1973 Sun Bowl

Missouri finish fourth in the Big Eight Conference. Auburn lost their final two games to #20 Georgia and #1 Alabama to finish eight in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) for the first time since 1966, although they were invited to a bowl for the sixth straight season. This was Missouri's first Sun Bowl and Auburn's first since 1968.

Game summary

A Missouri fumble on their own 49-yard line gave Auburn great field position, with Roger Pruett kicking a 35 yard field goal to give Auburn a 3–0 lead in the second quarter. When Auburn got the ball back, Rick Neel fumbled at his own 35, giving the ball back to Missouri. Chuck Link took a pitch from quarterback Ray Smith, and he passed the ball 35 yards to tight end John Kelsey for a touchdown to make it 7–3 Missouri. On second down of Auburn's ensuing possession, Wade Whatley fumbled the handoff, giving the ball back to Missouri again, this time giving it to them at the 24. Four plays later, Ray Bybee plunged in for a touchdown to make it 14–3. With 3:08 to go in the half, Missouri scored, this time on a Ray Smith touchdown pass to Kelsey to make it 21v3. Auburn soon moved 80 yards in three minutes, culminating in a Phil Gargis touchdown pass to Thomas Gossom on 4th and goal at the 17 to make it 21–10 with 15 seconds remaining in the half. But on the ensuing kickoff return, John Moseley returned the ball 84 yards for a touchdown to make it 28–10 as the first half expired. A fumble by Gargis on a pitch was recovered at the 35 by Missouri, who responded with a Smith touchdown pass to Jim Sharp to make it 34–10. Auburn scored on a Gargis pass to Gossom from 32 yards out to make it 34–17, but neither team scored for the rest of the game. Ray Bybee rushed the ball 27 times for 127 yards in an MVP effort. ^[1]^[2]

Scoring summary

Auburn - Pruett 35-yard field goal
Missouri - Kelsey 35-yard pass from Link (Hill kick)
Missouri - Bybee 2-yard run (Hill kick)
Missouri - Kelsey 2-yard pass from Smith (Hill kick)
Auburn - Gossom 17-yard pass from Gargis (Pruett kick)
Missouri - Moseley 84-yard kickoff return (Hill kick)
Missouri - Sharp 15-yard pass from Smith (kick failed)
Auburn - Gossom 32-yard pass from Gargis (Pruett kick)

Aftermath

Missouri returned to the Sun Bowl in 2006, while Auburn has not returned since this game.

Statistics

Statistics	Missouri	Auburn
First Downs	20	11
Rushing Yards	295	113
Passing Yards	95	120
Passing (C-A-I)	8-14-1	7-15-1
Total Offense	390	233
Fumbles-Lost	4-1	5-4
Penalties-Yards	2-29	1-5
Punts-Average	6-37.2	6-46.0
Punt Returns-Yards	3-12	4-42

References

Sun Bowl

History & conference tie-ins	History Jones Stadium Kidd Field Sun Bowl Broadcasters Pac-12 Conference Atlantic Coast Conference

Games	1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1977 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Notes	There was a Sun Bowl in January and December in 1958 and 1977. There was no Sun Bowl in 1976.

Auburn Tigers bowl games

Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game.

Missouri Tigers bowl games

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