The 1943 Orange Bowl, part of the

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

season, took place on January 1, 1943, at the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. The competing teams were the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a mem ...

, representing the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) and the

Boston College Eagles The Boston College Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Boston College, located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisio ...

, competing as a football independent. Alabama won the game 37–21.

Teams

Alabama

The 1942 Alabama squad finished the regular season 8–3 with losses coming to the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...

and the Georgia Navy Pre-Flight (an all-star team of military personnel). The Monday following the 35–19 defeat against Georgia Navy Pre-Flight, Alabama accepted a bid to play in the Orange Bowl on New Years Day. The appearance marked the first for Alabama in the Orange Bowl, and their seventh overall.

Boston College

The 1942 Boston College squad entered their final game of the regular season against the rival

Holy Cross Crusaders The Holy Cross Crusaders are the athletic teams representing the College of the Holy Cross. They primarily compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Patriot League. In ice hockey, a sport not sponsored by the Patriot League for either sex, th ...

ranked No. 1 with a perfect record of 8–0. In the contest, the Crusaders upset the heavily favored Eagles by a final score of 55–12 resulting in Boston College losing their No. 1 ranking and finishing the regular season with a record of 8–1. The following Monday, the Eagles accepted a bid to play in the Orange Bowl on New Years Day. The appearance marked the first for Boston College in the Orange Bowl, and their third overall.

Game summary

Looking to rebound from their loss to Holy Cross in the regular season finale, Boston College was looking for redemption against the Crimson Tide. With this mindset entering the game, the Eagles raced to a 14–0 first quarter lead. All-American

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

Mike Holovak Michael Joseph Holovak (September 19, 1919 – January 27, 2008) was an American football player, coach, and executive. He played college football at Boston College, where he was an All-American at fullback in 1942. Holovak was the fifth ove ...

scored both first-quarter touchdowns for the Eagles on a 65-yard reception from Edward Doherty and on a 33-yard run. Alabama responded with a 22 point second quarter to take a 22–21 lead at the half. Wheeler Leeth scored the Crimson Tide's first points on a 14-yard touchdown reception from Russ Mosley and Ted Cook had Alabama's second score on a 17-yard reception from Johnny August. George Hecht missed both extra points and Alabama only trailed by two 14–12. The teams then traded touchdown with Bama scoring on a 40-yard Tom Jenkins run and Boston College on a one-yard Mike Holovak run with a 15-yard George Hecht

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

at the end of the end of the quarter giving Alabama a 22–21 lead at

halftime In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

. In the second half, the Alabama defense

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

the Boston College offense, and the offense scored two more touchdowns. Johnny August reached the endzone on a 15-yard touchdown run in the third and Tom Jenkins on a one-yard run in the fourth. The final points of the game came late in the fourth when on a punt the Eagles' Harry Connolly was tackled by

Joe Domnanovich Joseph John Domnanovich (March 21, 1919 – January 20, 2009) was a professional American football center in the National Football League. He played six seasons for the Boston Yanks (1946–1948) and the New York Bulldogs/Yanks (1949–1951). Pr ...

in the endzone for a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

on a failed punt attempt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orange Bowl, 1943 1942–43 NCAA football bowl games

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

1943 in sports in Florida January 1943 sports events