Texas Stops Late Namath Rally In First Orange Bowl Night Game
Texas upset top-ranked Alabama, 21-17, in the first prime-time night game in Orange Bowl history. The Longhorns stopped Alabama quarterback Joe Namath inches short of the goal line on a crucial fourth-down play late in the game that would have given the Crimson Tide the lead.
The defeat overshadowed a heroic performance by Namath, the senior quarterback who didn't start the game because of a knee injury. He completed 18 of 37 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns and was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
Alabama started the game with Steve Sloan at the controls. He drove his team into Texas territory, but David Ray missed the field goal. The Longhorns' Ernie Koy then ran 79 yards for a touchdown on second down. When Alabama missed another field goal, UT quarterback Jim Hudson put Texas up 14-0 on a 69-yard pass to George Sauer.
Alabama head coach Bear Bryant needed some instant offense. In came Namath. He completed 10 passes in driving the Tide 87 yards, sewing up a touchdown with a 7-yard toss to Wayne Trimble that made it Texas 14, Alabama 7.
Texas came back with its best defense: an offense that kept the ball out of Namath's hands. The Longhorns drove 72 yards and scored on Koy's right-end run with 27 seconds remaining in the half.
Namath came out firing after intermission, hitting Ray Perkins with a 20-yard pass to close the gap to 21-14 with 9:25 left in the third. A Ray field goal at the end of the period made it 21-17.
When Texas' Marvin Kristynik fumbled at his own 34 late in the fourth quarter, Namath was at the controls once again. After a run and a pair of completed passes, Alabama had first down at the 6. Three plays later, the Tide was at the 1. Namath tried a quarterback sneak, gimpy knee and all, and Longhorn left tackle Frank Bedrick and All-American linebacker Tommy Nobis stopped him short of the goal.
Two more Alabama possessions in the final six minutes resulted in an interception and three incomplete passes.
1963 Alabama 17 - Oklahoma 0
JFK Watches Jordan and Namath Show
President John F. Kennedy was one of 73,380 fans to witness Alabama linebacker Lee Roy Jordan single-handedly turn back Oklahoma, 17-0, in this exciting Orange Bowl Classic.
Jordan, who met Kennedy during the coin toss, recorded 31 tackles and was all over the field as a defensive battle took shape right from the start. The tough Alabama defense had allowed only 39 points all season and had not been scored upon twice in any game.
After the Crimson Tide had taken a 7-0 lead on a 25-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Joe Namath to Richard Williams, Oklahoma botched its best scoring opportunity. The Sooners had worked their way to the Alabama 7: thanks to a 56-yard Ron Fletcher-to-Allen Bumgardner pass: but running back Jim Grisham fumbled the ball.
In the second period, a 15-yard Cotton Clark run stretched the Bama lead to 14-0, and the Tide extended that to 17-0 on Tim Davis's 19-yard FG.
Both teams compiled 260 yards of total offense, but Oklahoma was unable to get into the end zone. Despite his fumble, Grisham earned 107 tough yards on the ground for the Sooners.
Namath completed nine of 17 passes for 86 yards in his first of two Orange Bowl appearances.
Back to top.