The 1946 Sugar Bowl was the eleventh edition of the

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 ...

and matched the Oklahoma A&M Cowboys and the St. Mary's Gaels. It was played on Tuesday, January 1, 1946, at

Tulane Stadium Tulane Stadium was an outdoor football stadium that stood in New Orleans from 1926 to 1980. It was officially the Third Tulane Stadium and replaced the "Second Tulane Stadium", which was located where the Telephone Exchange Building is now. Th ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, The radio broadcast was carried by the

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network.

Background

The undefeated Oklahoma A&M Aggies (later became Oklahoma State Cowboys) repeated as champions of the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

, and had won the previous year's Cotton Bowl. St. Mary's was a small independent from northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

that was making its second bowl appearance ( 1939 Cotton Bowl). The Gaels started the season with notable wins over

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, and

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, before a loss to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in the last game ending the unbeaten streak. Both teams were invited after accepted the invitation to the Rose Bowl and undefeated

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

continued their bowl abstinence. The final AP poll was released in early December: Oklahoma A&M was fifth and St. Mary's was seventh.

Game summary

The Gaels were small compared to the Aggies, being undersized by at least to a team that averaged and that had war veterans such as

Jim Reynolds James Norris Reynolds IV (born December 22, 1968) is a former American Major League Baseball umpire. He joined the major league staff in and was promoted to crew chief for the 2020 season. Reynolds wore uniform number 77. He retired following t ...

and Burt Cole. But St. Mary's scored first on a

Herman Wedemeyer Herman John Wedemeyer (May 20, 1924 – January 25, 1999) was an American actor, football player, and politician. He is best known for portraying Sergeant/Detective "Duke" Lukela on the crime drama ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1972–1980). He also appear ...

touchdown pass to Denis O'Connor.

Bob Fenimore Robert Dale Fenimore (October 6, 1925 – July 28, 2010) known as the Blonde Bomber or Blonde Blizard was a halfback for the Oklahoma A&M football team from 1943 to 1946. Member of the 1945 National Championship Oklahoma A&M team. He was the f ...

responded with a touchdown pass to Cecil Haskins, and Fenimore scored on a touchdown run later in the half. Wedemeyer contributed to the Gaels' final touchdown as he lateraled to guard Carl DeSalvo, who ran 20 yards for a touchdown. But the kick failed, making it only at halftime. Fenimore and Reynolds added in touchdown runs in the second half as the lineman size started to make a difference, with St. Mary's four turnovers mattering more than Oklahoma A&M's. Joe Thomas caught a touchdown in the final five minutes to make the final score as the Gaels were shut out in the second half, and the Cowboys won their second straight bowl game. Note: Denis O'Connor, St, Mary's QB also played both ways as did Wedemeyer and Fenimore, known as 60-Minute Men in the day. O'Connor on defense is tied for Sugar Bowl interceptions with three.

Aftermath

After a Bowl appearance the following year in the Oil Bowl, played in Houston vs. Georgia Tech, the Gaels never qualified for a bowl game again, later playing in Division II and

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

; the program was disbanded prior to the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

season. O'Connor (1944) and Wedemeyer (1943) both played in the East West Shrine All Star game. The Cowboys did not return to the Sugar Bowl for seventy years, until January

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Statistics

References

{{Saint Mary's Gaels bowl game navbox

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

Sugar Bowl Oklahoma State Cowboys football bowl games Saint Mary's Gaels football bowl games