1972 Cotton Bowl Classic
1972 Cotton Bowl Classic |
Bowl Game |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Penn State |
0 |
3 |
17 |
10 |
30 |
Texas |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
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Date | January 1, 1972 |
Stadium | Cotton Bowl |
Location | Dallas, Texas |
MVP | DE Bruce Bannon (Penn State) RB Lydell Mitchell (Penn State) |
Attendance | 70,000 |
United States TV coverage |
Network | CBS |
Cotton Bowl Classic
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The 1972 Cotton Bowl Classic matched the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Texas Longhorns.
Background
The Longhorns were the Southwest Conference champions and at one point was ranked #3 in the polls before two straight losses (to #9 Oklahoma and #15 Arkansas) dropped them out of contention. This was their 4th straight Cotton Bowl Classic. The Nittany Lions were at one point ranked #5 before losing the last game of the season to #13 Tennessee. This was their first Cotton Bowl Classic until 1948.
Game summary
The two teams traded field goals with Penn State leading 6-3 at halftime. The Nittany Lions would score 27 straight points in the second half. Lydell Mitchell and John Hufnagel had touchdown runs while Hufnagel threw a touchdown pass to Scott Skarzynski. Alberto Vitiello had three field goals for the Nittany Lions while Steve Valek had two field goals for the Longhorns. [1]
Aftermath
The Longhorns went to the three more Cotton Bowls before the decade ended. Penn State would return to the Cotton Bowl three years later.
Statistics
Statistics | PSU | Texas |
First Downs | 18 | 15 |
Yards Rushing | 239 | 159 |
Yards Passing | 137 | 83 |
Total Yards | 376 | 242 |
Punts-Average | 5-36.0 | 5-33.0 |
Fumbles-Lost | 1-0 | 5-3 |
Interceptions | 1 | 0 |
Penalties-Yards | 2-30 | 1-5 |
References
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- Tie-In
- College Football Playoff At-Large or Group of Five Bid
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Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game.
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