1973 Liberty Bowl
| 1973 Liberty Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 17, 1973 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1973 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Memphis, Tennessee | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | FB Stan Fritts (North Carolina State) | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1973 Liberty Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game that featured the NC State Wolfpack and the Kansas Jayhawks.
The Wolfpack went a perfect 6–0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, winning their first ACC title since 1968. This was the first time the Wolfpack made bowl appearances in consecutive seasons. Kansas tied for second in the Big Eight Conference but was badly thinned by injuries to key personnel. This was their first bowl appearance since 1969. This was North Carolina State's third Liberty Bowl in 10 years (1963 and 1967 being the other two times).
With the game a 10–10 tie early in the third quarter, Kansas' Bruce Adams called for a fair catch on a punt, but in the midst of heavy traffic he fell down on the field, with the ball bouncing off him. NC State recovered the ball deep in Kansas territory. Adams' argument that he was tripped were ignored by the referees (television replay appeared to show that he, indeed, had been tripped). The Wolfpack soon scored two plays later, and with momentum in their favor, scored twice more. Stan Fritts went for 83 yards on 18 carries in an MVP effort.
The Jayhawks have not returned to the Liberty Bowl since this game. In the next 30 years, they went to bowl games only 5 times. While the Wolfpack also have not returned to the Liberty Bowl since this game, they played in 16 bowl games over the next 30 years.
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