1972 Cotton Bowl Classic
| 1972 Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1972 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||
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 Texas 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 |