The 1949 Raisin Bowl was held on January 1, 1949 at

Ratcliffe Stadium Ratcliffe Stadium is a collegiate athletic venue in the western United States, located on the campus of Fresno City College in Fresno, California. Opened in 1926, it was renamed in 1941 after their first football coach, Emory Ratcliffe. The sta ...

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

. This was the fourth annual

Raisin Bowl The Raisin Bowl was an annual post-season American college football bowl game played at Ratcliffe Stadium in Fresno, California, from 1946 to 1949. The first four games were played on January 1, the last on December 31. The games pitted a Cali ...

and the last one played in January. The

Occidental Tigers Located in Los Angeles, Occidental College competes in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) at the NCAA's Division III level. Approximately 25 percent of all students play a varsity sport, and nearly half of all ...

defeated the Colorado A&M Aggies by a score of 21–20. The game was the highest scoring of the five Raisin Bowls played.

Scoring summary

The first quarter was scoreless, but the action happened as soon as the second quarter began. Bob Hainlen attempted a field goal for the Aggies which was good, but it was nullified by a penalty. On the next play, he faked a field goal attempt, throwing the ball to a wide open Keith Thompson for a touchdown. Frank Faucett's kick was blocked, however, leaving it at 6-0. With 35 seconds remaining, Eddie Hanna ran for a 71-yard touchdown run to make it 13-0 before halftime. In the second half, the Tigers came roaring back. Don Ross connected on a touchdown pass to Bill Pearson from 17 yards out to narrow the lead with 7:16 in the 3rd quarter. Early into the fourth quarter, Ross threw another touchdown pass to Pearson to take the lead for Occidental. On the second play after the kickoff, Eddie Hanna took the ball and ran 79 yards down the sideline to make it 20-14. Less than two minutes later, Ross connected on a 69-yard pass to Bob Levin for a touchdown, which proved to be the winning points as Occidental held on for the rest of the game.

Aftermath

On the way home, the Aggies were forced to stop the plane-ride back to Colorado in

Rock Springs, Wyoming Rock Springs is a city in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 23,036 at the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state of Wyoming, and the most populous city in Sweetwater County. Rock Springs is ...

for refueling. Due to the high altitude weighing the plane down, 19 of the players (and Athletic Director Harry Hughes) had to be left behind, alongside the equipment. They took a train ride back to Fort Collins, while the other players flew home. They did not return to a bowl game for 41 years, with that game also being played in California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1949 Raisin Bowl (01)

Raisin Bowl Colorado State Rams football bowl games Occidental Tigers football bowl games January 1949 sports events in the United States