The Razorbacks finished the season as the only major team with an undefeated and untied record after No. 1
Alabama lost to
Texas (a team Arkansas defeated in Austin) in the
Orange Bowl. However, the
AP and
UPI Coaches Polls became final before the bowl games were played, leaving one-loss Alabama as the AP and UPI national champion. The
Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) conducted its final polling after the bowl games and selected Arkansas as the
national champion. Arkansas was also selected as national champion by six other selectors, including the
Billingsley Report and the
Helms Athletic Foundation.[3]
Arkansas was invited to play in the
1965 Cotton Bowl Classic on January 1, 1965, against the
Nebraska Cornhuskers. Arkansas' number-one rated defense was giving up only 5.7 points per game, while No. 7 Nebraska's scoring offense was averaging 24.9 points per contest.
Playing before a capacity crowd of 75,504 in
Dallas, Arkansas opened the scoring with a
field goal by Tom McKnelly in the first quarter. Nebraska took the lead in the second quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by Harry Wilson. Neither team scored in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, fifth-year quarterback Fred Marshall, whose fumbles had stalled Arkansas in the first half, led the Razorbacks on a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. The drive featured a scramble by Marshall for a first down after it appeared he would be sacked and two passes from Marshall to Jim Lindsey, the second taking the ball to the Nebraska five-yard line. Two plays later, junior tailback
Bobby Burnett ran one yard for the game-winning touchdown with less than five minutes remaining in the game.[15]
The team's statistical leaders included Fred Marshall with 787 passing yards, Jack Brasuell with 551 rushing yards,
Jim Lindsey with 385 receiving yards Nate Lawson with 28 touchdowns, and
Bobby Burnett with 54 points scored (9 touchdowns).[16]
However, the final AP and UPI Coaches polls were released before bowl games were played, and Alabama therefore remained as the national champion in the AP and UPI Coaches' Polls.[21] Because of the controversy, the AP Poll experimented with a voting model that took the final vote to select their champion after the bowl games in the 1965 season. In 1966, the AP Poll went back to taking the final vote at the conclusion of the regular season before finally adopting the post-bowl season model in 1968. The UPI Coaches' Poll adopted the post-bowl season model in 1974, a decade after the controversies surrounding the 1964, 1965, 1970, and 1973 national championships, seasons in which the winner of the Coaches' Poll went on to lose their bowl game.
The Razorbacks finished the season as the only major team with an undefeated and untied record after No. 1
Alabama lost to
Texas (a team Arkansas defeated in Austin) in the
Orange Bowl. However, the
AP and
UPI Coaches Polls became final before the bowl games were played, leaving one-loss Alabama as the AP and UPI national champion. The
Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) conducted its final polling after the bowl games and selected Arkansas as the
national champion. Arkansas was also selected as national champion by six other selectors, including the
Billingsley Report and the
Helms Athletic Foundation.[3]
Arkansas was invited to play in the
1965 Cotton Bowl Classic on January 1, 1965, against the
Nebraska Cornhuskers. Arkansas' number-one rated defense was giving up only 5.7 points per game, while No. 7 Nebraska's scoring offense was averaging 24.9 points per contest.
Playing before a capacity crowd of 75,504 in
Dallas, Arkansas opened the scoring with a
field goal by Tom McKnelly in the first quarter. Nebraska took the lead in the second quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by Harry Wilson. Neither team scored in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, fifth-year quarterback Fred Marshall, whose fumbles had stalled Arkansas in the first half, led the Razorbacks on a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. The drive featured a scramble by Marshall for a first down after it appeared he would be sacked and two passes from Marshall to Jim Lindsey, the second taking the ball to the Nebraska five-yard line. Two plays later, junior tailback
Bobby Burnett ran one yard for the game-winning touchdown with less than five minutes remaining in the game.[15]
The team's statistical leaders included Fred Marshall with 787 passing yards, Jack Brasuell with 551 rushing yards,
Jim Lindsey with 385 receiving yards Nate Lawson with 28 touchdowns, and
Bobby Burnett with 54 points scored (9 touchdowns).[16]
However, the final AP and UPI Coaches polls were released before bowl games were played, and Alabama therefore remained as the national champion in the AP and UPI Coaches' Polls.[21] Because of the controversy, the AP Poll experimented with a voting model that took the final vote to select their champion after the bowl games in the 1965 season. In 1966, the AP Poll went back to taking the final vote at the conclusion of the regular season before finally adopting the post-bowl season model in 1968. The UPI Coaches' Poll adopted the post-bowl season model in 1974, a decade after the controversies surrounding the 1964, 1965, 1970, and 1973 national championships, seasons in which the winner of the Coaches' Poll went on to lose their bowl game.