The 1948 Delta Bowl was a college football postseason

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 Subdivi ...

between the

Ole Miss Rebels The Ole Miss Rebels are the 18 men's and women's intercollegiate athletic teams that are funded by and represent the University of Mississippi, located in Oxford. The first was the football team, which began play in 1893. Originally known as th ...

and the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The sc ...

. This was the first ever

Delta Bowl The Delta Bowl was a college football game played at Crump Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee.Foldesy, Jody. "Bowls burgeon as big business", ''The Washington Times''. December 21, 1997. Page A1. It was the precursor to the now long-standing Liberty ...

Background

The Rebels won their first ever

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 o ...

title under first year head coach Johnny Vaught, while playing in their first bowl game since

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

. The Horned Frogs finished 4th in the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

, in their first bowl appearance since

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

Game summary

After a scoreless first quarter, TCU got onto the board off Ole Miss miscues.

Lindy Berry Lindy Berry (December 21, 1927 – April 19, 2014) was an American gridiron football quarterback. He played college football for the TCU Horned Frogs at Texas Christian University. Berry was selected in the 1950 NFL Draft, and played professio ...

returned an interception 28 yards for the touchdown, making it 7-0. Later in the quarter, an Ole Miss punt was blocked near the end zone, falling out of bounds for a safety. It was 9-0 TCU going into the fourth quarter, in a game with 7 combined turnovers. Ole Miss quarterback

Charlie Conerly Charles Albert Conerly Jr. (September 19, 1921 – February 13, 1996) was an American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants from 1948 through 1961. Conerly was inducted into the College Football Hal ...

threw a pass to Joe Johnson, who ran 26 yards for the touchdown, making the score 9-6 after the extra point missed. On TCU's next possession, Bobby Wilson intercepted a pass, giving the Rebels the ball back. Conerly threw to Johnson, the pass falling complete for 52 yards to the TCU 13. Conerly threw a pass to Dixie Howell on the next play to put the Rebels on top 13-6 after the extra point went in. The Horned Frogs could still tie the game, but any hopes of a tie were vanquished when Red Buchanan intercepted a Horned Frog pass at the Rebel 38, sealing the game for the Rebels.

Aftermath

The Horned Frogs did not make another bowl game until

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. As for the Rebels, they waited until

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

for their next bowl appearance. Conerly was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1966.

Statistics

References

{{TCU Horned Frogs bowl game navbox

Ole Miss Rebels football bowl games TCU Horned Frogs football bowl games January 1948 sports events in the United States