2008 ORANGE BOWL GUIDE - HokieSports

TECH’S BOWL GAMES
1947 Sun Bowl
Cincinnati 18, Virginia Tech 6
EL PASO, Texas — The University of
Cincinnati Bearcats swept to three second-half
touchdowns to defeat Virginia Tech, 18-6, in
the 12th annual Sun Bowl. The game marked
Tech’s first-ever bowl appearance and the first
bowl game in which a football team from the
commonwealth of Virginia had participated.
Tech had a chance to take an early
lead on the heavily-favored Bearcats,
but stalled two yards short of the
goal. Quarterback Harry Walton
set up the early threat with a
25-yard run to the Cincinnati 23.
Walton then caught a pass from
halfback Ralph Beard to move the
ball to the Bearcats’ 2-yard line.
From there, the big Cincinnati line
held on four straight running plays.
The game remained scoreless until the third
quarter when quick-opening plays from the
T-formation began clicking for the Bearcats.
Cincinnati halfback Hal Johnson spun through
the center of the line for a 13-yard touchdown
run midway through the third quarter. Keyed
by a 19-yard run by All-American halfback
Roger Stephens, UC scored again on its next
possession. Fullback Al Sabato plunged the
final yard for the touchdown.
Tech mounted another threat late in the
third quarter, marching to the UC 23 before
having a pass intercepted in the end zone.
The Hokies held the Bearcats and bounced
right back. Aided by a pair of costly
Cincinnati penalties, Tech marched
inside the UC 5, and Beard scored
on a fourth-down run from the
1.
An interception return
by Johnson to the Tech 25
helped Cincinnati put the game
away in the fourth quarter. The
Bearcats promptly moved the ball
to the Tech 3, where Don McMillan
carried it in for the final touchdown. The
Hokies blocked all three UC extra point kicks
during the game.
Cincinnati’s vaunted running attack
produced a total of 369 yards as the Bearcats
piled up 463 yards of total offense. Tech
managed 13 first downs — just three less
than UC — despite gaining only 34 yards
on the ground and 85 through the air. The
January 1, 1947 • El Paso, Texas
Kidd Field at Sun Bowl Stadium • Att: 10,000
Cincinnati 0 0 12 6 — 18
Virginia Tech 0 0 0 6 — 6
Scoring
Cincinnati — touchdowns, Johnson, Sabato and McMillin
Virginia Tech — touchdown, Beard
Team Statistics UC VT
First Downs 16 13
Rushing yds. 369 34
Passing yds. 94 85
Total off. 463 119
Passes 5-19-3 4-15-2
Punting avg. 19 41
Fumbles 0 0
Penalty yds. 85 29
Hokies’ defense contributed three interceptions
in the game and lineman John Maskas blocked
his seventh punt of the season.
The bowl week was marked by “unusual”
weather. Three-inches of snow fell atop frozen
rain the day before the game, and when
kickoff time rolled around, the teams took the
field under cloudy skies and below-freezing
temperatures. According to one newspaper
account, “blankets, fur caps, galoshes, ski
suits, stocking caps and all types of winter
wear were much in evidence” among the crowd
of 10,000.
For its first bowl appearance, Tech traveled west to El Paso, Texas, to face Cincinnati in the Sun Bowl on Jan. 1, 1947.
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2008 ORANGE BOWL GUIDE