The 1970 Liberty Bowl

Liberty Bowl

The Liberty Bowl is an annual U.S. American college football bowl game played in December of each year from 1959 to 2007 and in January in 2009 and 2010. The Liberty Bowl was sponsored by AXA Financial and was known as the AXA Liberty Bowl from 1997 to 2003...

, part of the 1970 bowl game

Bowl game

In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...

 season, took place on December 13, 1970, at Memphis Memorial Stadium

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium is a football stadium, located at the Mid-South Fairgrounds, in Midtown Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The stadium is the site of the annual AutoZone Liberty Bowl, and is the home field of the University of Memphis Tigers football team...

 in Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. The competing teams were the , competing as an independent and the , representing the Big Eight Conference

Big Eight Conference

The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...

 (Big 8). Tulane won the game 17–3.

Tulane

Entering the 1970 bowl season, Tulane finished the regular season with a record of 7–4. Following a 26–14 defeat to the rival

Battle for the Rag

The Battle for the Rag is an American college football rivalry game played by the LSU Tigers football team of Louisiana State University and the Tulane Green Wave football team of Tulane University...

 , the Green Wave accepted a bid to play in the Liberty Bowl. The appearance in the game marked Tulane's first since the 1940 Sugar Bowl

1940 Sugar Bowl

The 1940 Sugar Bowl featured the top ranked Texas A&M Aggies, and the fifth ranked Tulane Green Wave. The game was played at Tulane's home field, so it was technically a home game for the Green Wave....

 and their fourth overall bowl appearance.

Colorado

Entering the 1970 bowl season, Colorado finished the regular season with a record of 6–4. Following the completion of their regular season, the Buffaloes accepted a bid to play in the Liberty Bowl for the second consecutive year. The appearance in the game marked Colorado's second in the Liberty Bowl and their sixth overall bowl appearance.

Game summary

In an early defensive struggle, Tulane threatened to score first after Rick Kingrea

Rick Kingrea

Richard Owen Kingrea is a former American football linebacker who played eight seasons in the National Football League for the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, and the New Orleans Saints. He played college football at Tulane University. In 2009, Kingrea was an attorney and City Councilman in...

 intercepted a Paul Arendt pass an returned it to the Colorado six yard line. Four plays later the Green Wave scored first on a 19-yard Lee Gibson field goal. Colorado evened the score 3–3 in the second quarter on a 32-yard David Haney field goal to cap a 15 play, 63 yard drive. In the second half the Green Wave scored touchdowns on a pair of David Abercrombie runs to win the game 17–3. For his 124 yards rushing and two touchdowns, Abercrombie was named the game's Most Valuable Player

Most Valuable Player

In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...

.