1971 Orange Bowl
The 1971 Orange Bowl was the 37th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1970–71 bowl season, it matched the third-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, champions of the Big Eight Conference, and the #5 LSU Tigers, champions of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
| 1971 Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 37th Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Orange Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Miami, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Jerry Tagge (Nebraska QB) Willie Harper (Nebraska DE) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Nebraska by 7 points | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Vance Carlson (Big Eight) (split crew: Big Eight, SEC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 80,699 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Simpson, Al DeRogatis | ||||||||||||||||||||
Earlier on New Year's Day, the two top-ranked teams lost their bowl games: #1 Texas in the Cotton and #2 Ohio State in the Rose. The Huskers were aware when they took the field that night that they could claim the top ranking in the AP writers poll with a victory. An LSU victory would likely have given Notre Dame the national title.
Ahead early, Nebraska rallied in the fourth quarter to win 17–12, capturing their first-ever National Championship.