Sun Bowl -- El Paso, Texas.
The Missouri Tigers went to the 1973 Sun Bowl eager
to erase the memory of three straight losses to end the season
which left them 7-4 after a quick start. A rushing total of 295
yards and two TD passes by Ray Smith ensured they would
do just that.
Behind a 28-point second quarter, a Missouri bowl record,
the Tigers rose to 8-4 with relative ease.
After falling behind 3-0 early in the second quarter,
Mizzou scored three straight times and led the rest of the way.
Ray Bybee, who ran for 127 yards, scored a second-quarter
touchdown which was sandwiched between two touchdown
catches by John Kelsey.
A 35-yard strike to Kelsey from Chuck Link, put the
Tigers on top for good. Then came a pair of two-yard scores,
one a run by Bybee and on a pass from Smith to Kelsey,
before Auburn got on the board again. Following an Auburn
touchdown, John Moseley took the kickoff 84 yards for the
fourth Tiger touchdown of the quarter and gave Mizzou a
sizable 28-10 lead at halftime.
The Tigers got only one score in the second half, a
15-yard pass from Smith to Jim Sharp. It was plenty for the
Tiger defense, though, which held Auburn to 233 total yards
and forced five turnovers.
An offense ranked last in total yardage and next to
last in scoring in the Big Eight had racked up 34 points and
390 yards.
| AUBURN | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | -- | 17 |
| MISSOURI | 0 | 28 | 6 | 0 | -- | 34 |
| A -- FG Pruett 35 |
| M -- Kelsey 35 pass from Link (Hill kick) |
| M -- Bybee 2 run (Hill kick) |
| M -- Kelsey 2 pass from Smith (Hill kick) |
| A -- Gossom 17 pass from Gargis (Pruett kick) |
| M -- Moseley 84 kickoff return (Hill kick) |
| M -- Sharp 15 pass from Smith (kick failed) |
| A -- Gossom 32 pass from Gargis (pass failed) |
| Att. -- 31,000 |
| MU | Auburn |
|---|
| First Downs | 20 | 10 |
| Rushes-Yards | 71-295 | 42-113 |
| Passing Yards | 95 | 120 |
| Return Yards | 12 | 42 |
| Passes | 8-14-1 | 7-15-1 |
| Punts-Avg. | 6-37 | 6-46 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 4-1 | 5-4 |
| Penalties-Yards | 2-29 | 1-5 |
| RUSHING -- MU: Bybee 27-127, Reamon 23-110,
Moss 6-23, Smith 5-18. A: McIntyre 10-46, Neel
7-26, Fuller 5-11. |
| PASSING -- MU: Smith 7-12-0-60, Link 1-1-0-35. A:
Gargis 7-15-1-120. |
| RECEIVING -- MU: Kelsey 2-37, Sharp 2-26, Reamon
2-22. A: Spivey 3-56, Gossom 2-39, Arnold 1-10. |
