1971 Gator Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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Date | January 2, 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||
Season | 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stadium | Gator Bowl Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Jacksonville, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
MVP | QB Pat Sullivan, Auburn QB Archie Manning, Ole Miss |
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Attendance | 71,136 | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1971 Gator Bowl (January) was a college football postseason bowl game between the Auburn Tigers and the Ole Miss Rebels
This was a matchup of two Southeastern Conference teams, between 2nd place Auburn and 4th place Ole Miss. This was Auburn's third straight bowl game and first Gator Bowl since 1955. This was the Rebels' 14th straight bowl appearance in Vaught's final full season. This was their first Gator Bowl since 1958. This was Archie Manning's final game as Rebel quarterback. The two teams had met in a bowl game before, in 1965.
Manning went 19-of-28 for 180 yards while rushing for 95 ayrds on 11 carries, with two touchdowns and one interception. Sullivan went 27-of-43 for 351 yards and rushed for 35 yards on 10 carries, with three touchdowns and one interception.
Vaught was replaced by Billy Kinard before next season started. Kinard reached one bowl in his tenure before being fired midway through the 1973 season. Vaught replaced Kinard for the final 8 games, going 5-3. Before Jordan's retirement after the 1975 season, his team reached 4 more bowl games.