Johnson City, Tenn. - The University of Memphis took charge of the Burley Bowl football game in the third quarter on a frigid Thanksgiving afternoon and smashed through to a 32-12 victory over East Tennessee State. A crowd of about 700 watched the Tigers win their first ever bowl game.
Held to a 6-6 halftime tie by a battling bunch of Buccaneers, Memphis shook off the effects of the biting cold and punched across three touchdowns in the third period for the margin of victory.
Light snow flurries fell during the early part of the game and again near the end. East Tennessee State scored first as quarterback Howard Tippett passed 14 yards to halfback Bob Lindsey climaxing an 80-yard drive.
Before the Buccaneers could score again, Memphis rang up 32 unanswered points. But only six of those came in the first half, when Bob Schmidt cracked over from two yards out late in the first quarter.
Memphis penetrated several times in the second quarter once losing the ball on the East Tennessee State 1-yard line on a fumble. But it was not until the second half that the Tigers found themselves.
The first time Memphis received the ball in the third quarter, fullback Bobby Brooks sprinted right up the middle, veered to the left and went 45 yards for a touchdown. And before that decisive period ended, the Tigers also scored on a one-yard plunge by Eddie Gebara and a 64-yard screen pass from Bubba Leonard to Gebara.
Andy Nelson took a pitchout four yards for the final Memphis touchdown in the opening minutes of the fourth period. Leonard converted after the third and fourth touchdowns.
East Tennessee's last touchdown came mid-way in the fourth period when quarterback Joe Dixon ran in from 1-yard out.
The Tigers ended the season with a 5-4-1 record, while East Tennessee State dropped to 4-5 on the season.
LINESCORE
GAME STATISTICS
| Q | | Play |
| ET | 1 | | Lindsey 14 pass from Tippett (PAT failed) |
| M | 1 | | Schmidt 2 run (PAT failed) |
| M | 3 | | Brooks 45 run (PAT failed) |
| M | 3 | | Gebara 1 run (Leonard kick) |
| M | 3 | | Gebara 64 pass from Leonard (Leonard kick) |
| M | 4 | | Nelson 4 run (PAT failed) |
| ET | 4 | | Dixon 1 run (PAT failed) |
| Team Statistics | U of M | ETSU |
| First Downs | 14 | 12 |
| Yards Rushing | 282 | 158 |
| Yards Passing | 128 | 101 |
| Total Yards | 410 | 259 |
| Total Offensive Plays | NA | NA |
| Passes | 3-6 | 7-12 |
| Punts | 4-38.9 | 6-30.5 |
| Fumbles | 2-2 | 5-5 |
| No. of Interceptions | 2 | 0 |
| Penalties | 6-30 | 4-20 |
| Third Down Conversions | NA | NA |
| Sacks By | NA | NA |
Individual Statistics
Rushing: U of M - Brooks 1-45, ETSU - Not Available
Passing: U of M - Leonard 3-6-128, ETSU - Tippett 7-12-21
Receiving: U of M - Gebara 1-64, ETSU - Not Available
PASADENA BOWL
Memphis 28 - Sam Jose State 9
Rose Bowl (104,091)
December 18, 1971
Pasadena, Calif. - A hard-nosed defense which caused many mistakes and an explosive offense that capitalized on those mistakes led the Tigers to a 28-9 Pasadena Bowl rout over San Jose State before a sparse crowd of 15,244 in the Rose Bowl.
Memphis, making its first major bowl appearance ever, trailed 3-0 early in the opening period until a blocked punt by Tom Carlsen, who was named the defensive player of the game, gave the Tigers a lead they would never relinquish.
Carlsen blocked John McMillen's punt at the 15-yard line and fell on the loose ball in the end zone for the score. A 13-yard pass from Al Harvey to Dornell Harris, who was named the offensive player of the game, was one of the highlights of a 65-yard drive early in the second period that gave Memphis a 14-3 lead at intermission. Following the pass, Harris broke loose for 20 yards and then took the ball in from the 9-yard line on the very next play from scrimmage.
The Tigers kicked off to begin the second half. San Jose State couldn't move but got a second chance when Paul "Skeeter" Gowen fumbled on Memphis' first offensive play. Bill Brown recovered on the Tiger 24 and a 14-3 U of M lead looked very precarious. The Spartans moved all the way to the Tiger 2-yard line. But on fourth down, the Tiger defense buckled down by meeting running back Joe Hicks at the line of scrimmage and slammed him to the Rose Bowl turf to end San Jose's only real threat.
After a scoreless third period, the Tigers went to work again. David Johnson picked off his second pass of the game and returned it 17 yards to the San Jose State 18-yard line, where Paul "Skeeter" Gowen sprinted in for the score.
San Jose's only touchdown was set up when a pass from center sailed over punter John Kidwell's head and was recovered at the Memphis 20-yard line. A quarterback keeper by Brad Metheany with 36 seconds left in the contest got the Spartans their only touchdown. The extra point attempt was wide to the left.
LINESCORE
GAME STATISTICS
| Q | | Play |
| SJ | 1 | | FG Barnes 33 |
| M | 1 | | Carlsen recover of blocked punt in end zone (McGeorge kick) |
| M | 2 | | Harris 9 run (McGeorge kick) |
| M | 4 | | Gowen 18 run (McGeorge kick) |
| M | 4 | | Taylor 2 run (McGeorge kick) |
| SJ | 4 | | Metheany 1 run (pass failed) |
| Team Statistics | U of M | SJS |
| First Downs | 15 | 11 |
| Yards Rushing | 208 | 187 |
| Yards Passing | 41 | 81 |
| Total Yards | 249 | 268 |
| Total Offensive Plays | 66 | 66 |
| Passes | 3-13-2 | 6-19-4 |
| Punts | 7-39.0 | 6-35.7 |
| Fumbles | 5-1 | 3-1 |
| Interceptions | 4-57 | 2-27 |
| Penalties | 3-35 | 9-85 |
| Third Down Conversions | NA | NA |
| Sacks By | NA | NA |
Individual Statistics
Rushing: U of M -Harris 10-87, Gowen 10-63, SJS - Brice 12-54, Hicks 12-52.
Passing: U of M - Harvey 3-9-41, Robinson 0-4-0, SJS - McMichael 5-16-47, Metheany 1-3-14
Receiving: U of M - Davis 1-24, Harris 1-13, Taylor 1-4, SJS - Brice 3-48, Alley 3-33
