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1941 Sugar Bowl

American college football game


American college football game

FieldValue
year_game_played1941
game_nameSugar Bowl
football_season1940
imageFile:TulaneStadiumFront1.jpg
captionTulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, hosted the Sugar Bowl.
subheaderSugar Bowl
visitor_name_shortBoston College
visitor_nicknameEagles
home_name_shortTennessee
home_nicknameVolunteers
visitor_record10–0
visitor_conferenceIndependent
home_record10–0
home_conferenceSEC
visitor_coachFrank Leahy
home_coachRobert Neyland
visitor_rank_AP5
home_rank_AP4
visitor_1q0
visitor_2q0
visitor_3q13
visitor_4q6
home_1q7
home_2q0
home_3q6
home_4q0
date_game_playedJanuary 1
stadiumTulane Stadium
cityNew Orleans, Louisiana
oddsTennessee
refereeJames Cheves (SEC;
split crew: SEC, EAIFO)
attendance73,181

split crew: SEC, EAIFO) The 1941 Sugar Bowl featured the fourth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers and the fifth-ranked Boston College Eagles, both with records of 10–0 and high-scoring offenses. The seventh edition of the Sugar Bowl, it was played on Wednesday, January 1, 1941, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Tennessee scored the only points of the first half with a four-yard touchdown run by Van Thompson in the first quarter. After a scoreless second quarter, Boston College scored on a 13-yard touchdown run from Harry Connolly to tie the score at 7–7. Tennessee answered with a two-yard touchdown run from Warren Buist for a 13–7 lead. Boston College scored on a one-yard rushing touchdown from Mike Holovak to tie the game at 13–13.

In the fourth quarter, Tennessee's Bob Foxx missed a short field goal attempt with three minutes remaining, and BC took over on its own 20-yard-line. Quarterback Charlie O'Rourke led the Eagles on an 80-yard drive, capped with his 24-yard touchdown run to give them a 19–13 win.

As this game was contested before the Sugar Bowl was racially integrated, Boston College played without halfback Lou Montgomery, an African-American. Comments from sportswriters of the era included "there's no use borrowing trouble when it can be avoided." Montgomery had also sat out Boston College's prior bowl game, the 1940 Cotton Bowl Classic, contested in Dallas. The first interracial bowl game did not occur until after World War II, the 1948 Cotton Bowl Classic, and the Sugar Bowl did not integrate until its 1956 edition.

References

References

  1. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "Bowl/All-Star Game Records". NCAA.org.
  2. (January 1, 1941). "Football curtain drops today as games are played in many stadiums". Spokesman-Review.
  3. (January 1, 1941). "Tennessee is favored today". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  4. (January 2, 1941). "O'Rourke sparks rally that beats Tennessee". Milwaukee Journal.
  5. Martin, Whitney. (January 2, 1941). "73,000 see O'Rourke lead Boston College to 19-13 victory". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  6. (January 2, 1941). "Boston College in wild victory". Spokesman-Review.
  7. Ryan, Bob. (June 21, 2025). "Seventy years after his premature death, there’s still never been anyone in these parts quite like Harry Agganis".
  8. Wall, Vic. (December 11, 1940). "Speaking of Sports". The Morning Union.
  9. Marquard, Bryan. (September 2, 2012). "BC's First Black Football Player Honored". [[The Boston Globe]].
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