The Falcons were in their first Sugar Bowl under thirteenth-year head coach Ben Martin; he had a 68–57–7 record and brought Air Force into national prominence, ranked in the AP Poll for the second time in school history. However, the tenth-ranked Falcons lost their final regular season game 49–19 at home to Colorado. A week earlier, Air Force had defeated Pacific-8 champion Stanford, who later upset #2 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

Tennessee

Main article: 1970 Tennessee Volunteers football team

Tennessee was under the leadership of 29-year old rookie coach Bill Battle, a member of the national champion 1961 Alabama Crimson Tide. This was the Vols' fifth Sugar Bowl appearance and first since the 1957 game. The Vols rolled over Alabama 24–0 at Knoxville in October and gained revenge for a 38–0 loss in 1969 to Ole Miss in November, but an early loss to Auburn in Birmingham wound up costing Tennessee the Southeastern Conference championship, which instead went to LSU.

The game was a match of offense vs defense. In the regular season, Air Force averaged 423.6 yards in offense, while Tennessee surrendered only 88.4 yards on defense.^[4]

Game summary

Televised by ABC, the Sugar Bowl kicked off at 12 noon CST, an hour before the Cotton Bowl on CBS.^[5]

Quarterback Bobby Scott summed the game up with a quote after the game: "We had the momentum going." The Volunteers, not fooled by Air Force's eight-man line, drove 59 yards in 2 minutes and 45 seconds and culminated with a Don McLeary touchdown. It only grew worse for the Falcons as they fumbled on their ensuing drive, as the Vols added in a field goal by George Hunt soon after. Following an Air Force punt, the Vols drove down the field once again, driving 58 yards that culminated in McLeary's 2nd touchdown. A fumble by Air Force gave the ball back to the Vols at the Falcons' own 24. Four plays later, Scott passed to Gary Theiler for a touchdown. By this point, 3:12 was left in the first period, and it was 24–0. Air Force did later score in the quarter, happening on a fumble recovery by Darryl Hass in the endzone on a bad snap while the Vols were in their own territory. The second quarter went scoreless, as the demoralized Falcons trailed 24–7 at halftime.

The third quarter turned out to be worse. Bobby Majors returned an Air Force punt 57 yards for a touchdown. Air Force added in a measly touchdown later in the quarter, but by that point it was 31–13, and Hunt added in his second field goal to make the final score 34–13.^[6]

Scoring

First quarter

TENN – Don McLeary 5-yard run (George Hunt kick)
TENN – Hunt 30-yard field goal
TENN – McLeary 20-yard run (Hunt kick)
TENN – Gary Theiler 10-yard pass from Bobby Scott (Hunt kick)
AFA – Darryl Haas fumble recovery in end zone (Barry kick)

Second quarter

No scoring

Third quarter

TENN – Bobby Majors 57-yard punt return (Hunt kick)
AFA – Bob Bassa 27-yard pass from Bob Parker (kick failed)

Fourth quarter

TENN – Hunt 32-yard field goal

Statistics

Statistics	Tennessee	Air Force
First Downs	24	15
Yards Rushing	42–86	24–(-12)
Passing	24–46–2	23–46–4
Yards Passing	306	239
Total Yards	88–392	70–227
Punts–Average	5–31.4	8–34.5
Fumbles–Lost	7–3	7–4
Turnovers	5	8
Penalties–Yards	6–74	0–0

Source:^[2]^[3]

Aftermath

Air Force has not returned to the Sugar Bowl or any other bowl sponsored by the Bowl Championship Series and its successor, the College Football Playoff. Tennessee has returned twice, 1986 and 1991, where they defeated the Miami Hurricanes and the Virginia Cavaliers, respectively.

This was the final event at Tulane Stadium that was played on grass. Poly-Turf was installed in the summer of 1971 at the request of the National Football League after naming the stadium as the host of Super Bowl VI, and remained in place until the stadium was torn down at the end of 1979.

References

^ "Final Sugar Bowl verdict could hinge on quarterbacks". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. January 1, 1971. p. 2B.
^ ^a ^b "Vols soar past Falcons". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. January 2, 1971. p. 2B.
^ ^a ^b "Tennessee wins Sugar battle". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. January 2, 1971. p. 7.
^ "1971 - How They Got There / Allstate Sugar Bowl". Archived from the original on January 13, 2015.
^ "Huskers, Steers favored". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 1, 1971. p. 13.
^ "1971 Game Recap / Allstate Sugar Bowl". Archived from the original on September 24, 2010.

v t e 1970–71 NCAA football bowl game season
Liberty (Dec. 12) Sun (Dec. 19) Tangerine (Dec. 28) Peach (Dec. 30) Astro-Bluebonnet (Dec. 31) Cotton (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Rose (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) Gator (Jan. 2)

v t e Sugar Bowl
History & conference tie-ins	History Tulane Stadium Georgia Dome Caesars Superdome College Football Playoff Broadcasters Southeastern Conference Big 12 Conference
Games	1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 (Jan) 1972 (Dec) 1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 (Jan) 1995 (Dec) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (Jan) 2022 (Dec) 2024
Notes	The 2006 game took place in Atlanta, Georgia due to Hurricane Katrina. The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004. There was a Sugar Bowl in January and December in 1972, 1995 and 2022. The game was a College Football Playoff semifinal in its 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2024 editions.

Air Force Falcons bowl games

Tennessee Volunteers bowl games

Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game.