1957 Cotton Bowl Classic

December 2025 August 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic Cotton Bowl Classic 1957.png 21st Cotton Bowl Classic January 1 1957 1956 Texas Christian University TCU Horned Frogs 7–3 Abe Martin SWC 7 7 7 7 8 8 14 14 Syracuse University Syracuse Orangemen 7–1 Ben Schwartzwalder Independent 0 14 0 13 Jim Brown (Syracuse RB)Norman Hamilton (TCU T) bg NBC Lindsey Nelson, Red Grange Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas 61,500–68,000 TCU by 4 pointshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MxFWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cOIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6361%2C5466966 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press College football season reaches climax Tuesday December 31, 1956 7 C.W. Davis (SWC;split crew: SWC, Independent) thumb|The Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, hosted the Cotton Bowl Classic. The 1957 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 21st edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, on Tuesday, January 1. Part of the 1956–57 bowl game season, it matched the independent and eighth-ranked Syracuse Orangemen and No. 14 TCU Horned Frogs of the Southwest Conference (SWC).https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=h3c_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=9lQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=797%2C106122 Youngstwon Vindicator Ohio Associated Press Ratliff Harold V. Offensive tilt seen in Cotton January 1, 1957 20 Favored TCU held on to win by a point, 28–27.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=U8kRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PukDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6240%2C186034 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press Blocked PAT earns 28-27 win for TCU January 2, 1957 2B Teams 1956 college football season Syracuse 1956 Syracuse Orangemen football team The Orangemen had just one loss (in September at Pittsburgh,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8zAbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=700EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6392%2C5186735 Pittsburgh Press Smith Chester L. Panthers defeat Syracuse, 14 to 7 September 30, 1956 1, section 4https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HwUrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=65cFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2869%2C6014099 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press Pitt hands Syracuse 14-7 loss September 30, 1956 44https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x1hgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bnENAAAAIBAJ&pg=638%2C5300765 Sunday Star-News Wilmington, North Carolina United Press Pitt downs Syracuse September 30, 1956 3C who lost in the Gator Bowl), but they were ranked eighth, led by senior running back Jim Brown, a consensus All-American. This was the second bowl appearance for Syracuse; their first was four years earlier in the Orange Bowl. TCU 1956 TCU Horned Frogs football team TCU was runner-up in the Southwest Conference, but was invited due to first place Texas A&M being under NCAA sanctions.26-37.pmd http://media.attcottonbowl.com/resource/history/1957/rsrc/1957-Classic-Recap.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20140124071656/http://media.attcottonbowl.com/resource/history/1957/rsrc/1957-Classic-Recap.pdf 2014-01-24 live 2014-12-23 This was the Horned Frogs' fifth Cotton Bowl appearance; they won their first in 1937 (with quarterback Sammy Baugh), but dropped their next three (1945, 1952, 1956). Game summary TCU had two 14-point leads, both near the end of the halves. John Nikkel started the scoring for TCU with a touchdown catch from Chuck Curtis, and in the second quarter, Jim Shofner caught a touchdown to make it 14–0. But Jim Brown ran for two touchdowns in a span of 6:52 to tie the game at halftime. Late in the third quarter after Brown fumbled the ball back to TCU, Curtis scored on a touchdown run to give TCU the lead back. After another Brown fumble early in the fourth quarter, Jim Swink ran it in from three yards out to give TCU a 28–14 lead with under twelve minutes to go. Syracuse went 49 yards in 13 plays and scored on a Brown run, who lined up for his third PAT attempt of the day to narrow the lead to seven. TCU's Chico Mendoza blocked the extra point to keep the lead at eight points. Syracuse had one last drive in them, going 43 yards in three plays. Jim Ridlon caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Charles Zimmerman with 1:16 left, and Brown's kick narrowed the lead to 28–27. The two-point conversion was not introduced until the 1958 season. Rather than attempt the expected onside kick, Syracuse opted to kick it deep, but TCU held on and did not give up the ball, in the Horned Frogs' last bowl win until 1998. Brown (back) and Norman Hamilton (line) were named the outstanding players of the game. Scoring First quarter TCU – John Nikkel 6-yard pass from Chuck Curtis (Harold Pollard kick), 2:10 Second quarter TCU – Jim Shofner 8-yard pass from Curtis (Pollard kick), 13:01 SYR – Jim Brown 2-yard run (Brown kick), 7:54 SYR – Brown 4-yard run (Brown kick), 1:02 Third quarter TCU – Curtis 7-yard run (Pollard kick), 4:45 Fourth quarter TCU – Jim Swink 3-yard run (Pollard kick), 11:44 SYR – Brown 1-yard run (Brown kick blocked by Chico Mendoza), 5:07 SYR – Jim Ridlon 27-yard pass from Charles Zimmerman (Brown kick), 1:16 Statistics {| class="wikitable" ! Statistics !! style="TCU Horned Frogs 0 white"|TCU !! style="Syracuse Orange 0 white"|Syracuse |- | First downs || 15|| 16 |- | Rushes–yards|| 56–133|| 53–235 |- | Passing yards|| 202|| 63 |- | Passes (C–A–I) || 13–16–0 || 3–7–1 |- | Total Offense || 72–335 || 60–298 |- |Punts–average ||4–37.5|| 2–46.5 |- |Fumbles–lost ||3–2|| 3–3 |- |Turnovers|| 2|| 4 |- |Penalties–yards ||4–40|| 1–5 |} References External links Cotton Bowl Classic – January 1, 1957 Cotton Bowl Classic Category:Cotton Bowl Classic Category:Syracuse Orange football bowl games Category:TCU Horned Frogs football bowl games Category:January 1957 sports events in the United States Cotton Bowl