1969 Sun Bowl


The 1969 Sun Bowl was the 36th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, December 20. It featured the 1969 [Georgia Bulldogs football team|Georgia Bulldogs] of the Southeastern Conference and the 1969 [NCAA University Division football rankings|fourteenth-ranked] 1969 [Nebraska Cornhuskers football team|Nebraska Cornhuskers] of the Big Eight Conference.

Teams

Georgia

Georgia was sixth in the Southeastern Conference; after a start, the Bulldogs were winless in their last four games to finish the regular season at It was their second appearance in the Sun Bowl; they won five years earlier.

Nebraska

The Cornhuskers finished as co-champions of the Big Eight Conference with 1969 [Missouri Tigers football team|Missouri] after losing to them on October 11. While Missouri went to the Orange Bowl, Nebraska made its first appearance in the Sun Bowl.

Game summary

Ultimately, a favorable wind for one team and a long running quarter proved to be the outlines for victory. Nebraska's Paul Rogers kicked four field goals in the first quarter while also scoring a touchdown run by Jeff Kinney to make it by the end of the first quarter. It was later determined by Sun Bowl officials that the first quarter had possibly run too long, in part due to a scoreclock malfunction.
While Georgia held the Huskers in the second quarter, Nebraska took back control in the third on two touchdowns, one from a Mike Green touchdown reception from Van Brownson, and the other on a Brownson touchdown run. Dan Schneiss made it in the fourth on a touchdown plunge of his own. Paul Gilbert scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to get Georgia on the scoreboard. Reserve quarterback Jerry Tagge made the final score on his 2-yard touchdown run. For his kicking efforts, Rogers was named MVP. The Huskers forced eight Georgia turnovers: two fumbles and six interceptions.
Nebraska finished and climbed to eleventh in the 1969 NCAA [University Division football rankings|final AP poll]; Georgia fell

Scoring

First quarter

  • Nebraska – Field goal, Paul Rogers 50
  • Nebraska – Field goal, Rogers 32
  • Nebraska – Jeff Kinney 10 run
  • Nebraska – Field goal, Rogers 42
  • Nebraska – Field goal, Rogers 37

Third quarter

  • Nebraska – Mike Green 7 pass from Van Brownson
  • Nebraska – Brownson 1 run

Fourth quarter

  • Nebraska – Dan Schneiss 1 run
  • Georgia – Paul Gilbert 6 run
  • Nebraska – Jerry Tagge 2 run

Aftermath

Nebraska won national championships in [NCAA Division I">College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS">national championships in [NCAA Division I FBS|national championships] in the next two seasons and this was the first of six straight bowl wins, the last five in major bowls. The Huskers returned to the Sun Bowl in 1980 and Georgia in 1985.
The Bulldogs and Cornhuskers did not meet again until the 2013 [Capital One Bowl].