1941 Cotton Bowl Classic

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1941 Cotton Bowl Classic
5th Cotton Bowl Classic
Fordham Rams Texas A&M Aggies
(7–1) (8–1)
Independent SWC
12 13
Head coach: 
Jim Crowley		 Head coach: 
Homer Norton
AP
12
AP
6
1234 Total
Fordham 0606 12
Texas A&M 00130 13
DateJanuary 1, 1941
Season1940
StadiumCotton Bowl
LocationDallas, Texas
MVPC Lou DeFilippo (Fordham)
T Joe Ungerer (Fordham)
G (Texas A&M)
FB John Kimbrough (Texas A&M)
T (Texas A&M)
Attendance45,507
Cotton Bowl Classic
 < 1940  1942 > 

The 1941 Cotton Bowl Classic was the fifth edition of the Dallas bowl game, which began in 1937, and featured the #6 Texas A&M Aggies and the #12 Fordham Rams.[1][2][3] It was the first Cotton Bowl under Southwest Conference sponsorship and the first sold out game.

Background[]

This was A&M's third bowl game appearance, having played in the 1922 Dixie Classic (most famous for the birth of the 12th Man) and the 1940 Sugar Bowl. A&M was co-champions of the Southwestern Conference along with SMU, due to A&M losing to Texas, which cost them a shot at the national championship. This was Fordham's first bowl game for a program that had suspended football twice. They had been ranked as high as eleventh until the loss to St. Mary's in late October.

Game Summary[]

Steve Filipowicz started the scoring in the second quarter with his touchdown run, but 's extra point was blocked by Jim Sterling. Trailing 6-0 into the second half, Earl "Alabama" Smith caught a 60 yard pass from Marion Pugh on a trick play in which Smith whizzed by Fordham defenders who had failed to notice him as the ball was snapped. The extra point was blocked, though. John Kimbrough made it 13-6 A&M with his touchdown run as the third quarter ended. Fordham recovered a fumble, and scored on a touchdown run. But on the extra point attempt to tie the game, Hudacek's extra point was once again blocked, this time by Martin Ruby, with twelve minutes to go.[1][2][3] But from that point on, neither team scored again as A&M won their first Cotton Bowl, which they would not win again until 1968.[4]

Aftermath[]

Texas A&M returned to the Cotton Bowl the next year, but lost to Alabama.

Fordham won the Sugar Bowl the next season; it remains their most recent bowl game.

Statistics[]

Statistics Texas A&M Fordham
First Downs 8 13
Yards Rushing 52 118
Yards Passing 101 62
Total Yards 153 180
Punts-Average 10-32.9 8-30.4
Fumbles Lost 3 1
Interceptions 1 3
Penalties-Yards 3-25 2-29

References[]

  1. ^ a b Rice, Grantland (January 2, 1941). "Texas Aggies outplayed, win over Fordham by 13-12 score". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 11.
  2. ^ a b "Texas A. and M. sneaks through". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 2, 1941. p. 10.
  3. ^ a b Super, Henry (January 2, 1941). "Rams' 'moral win' soothes tough loss". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. p. 20.
  4. ^ "14-25.pmd" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
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