1957 Orange Bowl

The 1957 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl game between the Clemson Tigers and the Colorado Buffaloes. It was played on New Year's Day in Miami, Florida.[1][2]

1957 Orange Bowl
Colorado Buffaloes Clemson Tigers (7–2–1) (7–1–2) 27 21 Head coach:  Dallas Ward Head coach:  Frank Howard AP Coaches 20 18 AP Coaches 19 NR
1 2 3 4 Total Colorado 0 20 0 7 27 Clemson 0 0 14 7 21
Date	January 1, 1957
Season	1956
Stadium	Burdine Stadium
Location	Miami, Florida
Favorite	Colorado by 3 points[1]
Attendance	73,280
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Tom Harmon

Background

Colorado was the runner-up in the Big Seven Conference in 1956; they played in the Orange Bowl over national champion Oklahoma due to a Big Seven rule at the time not permitting consecutive bowl appearances.[3] Clemson was the champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference, their first conference title since the Southern Conference title in 1948. This was Clemson's first bowl game since 1951 and first Orange Bowl since 1950. This was Colorado's first bowl game in nineteen years since the Cotton Bowl in 1938, and they were favored by a field goal.[1]

Game summary

John Bayuk led the Buffaloes to a 20–0 halftime lead, beginning with his 2-yard run. Boyd Dowler made it 14–0 on his 6-yard run. Howard Cook concluded the first half scoring with his 26-yard touchdown run.[2] At halftime, Howard threatened to resign if his team did not put up some effort. Clemson responded with 21 straight points. Joel Wells scored two touchdowns from 3 and 58 yards out to narrow the lead to 6, then Bob Spooner gave the Tigers the lead on his 1-yard touchdown run, with 11:22 to go. Strangely, Clemson elected to onside kick the ball, which Colorado recovered. The Buffaloes drove 53 yards in 8 plays and concluded with a John Bayuk touchdown to take the lead once again. With time running down, Clemson recovered a fumble at the Colorado 27. However, Bob Stransky intercepted Charlie Bussey's pass, sealing the win for Colorado.[2][4][5]

Aftermath

Colorado returned to the Orange Bowl five years later in 1962, but Clemson did not return for a quarter century, which was a win over Nebraska in January 1982 to win the consensus national championship.

Statistics

Statistics	Colorado	Clemson
First Downs	16	14
Rushing Yards	279	217
Interceptions	0	2
Passing Yards	27	25
Total Yards	306	242
Punts-Average	5-36.6	7-37.9
Fumbles-Lost	8-3	0-0
Penalties-Yards	5-55	4-40

Source:[2]

References

1. "It's Bowl Day today in U.S." Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 1, 1957. p. 10.
2. "Buffs top Clemson, 27 to 21". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 2, 1957. p. 15.
3. Miller, Norman (December 4, 1956). "Oklahoma voted grid champion in final AP and UP polls". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). United Press. p. 23.
4. "1957 | Orange Bowl". Game.orangebowl.org. January 1, 1957. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
5. "Classic CU - Official Site of University of Colorado Athletics". Cubuffs.com. January 2, 1957. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2015.