LOOKING BACK: Tulane Football Completes Memorable 1970 Season With a 17-3 Win Over Colorado
May 7, 2020 | Football
NEW ORLEANS - As the Tulane University football team prepares for the upcoming 2020 season, TulaneGreenWave.com takes a look back at some of the best seasons in Green Wave history. In this week's Looking Back edition, TulaneGreenWave.com takes a look at the 1970 Tulane Green Wave football team which finished with an 8-4 record and a final ranking of No. 17 in the Associated Press College Football Poll.Â
The team's final win of the year, featured a convincing 17-3 win over Colorado in the Liberty Bowl. Listed below is an in-depth look at the 1970 Green Wave football team.Â
RECAPPING THEÂ 1970 GREEN WAVE
Billboards and bumper stickers plastered all over New Orleans proclaimed 1970 as the "Year of the Green." Tulane's football team backed up the claim, earning a bid to the Liberty Bowl where it defeated Colorado. Coach Jim Pittman's final Tulane team compiled an 8-4 mark, the most wins for the Green Wave since 1948 and only the second winning season for the program in 14 years.
Seniors Rick Kingrea, Mike Walker and David Abercrombie captained the 1970 team. The defense returned 10 starters from 1969 and Paul Ellis, Joe Bullard and David Hebert formed a secondary that picked off a school-record 28 passes on what was to be one of the Green Wave's all-time great defensive units. Offensively, Abercrombie set a school record with 246 yards rushing against North Carolina State on his way to 993 yards rushing. Through the air, quarterback Mike Walker and receiver Steve Barrios connected on some big plays, as Walker set a season record for yards per completion and Barrios set a season record for yards per catch.
After a 7-4 regular season, the Green Wave received its first bowl invite since the 1939 Sugar Bowl. Tulane was given little chance in the Liberty Bowl against a Colorado team averaging over 400 yards of total offense per game, but the Green Wave defense limited the Buffaloes to 175 yards. The final score of 17-3 sounded closer than it really was.
RECAPPING THE 1970 LIBERTY BOWL
A two-touchdown underdog to mighty Colorado, Tulane celebrated its first bowl trip in 31 years by pulling off the biggest upset of the 1970 bowl season.
Coach Jim Pittman's fired-up Green Wave drew first blood when linebacker Rick Kingrea's 44-yard interception return set up a 19-yard field goal by Lee Gibson. Colorado countered with a 32-yard field goal in the second period to tie it 3-3 at halftime.
The team's final win of the year, featured a convincing 17-3 win over Colorado in the Liberty Bowl. Listed below is an in-depth look at the 1970 Green Wave football team.Â
RECAPPING THEÂ 1970 GREEN WAVE
Billboards and bumper stickers plastered all over New Orleans proclaimed 1970 as the "Year of the Green." Tulane's football team backed up the claim, earning a bid to the Liberty Bowl where it defeated Colorado. Coach Jim Pittman's final Tulane team compiled an 8-4 mark, the most wins for the Green Wave since 1948 and only the second winning season for the program in 14 years.
Seniors Rick Kingrea, Mike Walker and David Abercrombie captained the 1970 team. The defense returned 10 starters from 1969 and Paul Ellis, Joe Bullard and David Hebert formed a secondary that picked off a school-record 28 passes on what was to be one of the Green Wave's all-time great defensive units. Offensively, Abercrombie set a school record with 246 yards rushing against North Carolina State on his way to 993 yards rushing. Through the air, quarterback Mike Walker and receiver Steve Barrios connected on some big plays, as Walker set a season record for yards per completion and Barrios set a season record for yards per catch.
After a 7-4 regular season, the Green Wave received its first bowl invite since the 1939 Sugar Bowl. Tulane was given little chance in the Liberty Bowl against a Colorado team averaging over 400 yards of total offense per game, but the Green Wave defense limited the Buffaloes to 175 yards. The final score of 17-3 sounded closer than it really was.
RECAPPING THE 1970 LIBERTY BOWL
A two-touchdown underdog to mighty Colorado, Tulane celebrated its first bowl trip in 31 years by pulling off the biggest upset of the 1970 bowl season.
Coach Jim Pittman's fired-up Green Wave drew first blood when linebacker Rick Kingrea's 44-yard interception return set up a 19-yard field goal by Lee Gibson. Colorado countered with a 32-yard field goal in the second period to tie it 3-3 at halftime.
David Abercrombie raced the second half kickoff back 66 yards to the Colorado 30 as some 8,000 Tulane fans who made the trip went wild. Runs of 16 and 13 yards by fullback Bob Marshall brought the football to the one, and Abercrombie took it over on a short plunge.
Quarterback Mike Walker guided a 57-yard drive on Tulane's first possession of the fourth quarter, and a tough defense made that 17-3 advantage stand up. The Colorado offense that averaged 422.9 yards and 30.6 points in the regular season was held to 175 yards and three points.
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