The 1937 Cotton Bowl Classic, the first

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

game and part of the 1936–37 bowl game season, took place on January 1, 1937, at the Cotton Bowl in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The competing teams were the Marquette Golden Avalanche, competing as a football independent, 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 ...

, representing 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 an ...

(SWC) as conference champions. TCU won the inaugural contest, 16–6.

Teams

Marquette

The 1936 Marquette squad finished the regular season with a 7–1 record after losing to Duquesne in their regular season finale. On December 9, Marquette accepted an invitation to play in the inaugural Cotton Bowl Classic on New Years Day. The appearance marked the first all-time bowl appearance for the Golden Avalanche. Marquette accepted the bid also in part to expand their brand into the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

and make contacts with other southern football teams to schedule future contests. Marquette never again played in a bowl game and discontinued its football program after the 1960 season.

TCU

TCU finished the regular season with an 8–2–2 record with ties against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

and SMU and losses against

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. After they defeated Santa Clara in their regular season finale, the Cotton Bowl extended TCU an invitation to the game over

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. On December 16, the Horned Frogs were granted permission from the

to compete against the Golden Avalanche in the Cotton Bowl Classic. The appearance marked the third all-time bowl appearance for TCU.

Game summary

L. D. Meyer scored the first points of the game when he successfully connected on a 33-yard

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

to give the Horned Frogs an early 3–0 lead. Marquette responded with their only points of the game later in the quarter when

Arthur Guepe Arthur Leo Guepe (January 28, 1915 – November 4, 2001) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Virginia from 1946 to 1952 and Vanderbilt University from 1953 to 1962, compiling a career colle ...

had a punt return of 60 yards for a touchdown. After a failed

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

attempt by

Ward Cuff Ward Lloyd Cuff (August 12, 1913 – December 24, 2002) was an American football halfback and placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, Chicago Cardinals, and Green Bay Packers. He played college football at Marqu ...

, the Golden Avalanche led 6–3. The Horned Frogs retook the lead for good at the end of the first quarter when Meyer caught a 55-yard

Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football player and coach. During his college and professional careers, he most notably played quarterback, but also played as a safety and punter. He ...

touchdown pass, and with the extra point led 10–6. Meyer then scored his second touchdown of the game when the second quarter when Vic Montgomery threw him an 18-yard touchdown strike. Leading 16–6 entering the second half, neither team would score again giving TCU the victory. For their performances,

Ki Aldrich Charles Collins "Ki" Aldrich (June 1, 1916 – March 12, 1983) was an American football player. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1960. Early life Aldrich was born in Rogers, Texas and attended Temple High School in Te ...

, Baugh and Meyer were named the Most Valuable Players of the game.

References

{{Marquette Golden Avalanche football navbox Cotton Bowl Cotton Bowl Classic TCU Horned Frogs football bowl games Marquette Golden Avalanche football January 1937 sports events Cotton Bowl