Question for old-timers

[RedSea]

What was it like when Miami went to the three Tangerine Bowls in the 1970's?

When I look at the box score there weren't many people at those games, was it the equivalent of going to the Silicon Valley Classic (before it folded) or was it the equivalent of going to the Independence Bowl this year or was a bigger deal.

Were the games televised? Was there a lot of local publicity? Were people excited to play the SEC teams of the day?

[EDDIE]

I came to Miami in 76 so I just missed the three-year run.

I don't remember the games being televised in Pennsylvania though.
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[andystef]

Having been to all three Tangerine Bowls, I can say it was definitely very exciting for us.

In the '73 game, Florida refused to go to Orlando and insisted we play the game in Gainsville..... which we did. No football fan south of the Mason Dixon line gave the Redskins any chance of winning............ in fact James (?) Gaffney, quarterback of the Gators said that it would be an absolute disgrace to the SEC to lose to Miami. Our guys not only beat Florida and "disgraced" the entire SEC, but Mr. Gaffney was seen on his back in the backfield more than any other player, thanks to Brad Cousino, our 185 pound all-American middle guard. The game was tape-delayed in Orlando and I got to see it again in my room. Jim Taylor, of Green Bay fame, was the color man and he made a most interesting observation: "The best guy in Miami's backfield is Chuck Varner (fullback), and the best guy in Florida's backfield is Brad Cousino". One of the best plays of the game was John McVay (DB) driving Nat Moore (later of the Miami Dolphins) out of bounds and into the wall in front of the stands. Naturally, John got a personal foul called against him but the hit was so vicious that Nat Moore was, I believe, intimidated and for the rest of the agme, he did zilch!!!

In '74, the game was played in Orlando against Georgia. The stadium only held about 20,000 and I believe it was a fairly good crowd. Again the southerners thought the game would be an easy victory for the Bulldogs; however Miami was totally dominant in the game. The entire setting, however, was kind of bush: the officials got 3 guys out of the stands to handle the chain gang and on one period change, the officials placed the ball 5 yards further back than it should have been............. naturally against Miami.

In '75, the Tangerine bowl was expanded to 50,000; however, because of some engineering problems, the upper 30,000 seats were not opened and we had to play again in front of 20,000 fans. The field was so sandy that for TV it was sprayed green to look like grass. The governor of South Carolions arrived with his entourage and was denied admittance to the VIP parking because he didn't have the necessary credentials. He was later admitted to the game.
After the game we went to a bar called Rosie 'Grady's and I met South Carolina's center. He had played against Cousino in 1973, which Miami won 13-11; however, he was really impressed with our current noseguard, Jeff Kelly, whom he said manhandled him.

All in all, 3 fine games and 3 tremendous victories.

[MUfan]

Nice recap, Andy. I love to hear stories like that!
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[stevo]

[RedSteve]

well, i think such stories SUCK.







OK, just kidding. I enjoy them too. Carry on.
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[Bash Riprock]

[EDDIE]

And we weren't allowed to sneak into Fisher Hall either...although we did.
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[RedSteve]

[mualum78]

Great recaps! Hard act to follow.
I was in the band and went to the '74 and '75 games. We had a great time! I remember KC and the Sunshine Band were big then and we kept singing their songs on the bus. To this day, I can't listen to KC. Just kidding.
I remember people were generally friendly and the atmosphere both games was exciting. I agree that the public consensus was that Miami would lose but we had faith!
Crowds seemed pretty good for the size of the stadiums.
The football was great, of course.
Other details escape me, as, alas, I have crowded too much into this poor ol' brain in the last <gulp> thirty years.

[digitalhawk]

One was pretty damn cold, but I can't remember which one.
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[yelnats49]

I love hear stories about the "Glory Days" of the 70s. Also, I love to hear how the climate was leading up to those games. Hopefully, one day we can get some kind of "Miami Classics" series going in depth into the great history of our program...similar to the "Buckeye Classics" series sometimes seen on FSN Ohio.
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[Chris W]

Andy,
Thanks for the excellent recaps of those glory days.

I do recall that the Tangerine Bowl with Georgia was televised in Cincinnati on the Mizlou Sports Network, because I watched the game at my buddy's house in Mariemont when we were in high school. Vincent Price was on some commercial over and over again during the game-must not have had many sponsors!
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[redskins4ever]

Can we save that story somewhere??? That was fantastic!
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[CountryRedHawk]

Does anyone know if there are copies of the tapes of the games? I'd LOVE to watch them. Talk about old school.
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[mattsledge]

[MUfan]

[Redskin of Florida]

That was a great recount Andy.

It was the 1973 game at Gainesville played in the cold. There were reports of the temperature dropping to the low 20s by the end of the game.

There's a book entitled Greatest Cincinnati Sports Stories by Pat Harmon, and the lone Miami entry is the 1973 T-Bowl at Gainesville. It's too lengthy to post here, but if anyone would like me to email "fair use" portions of it, I'd be happy to do so.

VCRs for home use didn't become available until the late 1970s, so it would be very difficult getting tapes of those games.
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[andystef]

Thought you guys might like to hear about a couple of other stories regarding those 3 years.

In the last regular season game in 1973, Larry Harper returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown against UC. Extra point was no good and the game ended 6-0. The Bearcats got close a couple of times but our defense was terrific and stopped them short. A great finale.

In 1974, we played Purdue to a 7-7- tie. Actually, we like to say that "PURDUE TIED US". During the game, we had completed a pass in the far left corner of the end zone for an apparent touchdown; however 50 yards away, in the far right corner, a Big 10 official called us for offensive pass interference. He claimed that our wide receiver in that area commited a foul. I later discussed the play with a well known official in the Cincinnati area, Dan Tehan, who at one time officiated high school, MAC, and NFL games (all in the same season). He saw the films and knew the official who threw the flag. He said the flag never should have been thrown as it had no bearing on the play. (In my 40 years of high school officiating, I followed the rule: no harm no foul). This was a great game and I thing we truly deserved to win it.

That same year, we beat Kent on a last minute field goal, 19-17. With about 2 minutes to go, Kent running back Larry Poole scored the go-ahead touchdown to put Kent up 17-16. We returned the ensuing kickoff to our own 20. On the first play, Steve Sanna, our #2 quarterback, but #1 thrower threw an incomplete pass. Our #1 qb, Sherman Smith, re-entered the game. I was going nuts thinking we should be passing instead of relying on the running game to move us downfield. Sherman pitched to Randy Walker on a sweep to the right. Then Walker stopped and lofted a perfect strike to Sherman who advanced to the 50. What an unbelievable play!!! A few plays later and we were on the 30. Dave Draudt then kicked the winning FG and we won 19-17. Head coach Dick Crum, probably the coolest and most unflappable coach in football summed it up in his post game comment: "that was a fun game".

If I can think of any more stories about the 73-75 teams, I'll post them. Probably have a ton of stories about other games in the many years I've watched Miami play.

[MUfan]

More, Andy, more!!!!!


I love this stuff!
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"You haven't lived until you've closed down the I-Bar at 4 A.M. AST." - thechuck_2112

"And then hit the hot springs the next day all the while searching for pain meds." - skin66

[Redskin of Florida]

The week following the Miami-Purdue tie (1974), Purdue went to South Bend and knocked off Notre Dame (who was in a virtual tie with OA&M for #1) by a score of 31-20.

Miami cracked the Top 20, two weeks later.
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[RedSea]

Great stuff guys. Especially the part about how big the stadium was.

As Miami fans were you guys thinking we were going to win? What was the betting line?

Was Miami football a bigger deal locally and nationally then or now?

[JDad78]

Andy,
Great stuff. However, I remember the '74 Kent game with two minor differences. Larry Poole of Kent scored with under one minute to go. They kicked off out of the end zone for a touchback and the clock didn't start. Miami took possession at it's 20 with 56 seconds left. That part I am sure of. My recollection was that Sherman came out for the first down play, just bringing groans from the crowd who felt collectively as you described, that we needed to pass. Then came the classic halfback option from Walker to Sherman to the 50 and Sanna came back and completed two sideline passes to put us into FG range. The FG was kicked as time expired. The crowd pummeled the field with Tangerines and then stormed Old Miami Field.

This game won the MAC and bowl berth and kept Miami tied with Oklahoma for the nations longest unbeaten streak at the time, 24 games. Kent was QB'ed by Greg Kokal, an excellent player and father of current Miami QB Mike. We moved it to 25 games with the aforementioned ass kicking of Georgia. Those were great teams that didn't get the national recognition, because there wasn't any ESPN etc. I think there was a lot of regional respect for Miami, but not much on the national scale, even after going 32-1-1 from '73-75. The Tangerine Bowl ended the contract with the MAC because none of the SEC or southern schools would agree to play them and the Bowl wanted to grow. The pre-season Sports Illustrated edition in 1976 ranked Miami at something like #16. They offered the comment that if Miami ran the the table in '76, then the Sugar Bowl was going to invite them, given a Senior class that would have been 43-1-1. Unfortunately, they lost 9 of 11 starters to injury in the opener at North Carolina ( a close loss). That team went 3-8 due to the injuries but rebounded the next year to win the MAC again at 10-1, but sit home without a bowl bid because there was no MAC tie-in.

[RSR]

First of all I almost posted about those years/games since I was at Miami then. I'm gladI didn't because my memory of the three years is all run together and I'd have posted something inaccurate.

Secondly, JDad makes a great point about the "no ESPN" years. If ESPN was around in those days Miami's three years in the top 14 and wins over SC, Fla. and Geo. I believe would have propelled Miami into national prominence via ESPN coverage.
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