Georgia Tech Football Top 50 Best Moments, #50: Give Me Liberty!
50. 1972 Liberty Bowl
December 18, 1972: Georgia Tech 31, Iowa State 30
After a 6-4-1 season with wins over Michigan State, South Carolina, and Clemson, Georgia Tech made the 1972 Liberty Bowl and a date with the Cyclones of Iowa State. That year, Eddie McAshan played very well finishing Top 20 in all major passing statistics that year. McAshan also accounted for over 60% of Georgia Tech’s touchdowns and 50% of Tech’s yards.
Unfortunately for McAshan, Bill Fulcher’s relationship with the quarterback was strained. The Tuesday before the 1972 Georgia game, McAshan asked Fulcher’s secretary for four additional tickets so his family could attend the game in Athens. His secretary denied the request so McAshan skipped practice for the rest of the week in protest. In response to this, Fulcher suspended McAshan for two games leaving dual-athlete Jim Stevens to pick up the pieces.
After a 0 TD and 3 INT performance against Georgia where Tech lost 27-7, many Tech fans weren’t very confident for their bowl game. The Jackets received an invitation to the Liberty Bowl and a game against Iowa State, which came in 5-5-1, but had been ranked as high as No. 12 and had earned the respect of the nation following a 23-23 tie against No. 3 Nebraska. The Cyclones quarterback George Amundson gained a Big Eight-record 2,387 yards during the regular season and earned Big Eight Player of the Year honors. Georgia Tech came in as the underdog and with a first-year coach and an unproven quarterback, the nation wasn’t too high on them winning.
After taking a 3-0 lead on a 32-yard field goal by Cam Bonifay, Tech soon found itself in whole losing 14-3 after Admundson hit on a 19-yard TD pass to Ike Harris as Tech’s offense totaled -6 yards of offense. Led by Jim Stevens and an opportunistic defense, which forced four turnovers on the day (recovering two fumbles and picking off two passes) Tech regained the lead at 17-14 as Stevens hit Jim Robinson on a nine-yard TD pass then took the lead when safety Gary Faulkner intercepted a pass and took it 19 yards for the score. Iowa State then returned the kickoff to take a 21-17 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Stevens threw his second scoring pass of the game, a 22-yard strike to Rob Healy, to put Tech back in front, but Iowa State tied the game on a 30-yard field goal by Tom Goedjen.
Making only the second start of his career, Stevens played with veteran poise as he orchestrated the go-ahead scoring drive early in the fourth finishing with a 3-yard pass to Kevin McNamara to give the Jackets a 31-24 lead. Stevens did everything he could to win this game and it would come down to the defense who had been up and down the entire season; They had not won a game all season in which they allowed more than 16 points — the closest was a 36-36 tie against Rice.
Unfortunately, the Jackets couldn’t hold Admundson and co. as George Admundson and Ike Harris hooked up for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 31-30 with 1:36 left in the game. Iowa State coach Johnny Majors, who would be coaching his final game for the Cyclones, chose to go for two points and the win. The Yellow Jackets hadn’t exactly stopped Amundson, who passed for 157 yards, completing 10 of 19 attempts and rushed for a game-high 78 yards. As seen in the video above, Admundson rolled out but Tim Macy and Beau Bruce pressured Amundson, whose throw under duress went over his receivers head preserving the 31-30 win.
“This has to go in the books as one of the great victories of Georgia Tech, perhaps of college football,” said Fulcher after the game. “Stevens executed almost perfectly. He just got better as the game progressed.” Jim Stevens finished the game with 157 yards and 3 touchdowns as he won MVP in his second start. The Yellow Jackets ended the season ranked 20th in the polls.