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Sugar Bowl 1963
Ole Miss 17 Arkansas 13
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Griffing set a Sugar Bowl record for passing with 242 yards, beating the record of Davey O'Brien of TCU, who passed for 225 yards in the 1939 Sugar Bowl game. Griffing completed 14 of 23 passes.
Arkansas quarterback Billy Moore and his sophomore replacement, Billy Gray, kept the underdog Razorbacks' hopes alive until the final minutes.
The 6-foot-l Griffing, a 200-pound athlete expected to sign a pro football contract with the New York Giants, had a hand in all the Ole Miss scoring drives- both with his accurate passing and his powerful running.
Arkansas substitute quarterback Gray put the 82,900 fans on their feet when he connected with end Jerry Lamb, another sophomore, on a pass play covering 68 yards. It was the longest aerial play in Sugar Bowl history.
Mississippi, which finished the regular season with its first unblemished record in school history, entered the game as the third-ranked team in the nation. Once beaten Arkansas, ranked sixth, was a touchdown underdog.
The game Razorbacks tied the score twice- at 3-3 and 10-10- but were never able to go ahead.
Both teams tried field goals in the opening minutes of the first period. Arkansas kicking specialist Tom McKnelly booted short when he tried one from the Ole Miss 32. Then Ole Miss' Billy Carl Irwin kicked wide to the right when he tried a field goal from the Arkansas 27.
But the two kickers made good with field goals in the second quarter. Irwin booted a 30-yarder and then McKnelly got one from the same distance. Gray's 68-yard record-setting pass put the Razorbacks within kicking distance.
Griffing and Weatherly engineered the drive which gave Ole Miss its first touchdown and the Rebels a 10-3 intermission edge. Weatherly directed the Rebels at the beginning of the drive, clicking on passes to tailback Dave Jennings for 2 yards and junior fullback Buck Randall for 14 yards.
Then Griffing took over and needed only four passes to tally. He didn't connect with his receivers on the first two. But then he hurled 17 yards to tailback Chuck Morris and hit wingback Louis Guy with a 33-yard scoring mark.
When the second half opened, Ole Miss fullback Perry Lee Dunn fumbled on the first play after Arkansas kicked off. The Rebels' The Rebels' mammoth tackle, 270-pound Jim Dunway recovered, but on the next play Randall bobbled on the Ole Miss 17 and Arkansas' All- Southwest Conference guard Ray Trail pounced on the ball.
Porker tailback Jesse Branch carried 12 yards to the Ole Miss and then took a 5-yard heave from Moore for a touchdown. McKnelly’s placement tied the score at 10-10.
Griffing then led the Rebels 80 yards in 10 plays, going over from the 1 for the touchdown himself. Key plays were two passes from Griffing to Guy, one for 16 yards and the other for 35.
Just before the end of the third stanza, McKnelly kicked a 22-yard field goal to end the scoring in the game.
These statistics were much more lopsided than the score. Ole Miss piled up 22 first downs, while limiting Arkansas to 7. The Rebels gained 160 yards rushing and 269 in the air, while the Porkers got only 47 on the ground and 123 in the air.
Jennings and Weatherly were the leading rushers for the Rebels. Jennings got 39 yards arid Weatherly 36, both in nine carries. Weatherly clicked on four of his five aerials for 27 yards. Moore hit on five of his 10 aerials for 55 yards while Gray only completed one of his eight tosses- the 68-yarder to Lamb. Branch led the Razorback rushers with 21 yards in seven tries.
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Glynn Griffing carries around end against Arkansas.
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Jim Weatherly prepares to pass. |
Perry Lee Dunn breaks up an Arkansas pass. |
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| Chuck Morris makes a grab. | |
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In a substitute role, Gray (above) connected with Jerry Lamb for 68 yards (below). |
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| Chuck Morris discusses strategy with Coach John Vaught | |
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Attendance- 82,900
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter OM- FG Irwin 30 UA- FG McKnelly 30 OM- Guy 33 yard pass from Gritting (Irwin kick)
Third Quarter UA- Branch 5 yard pass from Moore (McKnelly kick) OM- Griffing 1 run (Irwin kick) UA- FG McKnelly 2
Individual Statistics
Rushing OM- Jennings 9-39, Weatherly 9-36 UA- Branch 7-21
Passing OM- Griffing 14-23-242, Weatherly 4-5-27 UA- Moore 5-10-55, Gray 1-8-68
Receiving OM- Morris 5-62, Guy 5-107, Randall 3-34 UA- Lamb 3-107, Branch 3
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NEW
ORLEANS (AP)- Glynn Griffing, Mississippi's fabulous quarterback,
getting able assistance from his sophomore stand-in, Jim Weatherly,
directed the undefeated Rebels to a 17-13 victory over Arkansas in the
29th annual Sugar Bowl football classic Tuesday.
On
the ensuing kickoff, Jennings took the ball in the Ole Miss endzone and
then stood still. There was confusion as the scoreboard registered a
safety, but officials ruled a touchback.
