1971 Gator Bowl (December)
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| 1971 Gator Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 31, 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Gator Bowl Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Jacksonville, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Jimmy Poulos (TB, Georgia) & James Webster (LB, North Carolina)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Pat McHugh (SEC; split crew: SEC, ACC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 71,208 | ||||||||||||||||||||
The 1971 Gator Bowl (December) was a college football postseason bowl game that featured the Georgia Bulldogs and the North Carolina Tar Heels.
In the battle between the Dooley brothers was a finely balanced match up of a team that had only lost one game (#7 Auburn) which had cost them a Southeastern Conference title and an Atlantic Coast Conference champion that hadn't lost a conference game. This was Georgia's first Gator Bowl since 1948 and North Carolina's first since 1963. Altogether, the match was also called the "Dooley Bowl".[2]
Game summary
The third quarter proved to be the most crucial part of a game dominated by defense. The Tar Heels took the lead on a Craven 35 yard field goal with nine minutes left in the quarter. But the Bulldogs drove 80 yards down the field on the following possession, culminated with a 25-yard run by Jimmy Poulos with 1:39 left in the quarter to give Georgia the go-ahead touchdown. Poulus went for 161 yards on 20 carries, in an MVP effort. North Carolina was limited to under 200 yards.[3]
