1973 Sugar Bowl

The 1973 Sugar Bowl, part of the 1973 bowl game season, took place on December 31, 1973, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. The top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) met the independent Notre Dame Fighting Irish; both teams were undefeated.^[3][4][5]

1973 Sugar Bowl
40th edition National Championship Game[1]
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Alabama Crimson Tide (10–0) (11–0) Independent SEC 24 23 Head coach:  Ara Parseghian Head coach:  Bear Bryant AP Coaches 3 4 AP Coaches 1 1
1 2 3 4 Total Notre Dame 6 8 7 3 24 Alabama 0 10 7 6 23
Date	December 31, 1973
Season	1973
Stadium	Tulane Stadium
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	Tom Clements, Notre Dame QB
Favorite	Alabama by 6½ points [2]
Referee	Gene Calhoun (Big Ten) (split crew: Big Ten, SEC)
Attendance	85,161
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC
Announcers	Chris Schenkel, Bud Wilkinson, and Howard Cosell
Nielsen ratings	25.3
Sugar Bowl  < 1972 (Dec) 1974 >  College Football Championship Game  < 1973 (Jan) 1979 >

Underdog Notre Dame won 24–23;^[3][4][6] the game received a 25.3 Nielsen rating, making it one of the highest-rated college football games in history.^[7]

Teams

Alabama

See also: 1973 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

Alabama completed the 1973 regular season with an 11–0 record, as conference champions and as national champions as determined by the final UPI coaches poll, released in early December.^[8][9] Following their victory over Auburn, university officials announced they accepted an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl.^[10] The appearance marked the sixth for Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, their 27th overall bowl game appearance and their first all-time meeting against Notre Dame.^[10]

Notre Dame

See also: 1973 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

Notre Dame finished the regular season with a 10–0 record. Following their victory over Miami, university officials announced they accepted an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl.^[10] The appearance marked the first for Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, and their fifth overall bowl game appearance.

Game summary

With a cold rain falling, Notre Dame opened the scoring with a Wayne Bullock 6-yard touchdown run, and after a missed extra point took an early 6–0 lead.^[11] In the second quarter, Alabama took the lead on a 6-yard Randy Billingsley touchdown run, only to see the Irish go up 14–7 on the following play. The ensuing kickoff was returned 93-yards for a touchdown by Al Hunter.^[11] The Tide cut the lead to 14–10 late in the quarter on a 39-yard Bill Davis field goal.^[11]

In the third quarter, the teams traded touchdowns with Alabama scoring first on a 5-yard Wilbur Jackson touchdown run and Notre Dame on a 12-yard Eric Penick touchdown run to make the score 21–17 entering the final period.^[11] After quarterback Richard Todd made a 25-yard touchdown reception from Mike Stock on a trick play, Davis missed the extra point to only put Alabama up 23–21.^[11] The Irish responded with a 19-yard field goal by Bob Thomas to take the lead 24–23 with 4:26 remaining in the game.^[11]

Late in the fourth quarter, Alabama pinned Notre Dame back deep in Irish territory with a punt, hoping to get the ball back within easy range of a game-winning field goal. During the punt, the Alabama punter was run into and Notre Dame was flagged with a 15-yard roughing the kicker personal foul. In 1973, a personal foul wasn't an automatic first down in college football, so since it occurred on a 4th and 20, accepting the penalty would have given Alabama a fourth and 5 on their own 45 yard line, only down one with mere minutes remaining. Coach Bear Bryant, knowing even a safety would win the game, decided to decline the penalty and try to stop Notre Dame who had to start on their own 1 yard line. Bryant's strategy seemed ready to pay off when his defense stymied Notre Dame on two plays and forced 3rd and 10 on their 1-yard line. However, on third and long Irish QB Tom Clements connected with backup TE Robin Weber on a long pass that gave the Irish a first down and allowed them to run out the clock. With their victory, the Associated Press awarded the Irish the national championship in ranking them first in their final poll.^[12]

Alabama and Notre Dame would play for the national championship again in 2012, where the Crimson Tide exacted revenge on the Fighting Irish in a blowout victory to repeat as national champions.

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP Notre Dame Alabama 1 3:19 6 plays, 64 yards 2:32 Notre Dame Wayne Bullock 6-yard touchdown run, Bob Thomas kick no good 6 0 2 7:30 7 plays, 52 yards 2:40 Alabama Randy Billingsley 6-yard touchdown run, Bill Davis kick good 6 7 2 7:17 None None Notre Dame Al Hunter 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, 2-point pass good 14 7 2 0:39 7 plays, 69 yards 2:40 Alabama 39-yard field goal by Bill Davis 14 10 3 11:02 11 plays, 93 yards 3:57 Alabama Wilbur Jackson 5-yard touchdown run, Bill Davis kick good 14 17 3 2:30 1 play, 12 yards 0:07 Notre Dame Eric Penick 12-yard touchdown run, Bob Thomas kick good 21 17 4 9:33 5 plays, 39 yards 2:14 Alabama Richard Todd 25-yard touchdown reception from Mike Stock, Bill Davis kick no good 21 23 4 4:26 11 plays, 79 yards 5:13 Notre Dame 19-yard field goal by Bob Thomas 24 23 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 24 23

References

1. Written at New York. "Title at Stake in Sugar Bowl". The Kansas City Times. Kansas City, Missouri. Associated Press. December 3, 1973. Retrieved March 8, 2023. "A championship can only truly be settled on the playing field." Richard Kazmaier, chairman of the awards committee, said in announcing that this year the committee would not vote for the MacArthur Bowl winner.
2. "Bama's air threat has Ara worried". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. December 31, 1973. p. 2, part 2.
3. "Irish tip 'Bama, they're No. 1". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. January 1, 1974. p. 1, part 2.
4. "Irish best in country?". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. January 1, 1974. p. 21.
5. Underwood, John (January 13, 1974). "With contempt for caution". Sports Illustrated. p. 70.
6. "Notre Dame broke up Alabama wishbone". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). January 2, 1974. p. 37.
7. Pennington, Bill (December 8, 2012). "Before Computer Rankings and the Superdome, There Was Notre Dame vs. Alabama in the 1973 Sugar Bowl". The New York Times.
8. "Tide tops both polls". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). UPI/AP. December 4, 1973. p. 20.
9. "Alabama wins National Title in UPI Poll". The Los Angeles Times. UPI. December 5, 1973. p. B3. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
10. Reed, Delbert (November 17, 1973). "It's official: Tide-Irish in Sugar Bowl". The Tuscaloosa News. p. B1. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
11. "1973 Sugar Bowl". 2010 Notre Dame Football Supplement (PDF). South Bend, IN: Notre Dame Athletics Media Relations. 2010. p. 116. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 22, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
12. "Final word in polls: Notre Dame #1". The Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. January 3, 1974. p. 13. Retrieved January 25, 2011.