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The 1969 Orange Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Penn State Nittany Lions.
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Background
The Jayhawks were co-champion of the Big Eight Conference with Oklahoma, who went to the 1968 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl. This was Kansas' first conference title since 1947. This was their first bowl game since 1961 and first Orange Bowl since 1948. Penn State was going for their first ever undefeated season, though they could not win the national title due to being ranked #3. This was their first Orange Bowl appearance.
Game summary
Mike Reeves gave Kansas a 7-0 lead on his touchdown run, but Penn State tied the game before halftime on Charlie Pittman's touchdown run. John Riggins gave the Jayhawks a 14-7 lead on his touchdown plunge in the fourth quarter. Later in the game, Kansas had another chance to score with the ball at Penn State's 14 on fourth down with one yard to go. Instead of kicking the field goal, they went for the first down, but Riggins was stuffed for no gain. With 1:16 to go in the game, a blocked punt gave the ball back to Penn State at the 50. Bob Campbell caught a pass from Chuck Burkhart and was tacked at the 3 yard line. Campbell scored on a touchdown plunge to make it 14-13, pending the conversion attempt. Penn State's conversion attempt fell short, but they were given another chance due to Kansas having 12 men on the field. On their second attempt, Campbell scored on a touchdown run to give the Nittany Lions the win.
Aftermath
Kansas went 1-9 in 1969 and did not have another winning season until 1973. The Jayhawks did not return to an Orange Bowl until 2008. Penn State returned to the Orange Bowl the following year.