The 1947 Cotton Bowl Classic was a post-season

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

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 ...

played on January 1, 1947 in the

Cotton Bowl stadium The Cotton Bowl is an outdoor stadium in Dallas, Texas, United States. Opened in 1930 as Fair Park Stadium, it is on the site of the State Fair of Texas, known as Fair Park. The Cotton Bowl was the longtime home of the annual college football p ...

at Dallas, Texas, between the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

and the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...

. Due to adverse

winter weather A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessar ...

, neither team scored, and Arkansas and LSU tied the game, later referred to as Ice Bowl, 0–0. The two teams met again in the Cotton Bowl Classic in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

."2009 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.
Cotton Bowl History.
The official site of the 2009 Cotton Bowl Classic. Retrieved on December 30, 2008.

Setting

Arkansas and LSU had enjoyed a neighboring-state

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

beginning in 1901, however, the two teams had not met since 1936, the end of a 23-year run of meetings in

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

. The 9–1 Tigers, led by quarterback Y. A. Tittle, were not invited to play in the

1947 Sugar Bowl The 1947 Sugar Bowl was played between the third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs and the ninth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. Georgia won 20–10. In the second quarter, North Carolina scored on a four-yard Walt Pupa touchdown run to take a 7–0 halfti ...

, and instead matched up with the rival Razorbacks."1947 Cotton Bowl, LSU 0 Arkansas 0.
LSU Bowl History.
The official website of

Athletics. Retrieved on December 30, 2008. Arkansas entered at 6–3–1, losing at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, versus Ole Miss, and tying Oklahoma A&M. The rain, sleet, snow, and ice from a winter storm would keep many members of the sellout crowd home, but 38,000 still showed up to watch the icy skirmish."The Ice Bowl." Arkansas Razorbacks Football History, HawgTales.co

Retrieved on May 14, 2015. Unused to the wintry conditions, the LSU team used oil drums filled with charcoal on the sidelines as makeshift heaters, while fans reportedly started fires in the stands to keep warm. LSU was 1–3 in bowl games previous to the Ice Bowl. Arkansas, with their tie in the 1934 Dixie Classic, was 0–0–1, and 0–0–2 after their second indecisive bowl.

Game summary

The Razorbacks were statistically beaten by the Tigers, who held a 15–1 advantage in first downs. LSU also held a yardage advantage of 271–54. The Razorback defense stiffened in the red zone, however, holding the Tigers off the board from 1, 6, 7, and 8 yards out. Despite the cold and bad conditions, the final two plays were very dramatic. Tittle threw a pass to Jeff Adams, who was running to the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...

, but

Clyde Scott Clyde Luther Scott (August 29, 1924 – January 30, 2018) was an American athlete who competed professionally in the National Football League and earned an Olympic medal in the 110 meter hurdles. He was born in Dixie, Louisiana. Biography ...

of Arkansas tackled him at the one. LSU was in position for a game winning

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 ...

, but there was a bad snap, and the game ended with a tie. Tittle was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

References

{{LSU Tigers bowl game navbox

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

Cotton Bowl Classic Arkansas Razorbacks football bowl games LSU Tigers football bowl games January 1947 sports events in the United States Cotton Bowl Nicknamed sporting events