1965 Tangerine Bowl
| 1965 Tangerine Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 11, 1965 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1965 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Tangerine Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Orlando, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Dave Alexander | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1965 Tangerine Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Maine Black Bears and the East Carolina Pirates.
Background
The Pirates were champion of the Southern Conference in their first year of play after years of independence. The Black Bears were the champion of the Yankee Conference since 1961. [1]
Game summary
Dick DeVarney went down early in the game with both a leg injury and a separated shoulder, hurting the chances of the Black Bears. [2] Pete Kriz gave the Pirates a lead on a 24 yard field goal in the second quarter. George Richardson threw a 35 yard touchdown pass to Jim Abernathy to increase the lead to 10 before halftime. The Pirates piled on in the third quarter with a Dave Alexander touchdown run and a touchdown pass from him to Churchill Grimes (after an interception), which made it 24-0. Finally, Alexander ran 55 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put an exclamation point on the game and give the Pirates their third consecutive bowl victory. It was their second straight Eastern Regional NCAA championship and third straight 9-1 season. [3]
Aftermath
The Pirates would not return to a bowl game for 13 years. The Black Bears have since moved down to NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Maine would not win another conference title until 1974, sharing it with UMass.
Statistics
| Statistics | Maine | EC |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 9 | 18 |
| Yards Rushing | 66 | 171 |
| Yards Passing | 86 | 184 |
| Total Yards | 152 | 355 |
| Punts-Average | 8-38 | 5-40 |
| Fumbles Lost | 2 | 3 |
| Interceptions | 4 | 1 |
| Penalty Yards | 50 | 59 |