The 1951 Gator Bowl was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

played on January 1, 1951, at

Gator Bowl Stadium The Gator Bowl was an American football stadium located in Jacksonville, Florida. Originally built in 1927, all but a small portion of the facility was razed in 1994 in preparation for the 1995 Jacksonville Jaguars season, inaugural season of the ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. It was the sixth annual

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, usually contested on or around New Year's Day. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first televise ...

. The game featured the

Wyoming Cowboys The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie, Wyoming, Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 ...

, champions of the

Skyline Conference The Skyline Conference is an List of NCAA conferences, intercollegiate athletic conference based in the New York City area that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division III, Division III. The league was orig ...

(also known as the Mountain States Conference), against the

Washington and Lee Generals The Washington and Lee Generals are the athletic teams that represent Washington and Lee University, located in Lexington, Virginia, in NCAA Division III intercollegiate sports. The Generals compete as members of the Old Dominion Athletic Conferen ...

, champions of the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

Background

The Cowboys were champions of the Mountain States Conference⠀⠀ champions and had finished the regular season undefeated. The Generals won the

with a perfect conference record, led by quarterback Gil Bocetti and fullback Walt Michaels, although Michaels missed the game due to appendicitis. They recorded wins over West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Louisville, and Richmond, while losing to Virginia and Tennessee. They were the first team from Virginia to play in a bowl game.

Game summary

After a scoreless first quarter, the Cowboys started a crucial second quarter with an

Eddie Talboom Eddie Talboom (May 15, 1921 – June 6, 1998) was an American college football player and high school football coach. He was an All-American football player (1952) from the University of Wyoming, the first in school history. Football career Talb ...

touchdown pass to Dick Campbell. A turning point in the game occurred on the General's following drive. Bocetti was driving his team down the field when his pass was intercepted by Selmer Pederson. Talboom let another drive down the field, culminating in a touchdown run by Talboom himself, making the score 13–0 at halftime. Despite outgaining the Cowboys in total yardage, the Generals failed to capitalize on their opportunities until it was too late. In the third quarter, fullback John Melton added a touchdown run, making the lead 20–0. With the outcome already decided, the Generals added a late touchdown run by Gil Bocetti, as the Cowboys secured their first-ever bowl victory. Talboom completed 10 of 14 passes for 141 yards and also rushed for 31 yards. The attendance for the game was 26,354.

Aftermath

This victory began Wyoming's streak of bowl game wins, as they went on to win three more before their first loss in 1968. They have not played in the

since this game. The Generals have not appeared in another bowl game since, as they now compete in

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

Statistics

References

Gator Bowl Wyoming Cowboys football bowl games Washington and Lee Generals football bowl games

January 1951 sports events in the United States {{Collegefootball-bowl-stub