The 1955

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...

, part of the 1955 bowl game season, was the eleventh annual contest and took place on December 31, 1955, at the

Gator Bowl Stadium The Gator Bowl was an American football stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. Originally built in 1927, all but a small portion was razed in 1994 in preparation for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars' inaugural season; the reconstructed stadium became Jac ...

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The competing teams were the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's team ...

and the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

, both representing 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 of ...

(SEC). Vanderbilt upset favored Auburn 25–13 to secure their first ever bowl victory. This remained the lone bowl victory for the Commodores until their 16–14 victory over

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

in the

2008 Music City Bowl The 2008 Music City Bowl was the eleventh edition of the college football bowl game played at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee. The game started at 2:30 pm US CST (2030 UTC) on Wednesday, December 31, 2008. The game, telecast on ESPN, pitted t ...

Teams

Vanderbilt

The 1955 Vanderbilt squad finished the regular season 7–3. The Commodores lost to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, Ole Miss and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. They accepted an invitation to play in the Gator Bowl in the days following their loss to Tennessee. The appearance was the first all-time bowl appearance for Vanderbilt.

Auburn

The 1955 Auburn squad finished the regular season 8–1–1. The Tigers lost to

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

and tied

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

in route to their third-place finish in the conference. They accepted an invitation to play in the Gator Bowl against Vanderbilt in the days following their victory over long-time rival

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. The appearance was the fifth overall bowl appearance and third consecutive in the Gator Bowl for the Tigers.

Game summary

Vanderbilt got on the scoreboard first after Don Orr threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Joe Stephenson to give the Commodores a 7–0 lead. Auburn responded on the next drive to tie the game at seven after Howell Tubbs connected with

Fob James Forrest Hood "Fob" James Jr. (born September 15, 1934) is an American civil engineer, entrepreneur, football player, and politician. He served as the 48th governor of Alabama, first as a Democrat, 1979–1983, and secondly as a Republican, 1995� ...

for a 38-yard touchdown reception. The Commodores retook a 13–7 lead on the next drive after Orr scored on a three-yard touchdown run to cap a five-play, 76-yard drive that included a 45-yard run by Orr himself. After having a 51-yard Orr touchdown pass called back because of a

holding penalty In gridiron football, holding is the illegal use of the hand or arm to restrain another player who is not in possession of the ball. Holding is prohibited in most football leagues because it does not allow fair play of the game and increases the ...

, Vanderbilt scored later in the quarter on a one-yard Orr touchdown run. The Commodores then scored their final points on the first play of the fourth quarter when Don Hunt scored on a one-yard touchdown run to give Vanderbilt a 25–7 lead. Auburn scored the final points of the game late in the fourth when

Joe Childress Joe Childress (October 26, 1933 – May 5, 1986) was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tigers. College years Childress was a two-time All-American at Auburn and was considered the fi ...

caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Cook to make the final score 25–13. For their performances, Vanderbilt quarterback Don Orr and Auburn running back Joe Childress mere named co-MVPs of the game.

References

{{Auburn Tigers bowl game navbox

Gator Bowl Vanderbilt Commodores football bowl games Auburn Tigers football bowl games 20th century in Jacksonville, Florida December 1955 sports events in the United States