The 1951 Orange Bowl was a college football postseason

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

between the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

and the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) s ...

played on January 1, 1951. Played in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Burdine Stadium The Miami Orange Bowl was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida from 1937 until 2008. The stadium was located in the Little Havana neighborhood west of Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami. The Miami Orange Bowl was considered a landm ...

, it was the 17th edition of the annual

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...

Background

Although they finished second in the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly k ...

, the Clemson Tigers were undefeated—they had won eight games, and tied

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

—en route to their first Orange Bowl appearance. Similarly, the Miami Hurricanes were undefeated, with nine wins and a tie (against

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

), and were playing in their third Orange Bowl, having lost the 1935 edition and having won the 1946 edition. The teams had only met once before, a 7–6 win by Miami in 1945.

Game summary

Fred Cone gave Clemson a 7–0 lead on his one-yard touchdown run that culminated a 76-yard drive, which proved to be the halftime lead as the Hurricanes mustered just one

first down A down is a period in which a play transpires in gridiron football. The down is a distinguishing characteristic of the game compared to other codes of football, but is synonymous with a "tackle" in rugby league. The team in possession of the ...

in the first half. Six plays after Clemson received the opening kickoff in the second half, Glenn Smith caught a pass from Billy Hair for a touchdown. However, the

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

attempt was wide, making it a 13–0 lead for Clemson. Miami retaliated with a touchdown run by Harry Mallios that had been set up by a Smith run of 45 yards. Minutes later,

Jim Dooley James William Dooley (February 8, 1930 – January 8, 2008) was an American football player and coach who is best remembered for his tenures as a player and coach with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). College career Bor ...

intercepted a pass from Hair, which Miami took advantage of by scoring on a 95-yard touchdown drive to lead, 14–13. With six minutes to go in the game, Mallios returned a punt that seemed to be a 79-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach. However, a

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penalty was called on Miami, putting them back at their own five-yard-line. Two additional gains by Miami were also nullified by penalties. On a play from the four-yard-line, Miami halfback Frank Smith was tackled by Clemson lineman Sterling Smith behind the goal line for a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

, giving Clemson a 15–14 lead and ultimately the win.

Aftermath

Though Miami made five bowl games in the next 16 years, they did not reach an Orange Bowl again until 1984. Clemson played in the Orange Bowl six years later, in 1957, though they did not win one until 1982.

Statistics

Source:

References

External links

Remembering the 1951 Orange Bowl
via

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Orange Bowl Clemson Tigers football bowl games Miami Hurricanes football bowl games January 1951 sports events in the United States

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