1950 Salad Bowl

The 1950 Salad Bowl was a college football bowl game played between Xavier University and Arizona State College at Montgomery Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona. Xavier entered the game with a 9–1 record, best in the state of Ohio, and favored over 7–2 Arizona State, which had the best record in Arizona.[1] Xavier defeated Arizona State 33-21 before 20,000 fans, then the most fans who had ever watched a football game (of any level) in the state of Arizona.[2] This marked Xavier's first and only appearance in a post-season bowl game.

1950 Salad Bowl
Xavier Musketeers Arizona State Sun Devils
(9–1) (7–2)
33 21
Head coach: 
Ed Kluska		 Head coach: 
Ed Doherty
1234 Total
Xavier 014136 33
Arizona State 7077 21
DateJanuary 2, 1950
Season1949
StadiumMontgomery Stadium
LocationPhoenix, Arizona
Attendance20,000

Background

The Phoenix Kiwanis Club, who sponsored the Salad Bowl, selected Arizona State as the home team after the Sun Devils defeated the Arizona Wildcats, 34–7. Arizona State had not beaten Arizona since 1931.[3] At the end of November the organizers invited Xavier, whose 9–1 record was best in Ohio, to face Arizona State. Other teams considered included the College of the Pacific, Wyoming and Colorado A&M.[4][5]

Game summary
  • Arizona State – White 1 pass from Coleman (Fuller kick)
  • Xavier – Wilke touchdown (Keefe kick)
  • Xavier – O’Brien touchdown (Keefe kick)
  • Arizona State – Coleman 1 run (Fuller kick)
  • Xavier – McQuade touchdown (kick failed)
  • Xavier – Finnell touchdown (Keefe kick)
  • Arizona State – White 5 run (Fuller kick)
  • Xavier – Crowe 1 run (kick failed)

During the game Xavier benefited from mistakes by Arizona State, including three touchdown drives which began with Arizona State turnovers.[6] On the other side of the ball, Arizona State's barefoot kicker Bobby Fuller kicked all three extra points.[7] The following season Fuller would make 48 of 51 attempts, a record which stood for 20 years.[8]

The pre-game parade featured Jacque Mercer, the 1949 Miss America and a native of Litchfield Park, Arizona. Her presence came from a special connection: Robert Hannelly, who was president of both the Phoenix Kiwanis Club and Phoenix College, which Mercer attended.[9]

Although a number of modern sources state that the game took place on New Year's Day, contemporary newspaper accounts confirm that the game was played, along with most bowl games that year, on January 2. No bowl games were played on January 1, 1950, because it fell on a Sunday.[4][10][11][12]

References
  1. "Xavier Favored In Salad Bowl". Morning Journal. December 27, 1949. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  2. "Salad Bowl Tilt Won by Xavier". Pittsburgh Press. January 3, 1950. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  3. "Tempe Accepts Bid To Play In Salad Bowl Grid Classic". Evening Courier. November 14, 1949. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  4. "Bowl Lineup". Pittsburgh Press. November 28, 1949. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  5. "Xavier To Get Just Desserts-Salad Bowl". Toledo Blade. November 28, 1949. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  6. "Xavier Takes Over Arizona, 33-21". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 3, 1950. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  7. "Barefoot Place Kicker Nears Collegiate Mark". Milwaukee Journal. November 21, 1950. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  8. Bauge, Sebastian (October 13, 2009). "Beginnings, Barefoot Kickers and Shenanigans: A Look at Some of the Forgotten Lore of ASU". State Press Magazine. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  9. "Dressing For Salad Bowl". Morning Journal. December 20, 1949. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  10. Thompson, Clay (August 11, 2009). "Playing the Salad Bowl". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  11. Ernst, Ryan (December 22, 2002). "For Xavier, the Salad was more than just an appetizer". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  12. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)


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