Hurricanes' offense in check for most of the game. On offense, fullback Tommy Groom served as the third of the team's three team captains during the game. Virginia Tech was coached by

Jerry Claiborne Jerry David Claiborne (August 26, 1928 – September 24, 2000) was an American college football player and coach. He was the head football coach at Virginia Tech (1961–1970), the University of Maryland, College Park (1972–1981), and his alma ...

, who was in his sixth year as head coach. Under Claiborne, the team had amassed a strong 8–1–1 record with wins over

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and a 70–12 blowout win over traditional rival VMI in the final game of the season. Virginia Tech's sole loss came in the first game of the season against

Tulane The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it be ...

, and the team had a 13–13 tie against

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. The game marked just the second time that Virginia Tech had played in a bowl game since they first fielded a football team in 1892, following the

1947 Sun Bowl The 1947 Sun Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the VPI Gobblers (now the Virginia Tech Hokies) of the Southern Conference (SoCon) and the independent Cincinnati Bearcats. It took place on January 1, 1947, at Ki ...

. Future Virginia Tech head football coach

Frank Beamer Franklin Mitchell Beamer (born October 18, 1946) is an American former college football player and coach, most notably for the Virginia Tech Hokies football, Virginia Tech Hokies. Beamer was a cornerback, defensive cornerback for Virginia Tec ...

participated in the game as a backup

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for Virginia Tech.

Miami

The ninth-ranked Hurricanes boasted a 7–2–1 regular-season record, including wins over three teams that played in New Year's bowl games--

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

(

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

(

Cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

), and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

(

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

). The Hurricanes were led on the field by three-time

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n lineback

Ted Hendricks Theodore Paul Hendricks (born November 1, 1947), nicknamed "the Mad Stork," is a Guatemalan-American former professional football linebacker who played for 15 seasons with the Baltimore Colts, the Green Bay Packers, and the Oakland / Los Angel ...

,2006 MPC Computers Bowl Media Guide
University of Miami Athletics Department, Miami, Florida. Page 80. Accessed February 20, 2008. who would later go on to a

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

career in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. Off the field, the Hurricanes were coached by Charlie Tate, who would head the Hurricanes football team until 1970.Coaches
Libertybowl.org, Accessed March 12, 2008.

Game summary

The game kicked off in frigid weather, and from the beginning, defense dominated. In the first half, Virginia Tech held Miami to just 16 yards of

total offense Total offense, also called total yards, is a gridiron football statistic representing the total number of yards rushing and yards passing by a player or team. Total offense differs from yards from scrimmage, which gives credit for passing yardage ...

. On the opposite side of the ball, Miami set bowl game records for fewest rushing yards allowed and fewest first downs allowed. Virginia Tech got the first big break of the game after blocking Miami's first punt of the game. Taking over at the Miami 21-yard line, it took Virginia Tech just five plays to march into the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on the opposite side of the field ...

for an early 7–0 lead.1966 Liberty Bowl
Virginia Tech Sports Information Department, Blacksburg, Virginia. Accessed February 20, 2008. The teams battled to a stalemate for the rest of the first half, and Virginia Tech went into

halftime In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

still clinging to a 7–0 lead. In the second half, Virginia Tech's fortune turned. Late in the third quarter, their defense stopped Miami's offense again, but instead of receiving the punt cleanly, Virginia Tech committed a roughing the kicker penalty that allowed Miami to retain possession of the ball with a first down. A few plays later, Miami scored its first touchdown of the game. In the fourth quarter Miami finally took the lead on a 10-play, 70-yard drive. Virginia Tech was unable to answer the Hurricanes' score, and Miami won the game, 14–7.

Statistics

Miami's Jimmy Cox was named the game's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

after catching five passes for 77 yards—accounting for nearly half of Miami's total offensive output. Miami earned just three rushing first downs during the game, setting a Liberty Bowl record that has yet to be broken.Team Records
Libertybowl.org, Accessed March 12, 2008. Each team had two players pass the ball. Virginia Tech's Tommy Stafford finished the game having completed four 13 passes for 59 yards and one interception. Several times during the game, Virginia Tech had also played with Barker passing the ball. He finished having completed two of his three passes for 13 yards. On the Miami side of the ball, Miller completed nine of 26 passes for 99 yards and Olivo completed one pass for nine yards. On the ground, Virginia Tech's Tommy Francisco led all runners with 21 carries for 55 yards. Backing up Francisco was Sal Garcia, who finished with three carries for 15 yards. Miami's leading rusher was McGee, who carried the ball 12 times for 36 yards. Backing up McGee was Acuff, who finished with six carries for 25 yards.

Notes

References

{{Miami Hurricanes bowl game navbox

Liberty Bowl Miami Hurricanes football bowl games Virginia Tech Hokies football bowl games