The 1956 Gator Bowl was an American college football

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 ...

played on December 29, 1956, at Gator Bowl Stadium in

Jacksonville, Florida 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 ...

. The game pitted 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

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

Background

Georgia Tech began the season ranked #4, and they started the season with six straight victories, rising to #2 heading into a faceoff with #3 Tennessee, but they lost 6-0. Victoires over Alabama, #13 Florida and Georgia gave them nine victories and an invite to a bowl game for the sixth straight year. The Panthers began the season ranked #10, along with victories over West Virginia and #7 Syracuse. However, they fell to California 14-0. After victories over Duke and Oregon that made them ranked at #11, they lost to #8 Minnesota, which made them fall to #20. They went 3-0-1 in their final four games, beating Notre Dame, Army, and #6 Miami, while tying Penn State. This was their second straight bowl game.

Game summary

*Georgia Tech - Ken Owen, 3 yard touchdown run (Wade Mitchell kick) *Georgia Tech - Jerry Nabors, 6 yard touchdown pass from George Volkert (Mitchell kick) *Pittsburgh - Dick Bowan, 42 yard touchdown pass from Corny Salvaterra (Joe Walton pass from Salvaterra) *Georgia Tech - Paul Rotenberry, 5 yard touchdown run (Mitchell kick) *Pittsburgh - Salvaterra, 1 yard touchdown run (kick good) Corny Salvaterra went 3-of-10 for 67 yards, with 16 rushes for 36 yards for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh had more rushing yards (246 to 162), more passing yards (67 to 45), first downs (16 to 10), but also more turnovers (4 to 1) than Georgia Tech.

Aftermath

Georgia Tech did not return to a bowl game until 1960, which was also in the Gator Bowl. As for Pittsburgh, they did not return to a bowl game again until

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, or return to the Gator Bowl until

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

References

{{Pittsburgh Panthers bowl game navbox Gator Bowl Gator Bowl Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football bowl games Pittsburgh Panthers football bowl games December 1956 sports events in the United States Gator Bowl