Nebraska 36
Miami 34

Dec. 15, 1962 • 10 a.m. Central
Gotham Bowl • New York, NY • ABC
1st2nd3rd4th F 
Nebraska6148836
Miami6147734
First Quarter
NEB: Bill Thornton 2 run (run failed) 7:21
MIA: Ben Rizzo 10 pass from George Mira (kick failed) 0:29
Second Quarter
MIA: Nick Spinnelli 30 pass from Mira (Mira pass failed) 12:31
NEB: Willie Ross 92 kickoff return (Rudy Johnson kick) 12:18
MIA: Nick Ryder 1 run (Ryder pass from Mira) 7:20
NEB: Mike Eger 6 pass from Claridge (Johnson kick) 0:42
Third Quarter
MIA: John Bennett 3 run (Wilson kick) 8:44
NEB: Thornton 1 run (Claridge run) 0:08
Fourth Quarter
NEB: Ross 1 run (Thornton run) 13:32
MIA: Ryder 1 run (Wilson kick) 9:29

                        NEB       MIA
First Downs ............ 12        34
  Rushing ............... 5         9
  Passing ............... 7        21
  Penalty ............... 0         4
Rushing, Net ....... 42-150    43-181
Passing, Net .......... 146       321
  Comp-Att-Int ..... 9-14-0   24-46-2 
Total Offense ...... 56-296    87-502
Punts-Avg ............ 6-37      1-35
Fumbles-Lost .......... 2-2       3-2
Penalized-Yards ...... 6-69       1-5
RUSHING
NEB: Ross 10-77, Thornton 11-43, Steuwe 7-24, Johnson 1-4, Young 2-4, McCloughan 2-4, Claridge 9-(-6)

MIA: Ryder 16-95, Bennett 13-53, Hunt 9-27, Mira 5-6

PASSING
NEB: Claridge 9-14-0 146 yds, 2 TD
MIA: Mira 24-46-2 321 yds, 1 TD

RECEIVING
NEB: Callahan 4-47, Steuwe 2-23, Theisen 1-42, Ross 1-28, Eger 1-6

MIA: Simon 6-66, Sims 5-66, Sparks 4-54, Spinelli 3-53, Rizzo 2-31, Ruder 2-26, Bennett 2-25

Attendance: 6,166*
  *Number of tickets sold. Actual attendance estimated to be under 1,000.
quotes (1K)The bigger, physically stronger Cornhuskers seemed to wage a war of attrition and wore the Hurricanes down in the second half.” — Tommy Fitzgerald, Miami News
quotes (1K)The victory will glow in the record books as a thriller in which Nebraska survived three Miami leads and two dead­locks to finally stab All America quarterback George Mira with his own weapon.” — Wally Provost, Omaha World-Herald

Coverage

Recap

In frigid shootout, Nebraska claims first bowl victory

Playing under coach Bob Devaney, Nebraska won its first bowl game in three tries, upsetting Miami and George Mira, 36-34, in the second and last of New York’s now-defunct Gotham Bowl.

brown_bob (2K)The Huskers and Hurri­canes, playing in mostly empty Yankee Stadium in sub-freezing weather, put on one of the greatest bowl shows ever, trading touch­downs in every quarter.

Willie Ross’ 1-yard plunge and Bill “Thunder” Thornton’s subsequent two-point run gave the Huskers a 36-27 lead with 13:32 left. Mira, who passed for 321 yards while completing 24 of 46 throws, led a valiant comeback attempt but was thwarted by a last-minute inter­cep­tion by Husker guard Bob Brown at the Nebraska 25 with 1:20 left.

H’MAX NOTES
  • Two Huskers better remembered for their offensive play at Nebraska had big moments on defense. Dennis Claridge’s interception on the Miami 39 set up NU’s final TD, and Kent McCloughan forced a deflection that turned into Bob Brown’s clinching interception.
  • Miami’s Mira had 220 yards passing in the first half and 101 in the second. Both of his TD passes came in the first half, and both of his INTs came in the second.
  • NU’s first touchdown came after Lloyd Voss forced a fumble by John Bennett and Dave Theisen recovered on Miami’s 43. A 41-yard run by Willie Ross run set up Bill Thornton’s short TD run.
  • Claridge had some Mira-like streaks of his own. Late in the second quarter, he drove the Huskers 77 yards in less than a minute, completing passes of 15, 42, 9 and 6 yards. When NU drove 70 yards for its third-quarter TD, 61 yards came on three passes from the shotgun formation.
  • On the Huskers’ 39-yard TD march in the fourth quarter, the big plays came on the ground – a 14-yard run by Ross and a 16-yarder by Thornton.
  • Miami needed just 21 yards for its go-ahead TD in the third quarter after recovering a Ross fumble.
  • The footing on the frozen turf was an issue, and most players wore tennis shoes.
  • The Huskers were well-practiced at two-point conversions. Rudy Johnson’s second-quarter PAT placekick was the first one attempted by Nebraska in a span of 15½ quarters stretching back to the Missouri game on Nov. 3.

1962 Gotham Bowl fumble photoThis fumble by Miami fullback John Bennett was followed by a 43-yard drive for Nebraska’s first touchdown. · Press and Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY) · Newspapers.com

Neb. sources
Omaha World-Herald
Lincoln Journal Star
Daily Nebraskan
Husker Press Box
McCook Gazette (2014)
Hail Varsity (2019)
HuskerMax
More sources
Miami News
Sports Illustrated
Associated Press
United Press International
Football Study Hall
Bolding Sports Research
New York Times
Pregame & team info
Program cover
1962 schedule
05/12Reds 33, Whites 21
09/22South DakotaW 53-0
09/29@ MichiganW 25-13
10/06Iowa St.W 36-22
10/13North Carolina St.W 19-14
10/20Kansas St.W 26-6
10/27@ ColoradoW 31-6
11/03MissouriL 7-16
11/10@ KansasW 40-16
11/17Oklahoma St.W 14-0
11/24@ OklahomaL 6-34
12/15MiamiW 36-34
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