The 1948 Tangerine Bowl was an American

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played after the 1947 season, on January 1, 1948, at the Tangerine Bowl stadium in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. The game was the second annual Tangerine Bowl, now known as the

Citrus Bowl The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Cheez-It Bowl and Florida Classic. The gam ...

, and featured the

Catawba Indians The Catawba, also known as Issa, Essa or Iswä but most commonly ''Iswa'' (Catawba: '' Ye Iswąˀ'' – "people of the river"), are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans, known as the Catawba Indian Nation. Their current lands ar ...

against the

Marshall Thundering Herd The Marshall Thundering Herd is the intercollegiate athletic collection of teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference, which are membe ...

Background

Catawba had appeared in the first Tangerine Bowl and beat

Maryville College Maryville College is a private liberal arts college in Maryville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1819 by Presbyterian minister Isaac L. Anderson for the purpose of furthering education and enlightenment into the West. The college is one of the ...

31–6. This season, they were invited back to the bowl with a 10–1 record after having only one loss (to VMI) early in the season, and entered the game with an 8-game winning streak. They participated in the North State Intercollegiate Conference. Marshall was an Independent who was 9–2 on the year in

Cam Henderson Eli Camden Henderson (February 5, 1890 – May 3, 1956) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Muskingum College (1920–1922), Davis & Elkins College ...

's tenth season as coach.

Game summary

Indians’ fullback Lee Spears scored on a one-yard carry late in the fourth quarter to win the game. Despite outgaining Catawba in yards, 109–54, Marshall turned the ball over three times, which cost them the game. End Don Gibson for Marshall was named MVP of the game.

Scoring summary

Aftermath

Marshall joined the

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the following year, and would not win a bowl game until the

1998 Motor City Bowl The 1998 Motor City Bowl matched the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Louisville Cardinals. Background Marshall was the only Division I-A or I-AA school to record 100 victories in the 1990s, and they had been in both Divisions for the decade. Af ...

. Catawba was the first Tangerine Bowl participant to have a shutout win, and the first to win consecutive bowls. Their head coach Gordon Kirkland retired after the game; Catawba has not yet played in another bowl game.

References

Tangerine Bowl Citrus Bowl (game) Catawba Indians football bowl games Marshall Thundering Herd football bowl games Tangerine Bowl Tangerine Bowl {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub