1953
January 1, 1953 – Orange Bowl Stadium
Orange Bowl Televised for First Time
Heavily-favored Alabama dominated Syracuse in the most lopsided Orange Bowl Classic in history. The Crimson Tide held a 21-6 halftime advantage and tacked on 20 points in each of the final quarters to embarrass the Orangemen 61-6.
Seven Orange Bowl records fell and four others were equaled as the Tide rolled up 586 yards of total offense out of its split T attack. Big plays marked its advances, including a 50-yard pass to Corky Tharp from Clell Hobson in the second quarter, an 80-yard Cecil Ingram punt return and Buster Hill's 60-yard interception return in the fourth.
Even backup quarterback Bart Starr got in on the action; Starr's 22-yard pass to Joe Cummings gave the Crimson Tide the Orange Bowl record for most points in the Classic.
A national television audience saw the Orange Bowl for the first time in history—CBS provided the coverage.
|
|
ALA |
SYR |
|
First Downs |
25 |
15 |
|
Rushing Attempts |
45 |
33 |
|
Rushing Yards |
286 |
75 |
|
Passes Attempted |
34 |
34 |
|
Passes Completed |
22 |
17 |
|
Had Intercepted |
2 |
5 |
|
Passing Yards |
300 |
157 |
|
Total Offense |
596 |
232 |
|
Punts/Avg. |
3/30.0 |
8/35.0 |
|
Fumbles/Lost |
3/2 |
0/0 |
|
Penalties/Yards |
5/45 |
5/42 |
|
SCORE BY QUARTERS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alabama |
7 |
14 |
20 |
20 |
- |
61 |
|
Syracuse |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
6 |
SCORING SUMMARY
ALA: Luna 28-yard pass from Hobson (Luna kick); SYR: Szonbathy 15-yard pass from Stark (kick failed); ALA: Marlow 2-yard run (Luna kick); ALA: Tharp 50-yard pass from Hobson (Luna kick); ALA: Luna 38-yard run (Luna kick); ALA: Lewis 4-yard run (Luna kick); ALA: Lewis 30-yard run (kick failed); ALA: Cummings 22-yard pass from Starr (kick failed); ALA: Ingram 80-yard punt return (Luna kick); ALA: Hill 60-yard interception return (Luna kick)
Alabama Head Coach: Harold “Red” Drew
Syracuse Head Coach: Ben Schwartzwalder