SENIORBOWL.com :: Senior Bowl History

Offensive fireworks unlike those the game had ever seen before highlighted the Senior Bowls of the 1970s, as a seemingly endless succession of prolific passers annually lit up the Ladd Stadium scoreboard.

SOUTH 37, NORTH 37
MVP: Terry Bradshaw, La. Tech
NORTH COACH: Lou Saban, Bills
SOUTH COACH: Don Shula, Colts
TOP PLAYERS Terry Bradshaw, Tom Banks

A succession of sellout crowds also marked the Senior Bowl's third decade, as a thrilling 37-37 tie in 1970 kicked things off. In what was the highest scoring Senior Bowl to date, the 1970 game featured a spectacular passing duel between Louisiana Tech's Terry Bradshaw and San Diego State's Dennis Shaw. Shaw set a new Senior Bowl record which still stands with 386 passing yards, completing 22 of a record 52 attempts, while Bradshaw countered with 267 yards and won the game's MVP Award. In a see-saw tilt which saw five lead changes, the South led 37-23 before Shaw hit two fourth quarter TD passes to tie the score. The South had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but a 46-yard field goal attempt went wide of the mark as time expired.

Louisiana Tech’s Terry Bradshaw fights for more yardage during the 1970 Senior Bowl. Bradshaw threw for 267 yards and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. He went on to become the first player selected in the NFL Draft and enjoyed a Hall of Fame career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

NORTH 31, SOUTH 13
MVP: J. D. Hill, Arizona State
NORTH COACH: Lou Saban, Bills
SOUTH COACH: Weeb Ewbank, Jets
TOP PLAYERS Lynn Dickey, John Riggins, Jack Youngblood, Scott Hunter, Isiah Robertson

Arizona State's J.D. Hill was nearly a one-man show in a game full of stars in the 1971 contest, as he returned a punt a record 73 yards -- a mark which still stands -- for a touchdown and also made a touchdown-saving tackle as the North scored a 31-13 win before a sellout crowd of 40,646. Trailing 17-10 in the third quarter, the South's Isiah Robertson stopped a deep North drive into South territory with an interception, and then set up the Southerners by returning it 90-yards to the North six yard line. But the South couldn't punch it in, settled for a field goal and never recovered as the North added on two more scores for the final margin. Santa Clara's Dan Pastorini also turned in a unique performance in an impressive quarterback/place kicking role as he accounted for 13 points -- four extra points, one field goal and a touchdown pass.

SOUTH 26, NORTH 21
MVP: Pat Sullivan, Auburn
NORTH COACH: Alex Webster, Giants
SOUTH COACH: J. D. Roberts, Saints
TOP PLAYERS: Pat Sullivan, Franco Harris

The nation's two premier quarterbacks -- Auburn's Pat Sullivan and Florida's John Reaves -- attracted a standing room only crowd to the 1972 Senior Bowl, and it was Sullivan who led the South to a come-from-behind 26-21 victory and earned the game's MVP Award. Penn State's future Pro Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris got the North off to a 7-0 lead with a one-yard dive in the first quarter, but the South countered with two second period scores -- the second a four-yard pass from Sullivan to Tennessee's Curt Watson which capped a 95-yard touchdown drive. The North took a short-lived 14-12 lead in the third quarter on a blocked South field goal attempt, which was returned 75 yards for a touchdown, but Reaves and Sullivan then matched touchdown passes to give the South a 26-14 lead.

SOUTH 33, NORTH 30
MVP: Chuck Foreman, Miami
NORTH COACH: Lou Saban, Broncos
SOUTH COACH: Weeb Ewbank, Jets
TOP PLAYERS: Chuck Foreman, Bert Jones, Dave Butz, Ron Jaworski, Joe DeLamielleure

Senior Bowl fans were in store for another wild offensive show in 1973, as LSU's Bert Jones, Florida State's Gary Huff and Miami's Chuck Foreman, who gained 167 yards rushing and earned MVP honors, led the South to a 33-30 win. After BYU's Pete Van Valkenberg broke through for a 75-yard touchdown run in the first quarter -- the longest in Senior Bowl history, the South fired back to stake a 30-13 lead on the strength of a nine-yard TD run and two touchdown catches by Florida State's Barry Smith. After trading field goals, the North then made things interesting on the passing arm of Youngstown State's Ron Jaworski, who threw a pair of 48-yard TD tosses -- the second to Arizona's Marty Shuford with 1:17 remaining to get the North to within three. But the South then ran out the clock for the thrilling win.

NORTH 16, SOUTH 13
MVP: Bill Kollar, Montana State
NORTH COACH: Mike McCormack, Eagles
SOUTH COACH: Don McCafferty, Lions
TOP PLAYERS: John Cappelletti, Lynn Swann, Mike Webster, Danny White, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, John Stallworth

USC's Lynn Swann caught a 17-yard touchdown pass with just 26 seconds remaining to give the North a 16-13 victory in the Silver Anniversary 1974 Senior Bowl. Another capacity crowd of 40,646 saw the South take its first lead of the game at 13-9 with 12:10 remaining when Arizona State's Woody Green scored on a two-yard run which was set up by a 53-yard scamper by Alabama's Wilbur Jackson. Swann then took over on the game's final drive as the North went 80 yards on eight plays. Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti of Penn State, who gained 201 yards rushing and receiving on the day, gave the North a first down on the South 17 with a 16-yard reception with 31 seconds left. Then, one play later, Swann made his game-winning catch for the 16-13 win.

SOUTH 17, NORTH 17
MVP: Steve Bartkowski, California
NORTH COACH: John Ralston, Broncos
SOUTH COACH: Dick Nolan, 49ers
TOP PLAYERS: Walter Payton, Robert Brazile, Steve Bartkowski

Maryland's Steve Mike-Mayer kicked a 22-yard field goal for the South with just 25 seconds to play to force the third tie game in Senior Bowl history 17-17 before another capacity crowd. California quarterback Steve Bartkowski earned MVP honors with a 227-yard passing performance as he led the North to two second half TD's to put the Yanks ahead 17-14 with 9:28 remaining. Maryland's Bob Avellini drove the South to the edge of victory, as he directed a 16-play, 61-yard drive in the game's final minutes, which was highlighted with key runs by the NFL's future all-time rushing leader Walter Payton of Jackson State, who led all rushers with 73 yards on the day. But on third down from the five, Avellini's pass was incomplete and the South then settled for the tie with Mike-Mayer's kick.

Jackson State’s Walter Payton starred in the 1975 Senior Bowl and went on to become the NFL’s all-time rushing leader.

NORTH 42, SOUTH 35
MVP: Craig Penrose, San Diego St.
NORTH COACH: Chuck Fairbanks, Pats
SOUTH COACH: Jack Pardee, Bears
TOP PLAYERS: Steve Largent, Richard Todd

Alabama's Richard Todd and San Diego State's Craig Penrose squared off in a tremendous record-setting passing duel and established another Senior Bowl scoring record as the North won the 1976 contest 42-35. The Penrose-led North squad set Senior Bowl records for total offense (596), passing yardage (427) and completion percentage (70.0), while Todd's Southerners also set South team marks for total offense (529) and passing yardage (416). As for the game, itself, the South held a 28-21 advantage after a big-play-filled first half which featured the longest pass play in the game's history -- an 82-yard TD toss from Todd to Texas A&M's Bubba Bean. But the North then bombarded the South with three third-period TD passes by Penrose to give them a 42-28 lead entering the final stanza.

NORTH: 27, SOUTH 24
MVP: Tommy Kramer, Rice
NORTH COACH: Forrest Gregg, Browns
SOUTH COACH: Don Shula, Dolphins
TOP PLAYERS: Tommy Kramer, A.J. Duhe, Bob Baumhower, Wendell Tyler, Pete Johnson

The North took another win in 1977 -- its third in four games -- setting North squad Senior Bowl records for first downs (30) and rushing yardage (288) in a wild 27-24 victory. Rice quarterback Tommy Kramer took the game's MVP Award in a losing cause, throwing for 242 yards and two scores -- 11 of them going to Kentucky's Randy Burke. The North featured an efficient ground attack led by Wendell Tyler of UCLA's 104, and Pete Johnson of Ohio State's 83 rushing yards. A wild fourth quarter saw Missouri quarterback Steve Pisarkiewicz hit Stanford's Tony Hill to pull the North to within three at 24-21 with just 1:55 left. The Yanks then recovered an onside kick and, eight plays later, Pisarkiewicz and Hill hooked up again for the winning score with 33 seconds left.

NORTH 17, SOUTH 14
MVP: James Lofton, Stanford
NORTH COACH: Don Coryell, Cardinals
SOUTH COACH: Leeman Bennett, Falcons
TOP PLAYERS: Doug Williams, James Lofton, Wes Chandler, Ozzie Newsome, Todd Christensen

Stanford's James Lofton was named the game's MVP with a nine-catch performance, as the North recorded its third straight win -- 17-14 -- in the 1978 Senior Bowl. The South squad was led by the brilliant passing of Grambling's Doug Williams, who completed 21-34 for 254 yards, along with a 109-yard rushing effort by Alabama's Johnny Davis and a ten-catch performance by Florida receiver Wes Chandler. But those heroics weren't enough, as the North scored all of its points in the fourth quarter including the game winner -- a one-yard TD dive by BYU's Todd Christensen -- with just 1:27 remaining.

SOUTH 41, NORTH 21
MVP: Willie Jones, Florida St.
NORTH COACH: Walt Michaels, Jets
SOUTH COACH: Coach Dick Nolan, Saints
TOP PLAYERS: Kellen Winslow, Kirk Gibson, Mark Gastineau, Jeff Rutledge, William Andrews

The South stopped their skid in the 1979 Senior Bowl, recording a convincing 41-21 victory before another sell-out crowd of 40,646 behind the fine play of quarterback Jeff Rutledge of Alabama and the game's MVP -- defensive lineman Willie Jones of Florida State -- who was credited with six quarterback sacks. Senior Bowl fans also got to see future NFL star Mark Gastineau of East Central Oklahoma's first-ever "Sack Dance," and future Major League baseball star Kirk Gibson of Michigan State, but the South's offensive firepower was simply too much to handle.