1952 Sun Bowl

1952 Sun Bowl
1952 Sun Bowl
Pacific Tigers	Texas Tech Red Raiders
(6–4)	(6–4)
Independent	Border Conference
14	25
Head coach: ; Ernie Jorge	Head coach: ; DeWitt Weaver
Date	January 1, 1952
Season	1951
Stadium	Kidd Field
Location	Sun Bowl
MVP	QB Junior Arteburn (Texas Tech)
Attendance	17,000
Sun Bowl
< 1951	1953 >

The 1952 Sun Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game that featured the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Pacific Tigers.

Background[]

In Coach Weaver's first season, the Red Raiders had won the Border Conference title, their fourth in five seasons. This was their first bowl appearance since 1949 and first Sun Bowl since 1948. The Tigers had been ranked three times during the season (as high as 16th at one point), but a loss to Denver started a four-game losing streak that derailed a 6-1 start. This was their first bowl appearance since 1948.

Game summary[]

Jim Turner scored on a 39-yard touchdown run to give Tech an early 7-0 lead. Pacific responded with a touchdown of their own to tie it at 7. Lewis Crossley culminated a six-play drive on his touchdown pass to Jerry Johnson from 19 yards out to make it 13-7. Junior Arterburn made it 19-7 on a five-yard touchdown run on Tech's next drive. Pacific scored on a Johnny Cobb touchdown run that culminated a nine-play drive to make it 19-14 at halftime. Charles Welton scored from 11 yards out to make it 25-14 midway through the third. From that point, neither team reached the red zone again. Eddie Macon became the first African American to play in the Sun Bowl, contributing with 60 yards on 6 carries.^[1]^[2]

Statistics[]

Statistics	Texas Tech	Pacific
First Downs	12	18
Rushing Yards	274	278
Passing Yards	79	38
Total Offense	353	316
Passing	5-9-0	4-14-3
Fumbles-Lost	2-0	5-4
Penalties-Yards	12-90	3-25
Punts-Average	5-41.0	3-32.0

Aftermath[]

This remains the only Sun Bowl victory for Texas Tech and this was their only bowl victory inside the state of Texas until 2003. Pacific returned to the Sun Bowl the following year and won. Texas Tech has appeared in the most Sun Bowls with 9, but this remains their only win. The Red Raiders are 1-8 all time in the Sun Bowl.

References[]

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[1] "Texas Tech 25, Pacific 14 | Recaps - Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | December 31, 2021 | el Paso, Texas".

[2] "Auto PDF p hotos s chools text sports m footbl auto PDF 05mediaguide bowlhistory".

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v t Sun Bowl
History & conference tie-ins	History 1949 controversy Jones Stadium Kidd Field Sun Bowl Broadcasters Pac-12 Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
Games	1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 (Jan.) 1958 (Dec.) 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1977 (Jan.) 1977 (Dec.) 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Notes	Util the 1957 season, the Sun Bowl was played in January of the ensuing year (for example, the 1935 season game played in January 1936). Since 1958 (except in 1976), the Sun Bowl is played in December. The 1976 season Sun Bowl was played in January 1977 and the 1977 season Sun Bowl was played in December 1977. No game was held in the 2020 season because of pandemic-related issues.