Nebraska 19
Texas 3

Jan. 1, 1974 • 1 p.m. Central
Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX • CBS
1st2nd3rd4th F 
Nebraska0313319
Texas30003
First Quarter
UT: Billy Schott 22 field goal, 9:30 (Drive: 8 plays, 34 yds)
Second Quarter
NU: Rich Sanger 24 field goal, 9:05 (Drive: 4 plays, 1 yard)
Third Quarter
NU: Ritch Bahe 12 run (Sanger kick) 3:05 (Drive: 8 plays, 59 yds)
NU: Tony Davis 3 run (kick blocked) 1:23 (Drive: 3 plays, 19 yds)
Fourth Quarter
NU: Sanger 43 field goal, 8:02 (Drive: 13 plays, 63 yds)

                       NU        UT
FIRST DOWNS .......... 21        11
  Rushing ............ 14         6
  Passing ............. 5         4
  Penalty ............. 2         1
NET YDS RUSHING ..... 240       106
  Attempts ........... 58        37
  Yards Gained ...... 260       132
  Yards Lost ......... 20        26
NET YDS PASSING ...... 91        90
  Comp-Att-Int ... 7-17-2    7-17-2
TOTAL OFFENSE .... 75-331    54-196
PUNTS-AVERAGE..... 3-40.0    4-39.8
FUMBLES-LOST ........ 3-1       6-3
PENALIZED-YARDS .... 4-51      2-30

Attendance: 67,500
Weather: Partly cloudy, 30 degrees

OUTSTANDING PLAYERS:
Tony Davis, NU; Wade Johnston, UT



RUSHING          Att.  Yds   TD
Tony Davis        28   106    1
Dave Humm          6    29    0
Ralph Powell       6    27    0
Ritch Bahe         7    26    1
Maury Damkroger    5    19    0
Steve Runty        1    16    0
John O'Leary       1     7    0
Jeff Moran         1     2    0
Earl Everett       2     3    0
Don Westbrook      1     5    0

PASSING      Cmp Att Int Yds TD
Dave Humm      5  13   2  75  0
Steve Runty    2   4   0  16  0

RECEIVING         No.  Yds   TD
Ritch Bahe         2    35    0
Frosty Anderson    1    20    0
Maury Damkroger    1    16    0
Brent Longwell     1    12    0
Tony Davis         2     8    0

PUNTING       No.   Yds    Avg.
Rich Sanger    3    120    40.0

RETURNS      Punt   Int      KO
B. Thornton  1-41   1-0        
Borg         1-7               
Manstedt            1-65*      
Johnson             1-0        
O'Leary                    1-21
* fumble return

TACKLES        AT  UT  TT
Schneider       2   0   2
B. Thornton     2   1   3
Borg            3   1   4
Heydorff        3   1   4
Talley          1   0   0
Fischer         0   1   0
Powell          0   1   0
Sanger          0   1   0
Ruud            4   1   5
Starkebaum      5   2   7
Schmidt         0   1   0
Nelson          6   3   9
Alward          0   1   0
W. Thornton     1   0   0
Bell            5   2   7
Pate            1   1   2
Mills           1   1   2
Manstedt        2   3   5
Wieser          1   0   1
Martin          2   0   0
Dutton          3   1   4
Pruitt          3   0   3
Redding         2   1   3
RUSHING           Att.  Yds  TD
Roosevelt Leaks    13    48   0
Marty Akins        15    44   0
Lonnie Bennett      2    12   0
Joseph Aboussie     3     8   0
Raymond Clayborn    2     5   0
Mike Presley        2   -11   0

PASSING      Cmp Att Int Yds TD
Mike Presley   7  13   1  90  0
Marty Akins    0   4   1   0  0

RECEIVING         No.  Yds   TD
Parker Alford      3    32    0
Jim Moore          1    20    0
Pat Kelly          1    20    0
Raymond Clayborn   2    18    0

PUNTING       No.   Yds    Avg.
Mike Dean      4    159    39.8

RETURNS      Punt   Int      KO
Moore        1-21              
Bizzell            1-16        
Gaspard            1-11        
Clayborn                   4-72
Padgett                    1-24

TACKLES        AT  UT  TT
Bizzell         4   5   9
Sarchet         1   0   0
Hamilton        9   0   9
Melancon        2   2   4
Clayborn        1   0   0
Yeoman          9   7  16
Bennettt        0   1   0
Johnston       11   6  17
Gaspard        10   5  15
Arnold          8   2  10
Minnick         7   1   8
Crosslin        0   1   0
Dahlberg        3   1   4
Simmons         0   1   0
Reese           3   3   6
English         2   1   3
Thruman         6   0   6
Boecker         2   0   2
Rutherford      4   1   5
Johnson         2   1   3
Milan           2   0   0

Coverage

Recap

Ritch Bahe goes high to reel in a catch. | 1974 media guide

Second-half surge hooks Longhorns

Tom Osborne’s Cornhuskers broke open a tight contest in the third quarter with a pair of game-breaker plays to chalk up a 19-3 win over Texas in the 1974 Cotton Bowl game.

The chilled New Year’s Day crowd saw the Big Eight’s runner-up and the Southwest Conference champions battle to a 3-3 tie at halftime, thanks to a brilliant Longhorn goal-line stand that stymied a 79-yard Husker drive just before the gun.

But the Huskers, led by alternate quarterback Steve Runty after halftime, weren’t to be denied. Midway through the third quarter, safety Bob Thornton returned a Texas field goal try 41 yards to set up the clinching touchdown. Ritch Bahe got the final 12 yards on a reverse to make it 10-3.

Four plays later, John Bell recovered a Texas fumble at the Longhorn 19, and three plays after that, Tony Davis ripped in from the three to make it 16-3. Sanger kicked a 43-yard field goal with 8:09 left to complete the scoring.

Texas had scored first on a 22-yard field goal by Bill Schott after a Husker fumble. Early in the second quarter, defensive end Steve Manstedt picked up a Roosevelt Leaks fumble in midair and raced 65 yards to the eight. But a stiff Longhorn defense held NU to a 24-yard field goal by Sanger.

FULL RECAP

Game stories
Lincoln Star
Omaha World-Herald
Dallas Morning News
Associated Press
Hail Varsity
CottonBowl.org
Texas Athletics
Huskers.com
Pregame & team info
1973 schedule
05/05Red 35, White 25
09/08UCLAW 40-13
09/22N.C. StateW 31-14
09/29WisconsinW 20-16
10/06@ MinnesotaW 48-7
10/13@ MissouriL 12-13
10/20KansasW 10-9
10/27@ Oklahoma St.L 17-17
11/03ColoradoW 28-16
11/10Iowa St.W 31-7
11/17@ Kansas St.W 50-21
11/23@ OklahomaL 0-27
01/01TexasW 19-3

Commentary

Wilkins

The Huskers’ victory was a salve for the burns inflicted by Oklahoma (27-0) in the season finale.

Galyn Wilkins
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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