1966 Sugar Bowl
12/27/2013 12:00:00 AM | Football
Tulane Stadium -- New Orleans, La.
The 1966 Sugar Bowl was a tale of two halves. The Missouri Tigers led the Florida Gators at halftime, 17-0 and added a third quarter field goal to make it 20-0. But the Gators came roaring back and scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns thanks to talented quarterback, Steve Spurrier. Spurrier, the game's MVP and the winner of the 1966 Heisman Trophy, threw for two scores and ran for one to spearhead a comeback which was thwarted only when Mizzou's defense, eighth in the country in points allowed, stiffened and stopped all three 2-point conversions.
In its second Sugar Bowl appearance, Missouri's ground game was dominant. The Tigers boasted the country's third-rated rushing attack at 247 yards a game. They topped that with 257 while holding Florida to minus-2. Because of Mizzou's defense against the run and the early deficit, Florida was forced to pass often. Spurrier put the ball in the air a record 46 times. He also set Sugar Bowl records with 27 completions, 16 coming in the wild fourth quarter, and 352 yards passing, but did so in a losing effort.
Halfback Charlie Brown and quarterback Gary Lane led Mizzou with 120 and 76 yards rushing, respectively. Brown also scored the first touchdown of the game on a 10-yard sweep early in the second quarter. Earl Denny had the other Tiger touchdown on an 11-yard halfback option catch from Johnny Roland.
The victory landed the 8-2-1 Tigers in sixth place in the national polls, just behind Big Eight champion Nebraska, which had beaten the Tigers earlier in the year on a late field goal.
| MISSOURI | 0 | 17 | 3 | 0 | -- | 20 |
| FLORIDA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | -- | 18 |
| M -- Brown 10 run (Bates kick) |
| M -- Denny 11 pass from Roland (Bates kick) |
| M -- FG Bates 37 |
| M -- FG Bates 34 |
| F -- Harper 22 pass from Spurrier (pass failed) |
| F -- Spurrier 2 run (pass failed) |
| F -- Casey 21 pass from Spurrier (pass failed) |
| Att. 67,421 |
| MU | UF | |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 18 | 18 |
| Rushes-Yards | 62-257 | 16-(-2) |
| Passing Yards | 50 | 352 |
| Passes | 5-14-2 | 27-46-1 |
| Punts-Avg. | 5-44 | 6-32 |
| Fumbles | 1 | 2 |
| Penalty Yards | 30 | 25 |
| RUSHING -- MU: Brown 22-120, Lane 19-76, Denny 8-27, Reese 11-27. FLA: Poe 2-11, Harper 7-(-5), Spurrier 7-(-8). |
| PASSING -- MU: Lane 4-13-1-39, Roland 1-1-0-11. FLA: Spurrier 27-45-1-352, Harper 0-1-0-0. |
| RECEIVING -- MU: Waller 1-14, Brown 1-14, Phelps 2-11, Denny 1-11. FAL: Casey 5-108, Brown 9-88, Harper 4-66, Trapp 5-53, Poe 3-30, Ewaldsen 1-7. |
