The 1952 Orange Bowl was a college football postseason

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between the

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, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Ramblin' Wrec ...

and the Baylor Bears.

Background

Georgia Tech was co-champion of 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 o ...

with #1 Tennessee. Baylor finished 2nd 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 ...

. This was Georgia Tech's first Orange Bowl since 1948, and Baylor's first ever Orange Bowl. Originally, the #13 Virginia Cavaliers had been invited to play Georgia Tech in what would have been the Cavaliers' first-ever bowl game. However,

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

president

Colgate Darden Colgate Whitehead Darden Jr. (February 11, 1897 – June 9, 1981) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician aligned with the Byrd Organization who served as U.S. Representative from Virginia (1933–37, 1939–41), the 54th Governor of ...

declined the offer due to his desire to steer clear of "big-time, highly subsidized football." Virginia would not have its first bowl appearance until

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Controversy

During the 1951 season, the football team of the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

, nicknamed the Dons, went undefeated (9–0) and were ranked 14th in the final

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. Accounts from players on the team state that the Dons were denied an invitation to the Orange Bowl because they refused to play without their two African-American star players,

Ollie Matson Ollie Genoa Matson II (May 1, 1930 – February 19, 2011) was an American Olympic medal winning sprinter and professional American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1952 to 1966. Drafted into the N ...

and

Burl Toler Burl Abron Toler Sr. (May 9, 1928 – August 16, 2009) was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) for 25 seasons from 1965 NFL season, 1965 to 1989 NFL season, 1989. He served as a field judge and head linesman through ...

. Organizers of the Orange Bowl stated in 2016, "All our research shows it’s a false story, unsubstantiated. We invited two higher ranked teams." Contemporary newspaper reports at the time bowl selections were being made (late November 1951) cited the Dons' "weak schedule" as the reason why the Orange Bowl did not invite them.

Game summary

Hardeman scored on a 3-yard run to give the Yellow Jackets a 7–0 lead. Parma tied the game on a 1-yard touchdown plunge for Baylor. Coody gave the team a 14–7 lead on his touchdown run. This lead held up for most of the second half. However, with 6:53 remaining in the game the Yellow Jackets tied the game on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Darrell Crawford to Buck Martin. Three minutes later, a Pete Ferris interception of a Larry Isbell pass gave Georgia Tech the ball at the 9. The team could only muster three yards before fourth down came up, with Dodd deciding to go for the field goal.

Pepper Rodgers Franklin Cullen "Pepper" Rodgers (October 8, 1931 – May 14, 2020) was an American football player and coach. As a college football player, he led the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to an undefeated season in 1952 and later became their head ...

' 22 yard field goal broke the tie and ultimately was the winning points for the Yellow Jackets.The 1950s , Orange Bowl
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Aftermath

Baylor has not reached the Orange Bowl since this game. Georgia Tech did not reach the Orange Bowl again until 1967.

Statistics

References

{{Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bowl game navbox

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 ...

Orange Bowl Baylor Bears football bowl games Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football bowl games January 1952 sports events in the United States