The 1964 Sugar Bowl

Sugar Bowl

The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since January 1, 1935, and celebrated its 75th anniversary on January 2, 2009...

, part of the 1963 bowl game season, was the 30th annual contest and took place on January 1, 1964, at Tulane Stadium

Tulane Stadium

Tulane Stadium was an outdoor football stadium located in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1926 to 1980. Officially known as the Third Tulane Stadium, it replaced the "Second Tulane Stadium" where the Telephone Exchange Building is now located...

 in New Orleans, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. The competing teams were the and the Alabama Crimson Tide, both representing the Southeastern Conference

Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...

 (SEC). In a defensive struggle, Alabama defeated the Rebels without scoring a single touchdown 12–7.

Alabama

The 1963 squad was Bear Bryant

Bear Bryant

Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...

's sixth at Alabama. The Crimson Tide lost to Florida and long-time rival

Iron Bowl

The Iron Bowl is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the University of Alabama and the Auburn Tigers football team of Auburn University. The series is considered one of the best and most hard-fought rivalries in all of sports...

  en route to an 8–2 regular season. Originally wanting to pit Navy

1963 Navy Midshipmen football team

The 1963 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy in the 1963 college football season.-Season:Quarterback Roger Staubach won the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award while leading the Midshipmen to a 9-1 regular season record and a final ranking of #2 in the nation....

 against Ole Miss, the Sugar Bowl extended the invitation to Alabama with two weeks remaining in the regular season. Their appearance was the seventeenth overall bowl appearance and the fourth in the Sugar Bowl for Alabama.

Prior to the regular season finale against quarterback Joe Namath

Joe Namath

Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...

 was suspended by coach Bryant through the bowl game. With Namath out, Steve Sloan

Steve Sloan

Stephen Charles Sloan is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football as a quarterback at the University of Alabama from 1962 to 1965 and then played for two seasons in the National Football League with the Atlanta Falcons...

 started for the Crimson tide in the Sugar Bowl.

Ole Miss

The 1963 squad was Johnny Vaught

Johnny Vaught

John Howard Vaught was an American college football coach at the University of Mississippi from 1947 to 1970 and again in 1973....

's seventeenth at Ole Miss. The Rebels did not lose a regular season game, but did tie and long-time rival

Egg Bowl

The Battle for the Golden Egg, also known as the Egg Bowl, is an American college football rivalry game between played annually by the Mississippi State Bulldogs football team of Mississippi State University and the Ole Miss Rebels football team of the University of Mississippi . The rivalry is...

  en route to an 7–0–2 regular season. Their appearance was the twelfth overall bowl appearance and the seventh in the Sugar Bowl for Ole Miss.

Game summary

The game was a defensive slugfest. Alabama scored its first points on a 46-yard field goal by Tim Davis to take a 3–0 lead. In the second quarter, Davis kicked field goals of 31 and 34-yards to give Alabama a 9–0 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, Davis had a 48-yard field goal to extend the Alabama lead to 12–0. Early in the fourth quarter, Ole Miss scored the only touchdown of the game when Perry Lee Dunn threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Larry Smith. Alabama then held their lead and win the game 12–7. For his four field goal performance, Tim Davis was named the Sugar Bowl MVP.