The 1947 Gator Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the NC State Wolfpack.

1947 Gator Bowl
2nd Gator Bowl
1234 Total
Oklahoma 72007 34
NC State 0706 13
DateJanuary 1, 1947
Season1946
StadiumFairfield Stadium
LocationJacksonville, Florida
MVPHB Joe Golding
RefereeDave Kaufman (Southern;
split crew: Southern, Big Six)
Attendance10,034
Gator Bowl
 < 1946  1948

Background

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Oklahoma was co-champion of the Big Six Conference in Tatum's first season. It was their first since 1944. The Wolfpack finished 3rd in the Southern Conference, with a 6–1 record. This was NC State's first bowl game appearance and Oklahoma's second. This was the first Gator Bowl for either team.

Game summary

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In the first two minutes, the Sooners took the lead on an Eddie Eavis touchdown run. Howard Turner threw a 58-yard pass to Al Phillips to tie the score at 7 in the second period. But the Sooners went on a 20-point rampage from three rushing touchdowns (one each from Davis, Dave Wallace and Joe Golding) in the quarter to take a 27–7 lead at halftime. The Wolfpack narrowed the lead in the fourth with a 67-yard march that ended with an eight-yard touchdown run by Les Palmer to make it 27–13. Charlie Sarratt threw a touchdown pass to make it 34–13. Golding went for 91 yards on 12 rushes. This was the Sooners' first bowl win.[1][2][3]

Aftermath

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Tatum left for Maryland after this game, but the Sooners went to 8 bowl games in 17 season, won 14 Big Six Conference titles, and 3 national championships under their next head coach, Bud Wilkinson. The Wolfpack would not reach another bowl game until 1963. Oklahoma would make two more appearances in the Gator Bowl while NC State made two more appearances, winning their first in 2003.

Statistics

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Statistics Oklahoma NC State
First Downs 12 13
Yards Rushing 195 136
Yards Passing 75 103
Total Yards 270 139
Punts-Average 5-31.0 4-36.0
Fumbles-Lost 4-3 2-1
Interceptions 2 3
Penalties-Yards 7-34 3-13

References

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  1. ^ "1947 Gator Bowl Recap - NC State University Official Athletic Site". Gopack.com. January 1, 1947. Retrieved July 26, 2015.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "1947 Gator Bowl: Oklahoma v. North Carolina State - OUDaily.com: Home". OUDaily.com. December 23, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  3. ^ "Oklahoma Wins" (PDF). Taxslayerbowl.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.