COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL GAMES : Beyond the Numbers : When No. 1 Plays No. 2 in a Bowl, Defining Moments Might Defy Definition

There have been 10 of them now, 10 Games of the Century. With some quick figuring, this should just about put us in the next millennium, all right.

We’re talking about No. 1 playing No. 2 in a college football bowl game, which as we all know, is about as big as it gets, so help us Tostitos.

The matchup between No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Florida in the Fiesta Bowl is the latest in a long line of really important bowl games, many deciding national championships or shaping future careers, many involving football.

You may remember the scores, but there could be a few other things you missed. So in the interest of setting the record straight, here are some footnotes to history. (We’d call it the Big Ten, but that’s already taken):

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1963 ROSE BOWL

No. 1 USC 42,

No. 2 Wisconsin 37

Many might recall Ron Vander Kelen’s prolific passing as the Badgers nearly erased a 42-14 Trojan lead, but this game was also notable for the first-half ejection of USC defensive lineman Marv Marinovich for fighting. Marinovich’s other notoriety is fathering USC bad-boy quarterback Todd Marinovich, later of nude surfing fame.

It’s also the last Rose Bowl game that finished in near darkness because of the stadium’s inadequate lighting system, which was corrected the next season.

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1964 COTTON BOWL

No. 1 Texas 28,

No. 2 Navy 6

Just guessing, but who do you think the better quarterback would be, Duke Carlisle or Roger Staubach?

Surprise. The Duke won this battle, passing for two touchdowns and running for a third. Meanwhile, Staubach struggled until Texas had the game in the bag, or wherever it belonged. The Associated Press report of the game said the scrambling Staubach “resembled a fly captured in a bottle.”

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1969 ROSE BOWL

No. 1 Ohio State 27,

No. 2 USC 16

The Trojans’ O.J. Simpson had an 80-yard scoring run, which also led to the game’s biggest controversy, contributed, oddly enough, by Lou Holtz.

An assistant coach on Woody Hayes’ Buckeye staff, Holtz made a favorable comment on the sideline about Simpson’s great run. Hayes overheard and was incensed at Holtz. He looked for somebody to hit. He found somebody a few years later.

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1972 ORANGE BOWL

No. 1 Nebraska 28,

No. 2 Alabama 6

Remember the wishbone? Bear Bryant’s Alabama wishbone-T formation didn’t have a prayer against Nebraska.

“You can’t call me a wishbone man,” Bryant said. “Formations don’t win games, players do.”

Maybe so, but Bryant probably would have loved to make a wishbone out of Nebraska’s Johnny Rodgers. Rodgers scored on a 77-yard punt return.

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1979 SUGAR BOWL

No. 2 Alabama 14,

No. 1 Penn State 7

This one turned on a math problem for Penn State fullback Matt Suhey. He was stopped inches short of the tying touchdown on third down inside the Alabama one-yard line in the fourth quarter. Mike Guman was stopped short of the goal line on fourth down.

Said Suhey: “You figure in two tries you should get at least one yard.”

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1983 SUGAR BOWL

No. 2 Penn State 27,

No. 1 Georgia 23

Cramps? What cramps? Running back Curt Warner of the Nittany Lions had cramps in both calves that forced him to the sidelines a couple of times. But Warner stayed on the field long enough to rush for 117 yards, 14 better than Georgia star Herschel Walker.

Afterward, Penn State Coach Joe Paterno, an advocate of a playoff system, renewed his call: “We can have one next year. We’re the best team in the country.” The AP agreed in its final poll.

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1987 FIESTA BOWL

No. 2 Penn State 14,

No. 1 Miami 10

Oh, those Hurricanes. Who can forget Jerome Brown’s Pearl Harbor speech? Or the team’s donning of jungle fatigues? We also learned that Miami talked as well as it played.

Consider Dan Sileo, a Hurricane defensive tackle who wasn’t recruited by Penn State and never forgot.

Said Sileo: “I truly hate Penn State. You’re not able to to be your own person. It’s like 95 clones. Their players are a bunch of wind-up mechanical dolls.”

Too bad for Miami the Hurricanes had a Vinny Testaverde mechanical doll: Wind him up and he throws five interceptions, one at the Penn State one-yard line.

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1988 ORANGE BOWL

No. 2 Miami 20,

No. 1 Oklahoma 14

Nasty versus nastier? Few were sure. And so it was left to Oklahoma’s Dante “Raw Dog” Jones to put the matchup in perspective: “Who is the bad guy in this game?”

Miami, probably. The Miami mascot made fun of Oklahoma’s Boomer Sooner Schooner, pulled a small replica of the covered wagon in a circle on the field, then set it on fire.

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1993 SUGAR BOWL

No. 2 Alabama 34,

No. 1 Miami 13

Crimson Tide Coach Gene Stallings, who was to Alabama football what Jim Harrick was to UCLA basketball, was asked what Bear Bryant would have said to him before the game.

“Better get more productivity out of your passing game,” Stalling guessed.

Correct again, Bear. Alabama quarterback Jay Barker completed four passes for 18 yards and had two intercepted, but Alabama rushed for 267 yards and won as if it were on a stroll through the French Quarter.

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1994 ORANGE BOWL

No. 1 Florida State 18,

No. 2 Nebraska 16

A race between the tortoise and the, uh, tortoise: Tom Osborne and Bobby Bowden, which one would get his national title first?

“We’ve about beaten this thing to death,” Osborne said.

Bowden was philosophical, at least: “When you get down to the end of your profession like I am, you hate to have blurs.”

Like the other nine times No. 1 has played No. 2, they tend to run together. That’s the blur.