Woodling: Tangerine pairing reminiscent of ’73 Liberty
Kansas University versus North Carolina State in a bowl game. What goes around indeed comes around.
Hard to believe three decades have passed since the Jayhawks and Wolfpack last met in football at the 1973 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn.
Thank goodness this meeting is in balmy Orlando, Fla.
What I remember most about the ’73 Liberty Bowl is the bone-chilling cold. Many KU fans, unprepared for a mid-December arctic front, were forced to lift blankets from their motel beds to bundle up against the night chill. Even the press box was frigid because the wind whipped through a damaged side door.
Worse, five years after the fabled 12th-Man gaffe had cost the Jayhawks a win over Penn State in the Orange Bowl, a controversial play propelled the Wolfpack to a 31-18 win.
Early in the third quarter, with the score knotted at 10, KU’s Bruce Adams appeared to have been tripped while making a fair catch. The punted ball hit him, N.C. State took over and punched in for a score. Adams argued to no avail. Later, game films showed the KU punt returner indeed had been tripped.
Even though the Wolfpack won handily, Kansas All-American quarterback David Jaynes was named the game’s most outstanding performer after completing 24 of 38 passes for 218 yards.
Sadly, it was the last hurrah for Jaynes because, while no one knew it at the time, he had damaged his prized right arm — Jaynes believes it happened when he didn’t warm up properly prior to a chilly pre-game practice — and had little more than a cup of coffee in the NFL.
The Chiefs tapped Jaynes in the third round of the 1974 draft, but his arm never did come around. Today, Jaynes, who hails from Bonner Springs, lives in Beverly Hills, Calif., and operates a charter jet service.
