The 1968

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, usually contested on or around New Year's Day. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first televise ...

, part of the 1968 bowl game season, took place on December 28, 1968, at the

Gator Bowl Stadium The Gator Bowl was an American football stadium located in Jacksonville, Florida. Originally built in 1927, all but a small portion of the facility was razed in 1994 in preparation for the 1995 Jacksonville Jaguars season, inaugural season of the ...

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

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 ...

. The competing teams were the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia" who, in 1864, protected Columbia ...

, representing the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...

, and the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

, representing the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC). The game featured two eventual

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

coaches,

Dan Devine Daniel John Devine (December 23, 1924 – May 9, 2002) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the Universi ...

at Missouri and

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

at Alabama. Missouri won the game, 35–10.

Teams

Missouri

Missouri finished the regular season with a record of 7–3, with losses to

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 ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. Following the team's loss against Oklahoma, Missouri accepted an invitation to play in the Gator Bowl on November 18. The appearance marked the third for Missouri in the Gator Bowl, and the school's 11th overall bowl game.

Alabama

The 1968 Alabama squad finished the regular season with an 8–2 record, with its two losses coming by a combined three points to

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. Following the team's victory over

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Alabama accepted an invitation to play in the Gator Bowl on November 20. The appearance marked the first for Alabama in the Gator Bowl, and the school's 22nd overall

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 ...

Game summary

The Missouri Tigers scored first, with a Terry McMillan 4-yard touchdown run to complete an eleven-play, 71-yard drive to take a 7–0 lead. In the second quarter, Alabama scored their only touchdown of the game after Donnie Sutton

intercepted In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

a McMillan pass and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7–7. Missouri retook the lead late in the second when McMillan scored from five yards out to give the Tigers a 14–7 lead at the half. After a scoreless third quarter, the Crimson Tide scored their final points of the game on a 28-yard

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

by Mike Dean to cut the Missouri lead to 14–10. Missouri responded with three touchdowns to put the game out of reach. The first score was set up after Roger Wehrli intercepted a Neb Hayden pass and returned it to the Bama 21 yard line. Four plays later, McMillan scored his third touchdown of the game on a two-yard run. Greg Cook scored next on a 35-yard touchdown run and Dennis Poppe had the final points after returning a Scott Hunter pass 47 yards for a touchdown. For the game, Missouri completed zero passes, but they rushed for 402 yards and they outgained the Crimson Tide 402 yards to 132. The 25-point loss was the worst for Alabama in its 22 bowl game history, and the 35 points Missouri scored were the most Alabama had ever surrendered in a bowl game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gator Bowl, 1968 1968–69 NCAA football bowl games

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

20th century in Jacksonville, Florida 1968 in sports in Florida December 1968 sports events in the United States