1977 Liberty Bowl

The 1977 Liberty Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game played in Memphis, Tennessee, on December 19, 1977.^[1] In the 19th edition of the Liberty Bowl, the Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference rallied to defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels of the Atlantic Coast Conference, 21–17.^[3][4][5][6]

1977 Liberty Bowl
19th Liberty Bowl
Nebraska Cornhuskers North Carolina Tar Heels (8–3) (8–2–1) Big Eight ACC 21 17 Head coach:  Tom Osborne Head coach:  Bill Dooley AP Coaches 12 13 AP Coaches 14 11
1 2 3 4 Total Nebraska 0 7 0 14 21 North Carolina 0 14 3 0 17
Date	December 19, 1977
Season	1977
Stadium	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Location	Memphis, Tennessee
MVP	Matt Kupec (QB, North Carolina)
Favorite	Nebraska by 6^[1]^[2]
Referee	James Malone (WAC)
Attendance	49,456
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC
Announcers	Keith Jackson, Frank Broyles
Liberty Bowl  < 1976  1978 >

Game summary

North Carolina led by ten points after three quarters, but was outscored, 14–0, in the fourth quarter as Randy Garcia came off of the Husker bench and completed all three of his passes, two for touchdowns.^[3][4] It was the eighth bowl victory in nine seasons for Nebraska; they remained at twelfth in the final AP poll, and North Carolina slipped to seventeenth.

Scoring

First quarter

No scoring

Second quarter

• North Carolina – Brooks Williams 12 pass from Matt Kupec (Tom Biddle kick), 13:52
• Nebraska – Dodie Donnell 15 run (Billy Todd kick), 11:00
• North Carolina – Bob Loomis 10 pass from Kupec (Biddle kick), 3:11

Third quarter

• North Carolina – FG Biddle 47, 4:17

Fourth quarter

• Nebraska – Curtis Craig 10 pass from Randy Garcia (Todd kick), 10:51
• Nebraska – Tim Smith 34 pass from Garcia (Todd kick), 3:16

Source:^[3][4]

Statistics

Statistics	Nebraska	North   Carolina
First downs	21	17
Rushes–yards	52–206	55–169
Passing yards	161	93
Passes	14–17–0	8–13–1
Total yards	367	262
Punts–average	3–37	3–43
Fumbles–lost	4–2	3–2
Turnovers by	2	3
Penalties–yards	2–10	5–35

Source:^[3][4]

References

1. "Heels, 'Huskers trade compliments". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). Associated Press. December 19, 1977. p. 1C.
2. Hooks, Jerry (December 21, 1977). "Liberty rally". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). p. 1C.
3. "Nebraska backup paces Liberty win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 20, 1977. p. 5C.
4. "Huskers topple Carolina". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. December 20, 1977. p. 1, part 2.^{[permanent dead link]}
5. "Game recap: 1977 Liberty Bowl, Nebraska vs. North Carolina football".
6. . Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.