1971 Liberty Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Date | December 20, 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||
Season | 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||
Stadium | Memphis Memorial Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Memphis, Tennessee | ||||||||||||||||||
MVP | Joe Ferguson, Arkansas | ||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 45,410 | ||||||||||||||||||
United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | Chris Schenkel, Bud Wilkinson | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1971 Liberty Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Tennessee Volunteers. In the thirteenth Liberty Bowl, #9 Tennessee defeated #18 Arkansas 14-13 in front of 45,410 patrons.
Arkansas defeated #7 Cal in War Memorial Stadium to open the season, but suffered a one-point defeat to an unranked Tulsa team two weeks later. The Hogs would upset #10 Texas in Little Rock also, but lost to Texas A&M and tied Rice, costing the Hogs the Southwest Conference.
The Volunteers took the lead first, with a two-yard run by Bill Rudder. The Hogs responded with a 36-yard TD strike from Joe Ferguson to Jim Hodge. Scoring wouldn't resume until the fourth quarter, when Razorback Bill McClard kicked 19- and 30-yard field goals. A third McClard kick was good, set up by Louis Campbell's third interception, but a penalty kept the Hogs off the board a fourth time. Arkansas fumbled at their own 36-yard line, and Tennessee's Curt Watson scored three plays later.
Arkansas set a Liberty Bowl record with 104 interception return yards in the contest. This record still stands today. Louis Campbell of Arkansas had three interceptions, also a Liberty Bowl Record.