| Year Game Played: | 1964 |
| Game Name: | Sugar Bowl |
| Subheader: | 30th edition |
| Football Season: | 1963 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Alabama |
| Visitor Nickname: | Crimson Tide |
| Visitor School: | University of Alabama |
| Visitor Record: | 8–2 |
| Visitor Conference: | SEC |
| Visitor Coach: | Bear Bryant |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 8 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 9 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 6 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 3 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 0 |
| Home Name Short: | Ole Miss |
| Home Nickname: | Rebels |
| Home School: | University of Mississippi |
| Home Record: | 7–0–2 |
| Home Conference: | SEC |
| Home Coach: | Johnny Vaught |
| Home Rank Ap: | 7 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 7 |
| Home 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 2Q: | 0 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 7 |
| Date Game Played: | January 1 |
| Stadium: | Tulane Stadium |
| City: | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Mvp: | Tim Davis (Alabama PK) |
| Odds: | Ole Miss by 7½ points |
| Referee: | E.D. Cavette (SEC) |
| Attendance: | 80,785[1] |
| Us Network: | NBC |
| Us Announcers Link: | List of announcers of major college bowl games |
| Us Announcers: | Ray Scott, Frankie Albert |
The 1964 Sugar Bowl was the thirtieth edition of the college football bowl game, played at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Wednesday, January 1. Part of the 1963–64 bowl game season, it matched the seventh-ranked Ole Miss Rebels and the #8 Alabama Crimson Tide, both of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), although the two teams had not met in years.
The matchup was the first between the flagship universities of these neighboring states in almost two decades (1944), and only the second in over thirty years. In a defensive struggle, Alabama upset the Rebels 12–7 without scoring a touchdown.[2] [3]
New Orleans received a rare substantial snowfall of 3.6inches the previous day,[3] and cleared snow lay in large banks around the edges of the field.
See main article: 1963 NCAA University Division football season.
See main article: 1963 Alabama Crimson Tide football team. This was Bear Bryant's sixth season as head coach at Alabama. The Crimson Tide lost to Florida and long-time rival Auburn en route to an 8–2 regular season.[4] Originally wanting to pit Navy against Ole Miss, the Sugar Bowl extended the invitation to Alabama with two weeks remaining in the regular season.[5] This was their seventeenth bowl appearance and the fourth in the Sugar Bowl.
On December 9, several days prior to the regular season finale against Miami, junior quarterback Joe Namath was suspended for the remainder of the season by Bryant.[6] [7] [8] Sophomore Steve Sloan started at quarterback for the Crimson Tide in the final two games.[6]
See main article: 1963 Ole Miss Rebels football team. The 1963 squad was Johnny Vaught's seventeenth as head coach at Ole Miss. The Rebels did not lose a regular season game, but tied Memphis State and long-time rival Mississippi State en route to a 7–0–2 record. This was their twelfth bowl appearance and the seventh in the Sugar Bowl.
The Sugar Bowl kicked off at 1 pm CST, as did the Cotton and Orange Bowls.[9] The temperature was .[3]
The game was a defensive slugfest. The teams combined for 17 fumbles, 11 by the Rebels, both all-time bowl game records.[10] There was also a total of thirteen combined turnovers and nine punts. Alabama scored its first points on a 31-yard field goal by Tim Davis.[2] [3] [11] In the second quarter, Davis kicked field goals of 46 and 22-yards to give Alabama a 9–0 lead at halftime.[3] [11]
In the third quarter, Davis had a 48-yard field goal to extend the Alabama lead to 12–0.[3] [11] Early in the fourth quarter, Ole Miss scored the only touchdown of the game when Perry Lee Dunn threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Larry Smith.[3] [11] Alabama then held their lead and won the game 12–7.[2] [3] [11] For his four field goal performance, Tim Davis was named the Sugar Bowl MVP.[12]
| Statistics | Alabama | Ole Miss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First downs | 14 | 9 | |
| Rushing | 58–165 | 27–77 | |
| Passing | 3–11–1 | 11–21–3 | |
| Passing yards | 29 | 171 | |
| Total offense | 69–194 | 48–248 | |
| Punts–avg. | 5–36.8 | 4–44.0 | |
| Fumbles–lost | 6–3 | 11–6 | |
| Turnovers | 4 | 9 | |
| Penalties–yards | 3–15 | 5–45 |