| Game Name: | Gotham Bowl |
| Date Game Played: | December 15 |
| Year Game Played: | 1962 |
| Football Season: | 1962 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Nebraska |
| Visitor Nickname: | Cornhuskers |
| Visitor Record: | 8–2 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 6 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 8 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 8 |
| Home Name Short: | Miami |
| Home Nickname: | Hurricanes |
| Home Record: | 7–3 |
| Home 1Q: | 6 |
| Home 2Q: | 14 |
| Home 3Q: | 7 |
| Home 4Q: | 7 |
| Home Rank Ap: | NR |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 18 |
| Us Network: | ABC (delayed) |
| Odds: | Even |
| Last Game Ever Played: | yes |
| Type: | bg |
| Attendance: | 6,166 |
The 1962 Gotham Bowl was the second and final edition of the college football bowl game, played at Yankee Stadium in New York City on Saturday, December 15.[1] [2] Part of the 1962–63 bowl game season, it matched the Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference and the independent Miami Hurricanes.[3] [4]
See main article: 1962 NCAA University Division football season.
See main article: 1962 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team. The Cornhuskers finished third in the Big Eight Conference under first-year head coach Bob Devaney, but were in a bowl game for the first time in eight years.
See main article: 1962 Miami Hurricanes football team. It was the second straight bowl appearance for the Hurricanes; they fell by one point to Syracuse in the Liberty Bowl the previous year.
A week before the game, most newspaper workers in New York City went on strike, which limited coverage of the game in the city.
The invitation process was also poorly handled. Nebraska only agreed to play 11 days before the game was to be played. Even then, the game almost didn't happen. The pilot of the Cornhuskers' team plane refused to take off until he received word that the expenditures check cleared. The temperature at kickoff was a damp . While attendance was officially announced as 6,166, only a couple of thousand people were actually in the stadium.
Mira was driving his team for the win in the closing minutes, but was intercepted by Bob Brown; the Huskers held on to win the second and last Gotham Bowl.[3] [4] [6]
| Statistics | Nebraska | Miami | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First downs | 12 | 34 | |
| Rushing yards | 150 | 181 | |
| Passing yards | 146 | 321 | |
| Passes (C–A–I) | 9–14–0 | 24–46–2 | |
| Total yards | 296 | 502 | |
| Punts | 6–37 | 1–35 | |
| Fumbles lost | 2 | 2 | |
| Yards penalized | 69 | 5 |
Though the Gotham Bowl was disbanded, postseason football returned to New York with the advent of the Pinstripe Bowl, in 2010. Nebraska returned to bowl action the following year in the Orange Bowl. Miami returned to bowl action in 1966. The two teams would meet up five more times (1984, 1989, 1992, 1995, & 2002) over the next four decades, with all those games helping to determine the national champion.
Both final polls were released in early December, prior to the bowls.