1975 Sugar Bowl

The 1975 Sugar Bowl, part of the 1975 bowl game season, took place on December 31, 1975, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The competing teams were the Alabama Crimson Tide, representing the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the 1975 Penn State Nittany Lions, competing as a football independent. In the first Sugar Bowl played in the Superdome, Alabama was victorious in by a final score of 13–6.

Teams

Alabama

The 1975 Alabama squad finished the regular season as SEC champions with a record of 10–1. The only defeat was a 20–7 loss to the Missouri Tigers in week one. On November 17, bowl officials announced that Alabama would face Penn State in the Sugar Bowl.^[1] The appearance marked the seventh appearance for Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and their 29th overall bowl appearance.

Penn State

The 1975 Penn State squad finished the regular season with a record of 9–2. Their only defeats were a 17–9 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in week three and a 15–14 loss to the NC State Wolfpack in week ten. On November 17, bowl officials announced that Penn State would face Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.^[1] The invitation for Penn State was controversial as Alabama's Bryant personally selected Penn State as their opponent instead of the Big 8 runner-up, which would be ranked higher than the Nittany Lions. Bryant was miffed that the Orange Bowl, which was committed to hosting the Big 8 champion, had snubbed the Crimson Tide in favor of the Big 10 runner-up (which would be eligible to pay a bowl other than the Rose Bowl for the first time in history). In Bryant's view, this effectively killed Alabama's chances for a national championship.^[2] The appearance marked the second for Penn State in the Sugar Bowl, and their 14th overall bowl appearance.

Game summary

After Penn State's Chris Bahr missed a 62-yard field goal, Alabama scored on a 25-yard Danny Ridgeway field goal to take a 3–0 lead.^[3] After a scoreless second quarter, Penn State tied the game at 3–3 on a 42-yard Bahr field goal in the third.^[3] Bama responded on the following drive with the lone touchdown of the game on a 14-yard Mike Stock run to take a 10–3 lead.^[3]^[4] After cutting the lead to 10–6 on a 37-yard Bahr field goal, the Crimson Tide responded with an extended drive resulting in a 28-yard Ridgeway field goal in bringing the final score to 13–6.^[3]^[4] For his 210 yards passing after completing ten of twelve pass attempts, Alabama quarterback Richard Todd was named the games Most Valuable Player.^[3]

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	Penn State	Alabama
1	5:33		9 plays, 72 yards		Alabama	25-yard field goal by Danny Ridgeway	0	3
3	4:33		69 yards		Penn State	42-yard field goal by Chris Bahr	3	3
3	1:42				Alabama	Mike Stock 14-yard touchdown run, Danny Ridgeway kick good	3	10
4	11:19				Penn State	37-yard field goal by Chris Bahr	6	10
4	3:19				Alabama	28-yard field goal by Danny Ridgeway	6	13
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							6	13

References

1 2 McKenize, Mike (November 17, 1975). "Alabama vs. Penn State in Sugar". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 9. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
↑ McKenize, Mike (November 18, 1975). "Bryant defends picking Penn State as foe". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 9. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
1 2 3 4 5 Axelrod, Phil (January 1, 1976). "Lions bow to Alabama". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 48. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
1 2 Wilson, Austin (January 1, 1976). "Sugar Bowl is sweet for Alabama". The Gadsden Times. The Associated Press. p. 17. Retrieved January 19, 2011.

Sugar Bowl Game

History & conference tie-ins	History Tulane Stadium Georgia Dome Mercedes-Benz Superdome College Football Playoff Broadcasters Southeastern Conference Big 12 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 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1972 1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Notes	The 2006 game took place in Atlanta, Georgia due to Hurricane Katrina. The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004. There was a Sugar Bowl in January and December in 1972 and 1995. The game was a College Football Playoff semifinal in its 2015 edition.

Alabama Crimson Tide bowl games

Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game.

Penn State Nittany Lions bowl games

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