1966 Sugar Bowl
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| 1966 Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 32nd Sugar Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, hosted the Sugar Bowl. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1966 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1965 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Tulane Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Steve Spurrier (Florida QB) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Missouri by 2½ points[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Earl Jansen (Big 8; split crew: Big Eight, SEC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 67,421 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Simpson, Bud Wilkinson | ||||||||||||||||||||
The 1966 Sugar Bowl was the 32nd edition of the college football bowl game, played at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Saturday, January 1. As a part of the 1965–66 bowl game season, it matched the sixth-ranked Missouri Tigers of the Big Eight Conference and the unranked Florida Gators of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Missouri was slightly favored[1] and won 20–18.[2]
Missouri
The Tigers entered the game with a 7–2–1 record; but they lost by two points to undefeated #5 Nebraska in the Big Eight.
Florida
The Gators had three losses during the regular season.
Game summary
The Sugar Bowl was the first game of a major bowl tripleheader (Rose, Orange) on NBC, and kicked off at 1 pm CST.[3]
After a scoreless first quarter, Missouri went on a tear in the second quarter. Charlie Brown scored on a 16-yard touchdown run giving the Tigers a 7–0 lead. Defensive back Johnny Roland came in on offense and threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Earl Denny as the Tigers extended their lead to 14–0. Bill Bates kicked a 27-yard field goal and Missouri led 17–0 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Bates kicked a 34-yard field goal as Missouri led 20–0 at the end of three. Florida attempted to make a furious comeback in the fourth quarter; quarterback Steve Spurrier threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to halfback Jack Harper as Florida got within 20–6. Spurrier threw another 21-yard touchdown pass to end, Charles Casey, as Florida got within 20–12. Spurrier scored himself from two yards out, as the score became 20–18.[2] Florida failed on three consecutive two-point conversion attempts and had they just kicked the extra points, they may have ended with a win.[4]
Despite playing on the losing team, Spurrier was named the Most Valuable Player for the game.
Scoring
First quarter
- No scoring
Second quarter
- Missouri – Charlie Brown 10-yard run (Bill Bates kick)
- Missouri – Earl Denny 11-yard pass from Johnny Roland (Bates kick)
- Missouri – Bates 37-yard field goal
Third quarter
- Missouri – Bates 34-yard field goal
Fourth quarter
- Florida – Jack Harper 22-yard pass from Steve Spurrier (pass failed)
- Florida – Spurrier 2-yard run (pass failed)
- Florida – Charles Casey 21-yard pass from Spurrier (pass failed)