1951 Sun Bowl

1951 Sun Bowl
West Texas State Buffaloes Cincinnati Bearcats (9–1) (8–3) Border Conference MAC 14 13 Head coach:  Frank Kimbrough Head coach:  Sid Gillman
1 2 3 4 Total West Texas State 0 7 7 0 14 Cincinnati 0 6 7 0 13
Date	January 1, 1951
Season	1950
Stadium	Sun Bowl
Location	El Paso, Texas
Attendance	16,000[1]
Sun Bowl  ← 1950  1952 →

The 1951 Sun Bowl was a college football bowl game that took place in El Paso, Texas, on January 1, 1951, between the West Texas State Buffaloes and the University of Cincinnati Bearcats.^[1] This was the 17th Sun Bowl (16th between collegiate teams) that had been played in El Paso, the second-oldest bowl game, the only older being the Rose Bowl.

Scoring summary

Gene Rossi threw 14-of-29 for 170 yards. The winning touchdown occurred on a fourth down punt. Punter Frank Wise moved under center and took the snap, lateraling to the right to quarterback Gene Mayfield. Mayfield completed a pass to Billy Cross at the Cincinnati 40 and Cross broke several tackles to finish the 62-yard touchdown dash. With the game running out, the Bearcats managed to get to the West Texas A&M 27, but two straight sacks doomed Cincinnati.^[2]

Second Quarter

• West Texas A&M - Bill Cross 4-yard run (Roy Lee Dunn Kick)
• Cincinnati - Tom McKeever 3-yard run (kick failed)

Third Quarter

• Cincinnati - Bob Stratton 17-yard pass from Gene Rossi (Bill Shalonsky kick)
• West Texas A&M - Cross 62-yard pass from Gene Mayfield (Dunn kick)

Statistics

Statistics	Cincinnati	West Texas A&M
First Downs	12	19
Rushing Yards	106	238
Passing yards	170	123
Passing A-C-I	30-14-3	15-6-3
Punts-Average	5-30.4	4-39.5
Fumbles-Lost	3-0	3-0
Penalties-Yards	8-70	8-80

References

1. "University of Cincinnati Official Athletics Site - Football". Gobearcats.cstv.com. January 1, 1951. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
2. "West Texas State 14, Cincinnati 13 | Recaps - Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | December 31, 2021 | el Paso, Texas".