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1961 Liberty Bowl
1961 Liberty Bowl
3rd Liberty Bowl
Syracuse Orangemen	Miami Hurricanes
(7–3)	(7–3)
Independent	Independent
15	14
Head coach: ; Ben Schwartzwalder	Head coach: ; Andy Gustafson
AP	Coaches
14	16
AP	Coaches
NR	19
Date	December 16, 1961
Season	1961
Stadium	Philadelphia Municipal Stadium
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
MVP	RB Dick Easterly
Attendance	15,712
Liberty Bowl
< 1960	1962 >

The 1961 Liberty Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game played on December 16, 1961. The third edition of the Liberty Bowl, the game featured the Syracuse Orangemen and the Miami Hurricanes, both independent programs.

Background

Syracuse running back Ernie Davis became the first African-American football player to win the Heisman Trophy. This was Syracuse's fifth bowl game in 8 years. Miami was making their first bowl appearance since 1952.

Game summary

Jim Vollenweider scored on a 12-yard touchdown run to give Miami a 6–0 lead (though the extra point failed) in the first quarter. Nick Spineli scored on a 60-yard punt return to add onto the lead, and George Mira scored on the conversion pass to make it 14–0 at halftime. Syracuse culminated a 42-yard drive with an Ernie Davis touchdown plunge to make it 14–8 (with a Dave Sarette pass to Dick Easterly to get the two-point conversion). On the first play of the fourth quarter, Miami fumbled the ball, and Bill Schoonover recovered at the Orange 49. Nine plays and 51 yards later, Sarette threw a touchdown pass to Easterly to make it 14–14, with the extra point proving to be important. Ken Erickson's extra point was good, as the Orange won, 15–14. Ernie Davis rushed for 140 yards on 30 carries. Easterly caught four passes for 50 yards.^[1]^[2]

Aftermath

Davis died of leukemia before he ever played a snap in the National Football League. Miami returned to the Liberty Bowl in 1966, while Syracuse returned in 1996.

Statistics

Statistics	Syracuse	Miami
First downs	21	11
Rushing yards	221	109
Passing yards	148	94
Total yards	369	203
Punts–average	7–31.4	9–30.3
Punt return yards	14	78
Kickoff return yards	60	32
Fumbles–lost	3–2	3–1
Penalties–yards	5–35	3–29

References

^ "1961 Liberty Bowl".
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). graphics.fansonly.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 26, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)