1962 TANGERINE BOWL PROFESSIONAL
1962 TANGERINE BOWL MAC

This loss almost ruined my Christmas season, particularly since my Cousin Bobby was at Ole Miss and did not share my love for the Gobblers). It apparently perturbed the Rebels mightily, as the game went downhill from there, although the Hokies had a 17-0 lead until an ill-fated onside kick failed. This was perhaps the only completion of Kincaid’s career ! This piece of trickery was referred to as the “swinging gate” in those days. So, Tech lost the 1966 Liberty Bowl to Miami 14-7 (the first Hokie game ever televised I believe – I remember watching from my parents’ den) and the 1968 game 34-17 to Ole Miss (I vividly remember Tech running a trick play on the second play of the game, with quarterback Al Kincaid acting like he was tying his shoe and snapping the ball to Radford High’s own Kenny Edwards, who went about 60 yards for a touchdown. Unfortunately, the Hokies’ offense during this period was as uninspiring against quality teams as the defense was noteworthy for its fanatical effort. I was a junior high age football player during this time and tried to model myself after these stalwarts. Jerry’s teams were packed with over-achieving, reckless defenders like Frankie Loria (a Clarksburg kid, 2 time All-American, and the subject of a prior column), Frank “his own self” Beamer, George Foussekis, Clarence Culpepper, Dan Thacker, and Mike Widger. These bowls have to be considered together, as they represent the high water marks of Jerry Claiborne’s very successful career at Virginia Tech. People in our area talked about the “time Tech went to the Sun Bowl” much as the Spaniards must have talked about “the time Columbus discovered America”. This first ever “bowl appearance” for VPI became mythical, since the Hokies did not get another bowl bid for 20 years. The fact that VPI lost 18-6 is totally irrelevant. Each team received the whopping sum of $9,438 per Wikipedia, and the game was played on a frozen turf with 3 inches of snow on top. Legend has it that one of the Sun Bowl Committee members was a Tech alum and got the Hokies the bid after the prior rejections. The Blacksburg boys were third pick to oppose an 8-2 Cincinnati Bearcat team, the first two, Hardin-Simmons and Texas Tech, turning down the chance to spend New Year’s 1947 in freezing, blustery El Paso. Amazing for its symmetry, not it’s excellence. The Gobblers, as they were then known, were coming off an amazing regular season with a record of 3-3-3. Historic because it was Virginia Tech’s first ever bowl. So I am going to do a list of the most memorable (to me) bowl games of my lifetime (or before). Given the time of the year, this is my “bowl game column”. So every now and then I like to do a sports piece in his honor. Dan died a couple of years ago, but his legacy lives on through his daughter Sally Jenkins, an accomplished sportswriter in her own right for the Washington Post.ĭan lived the life I would have liked to have had, covering America’s great sporting events with humor and passion and enjoying life to the fullest while laughing at it. His books are must reading for sports fans of my generation. Most recently he wrote his autobiography, Life its Ownself. Dan also wrote about a dozen raunchy and irreverent sports novels, the best known of which is Semi-Tough, published while I was in college.

1962 TANGERINE BOWL PROFESSIONAL

My first ambition was to become the next Dan Jenkins, an iconic Sports Illustrated writer who covered college football and professional golf for SI for a quarter century. Houston would soon utilize the Veer offense near the end of the decade, particularly in their next bowl game in 1969.I am a frustrated sports writer.

1962 TANGERINE BOWL MAC

Miami (despite winning the MAC in 1965) would not be in a bowl game until 1973. He led them to their first bowl game since 1952.īilly Roland threw 11-of-17 for 199 yards and 3 touchdowns, and Joe Lopasky caught 3 passes for 81 yards while scoring four touchdowns, with Roland being named MVP of the game. After serving as an assistant coach for eight seasons at Michigan State, Yeoman had been hired to coach Houston in 1962. In his 7th (and final) season at Miami, Pont led the Redskins to their first bowl game since 1951. Houston won the game, by a score of 49–21. The Miami Redskins (based in Oxford, Ohio and now the Miami RedHawks) with a record of 8–1–1 played the Houston Cougars with a record of 6–4. The 1962 Tangerine Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on Decemat the Tangerine Bowl stadium in Orlando, Florida.

1962 tangerine bowl