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Postseason college football bowl game
College football game
The
1956 Orange Bowl
was a
college football
bowl game
between the
Oklahoma Sooners
and the
Maryland Terrapins
. It was played on January 2, because New Year's Day was
a Sunday.
[1]
[3]
Background
[
edit
]
Oklahoma and Maryland were the respectives champions of the
Big Seven Conference
and
Atlantic Coast Conference
; both were undefeated and
ranked in the top three
. (The
Rose Bowl
matched up #2
Michigan State
and #4
UCLA
.) This was Oklahoma's ninth consecutive conference title under Wilkinson and tenth straight overall, with a 30-game winning streak. Maryland shared the ACC title with
Duke
, though the Terrapins reached the Orange Bowl for the first time since January
1954
, which was also against Oklahoma. Tatum had coached the Sooners in 1946 before departing for Maryland.
Oklahoma entered the game favored by
a touchdown.
[1]
Game summary
[
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]
Maryland scored on a 15-yard touchdown run by
Ed Vereb
and led
6?0
at halftime. The Sooners took over in the second half, starting with
Tommy McDonald
's 32-yard punt return that gave them the ball at the Terrapin 46. Seven plays later, McDonald score on a four-yard touchdown run, the highlight being the Sooner offense running 3 plays in 38 seconds. The next Sooner possession used the hurry-up offense again, leading to a Jay O'Neal touchdown sneak to make it
14?6.
Maryland tried to narrow the lead, but
Jerry Tubbs
intercepted a pass at the Sooner 26. Maryland tried to score again in the fourth, even reaching Oklahoma's 30. However, Carl Dodd intercepted Lynn Beightol's pass and returned it 82 yards for the touchdown, sealing the victory for the Sooners; they had already sealed the national championship as
both final polls
were released in late November, at the end of the regular season.
Game information
|
- First quarter
- No scoring
- Second quarter
- Third quarter
- Fourth quarter
|
Statistics
[
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]
Statistics
|
UMD
|
OKLA
|
First downs
|
9
|
16
|
Plays?yards
|
233
|
255
|
Rushes?yards
|
187
|
202
|
Passing yards
|
46
|
53
|
Passing: comp?att?int
|
3-10-3
|
4-10-1
|
Time of possession
|
|
|
Team
|
Category
|
Player
|
Statistics
|
Maryland
|
Passing
|
|
|
Rushing
|
|
|
Receiving
|
|
|
Oklahoma
|
Passing
|
|
|
Rushing
|
|
|
Receiving
|
|
|
Aftermath
[
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]
The Terrapins did not return to the Orange Bowl for 46 years, until January
2002
, also a defeat. Oklahoma again went undefeated in
1956
and repeated as consensus national champions, but did not play a bowl game. At the time, the Big Seven had a no-repeat policy for the postseason, so the Sooners did not play in bowl games after the
1954
and 1956 seasons. They returned to the Orange Bowl the
following season
in January
1958
and won, but their win streak had been ended at 47 by
Notre Dame
in mid-November with a
7?0
shutout in Norman.
References
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]
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History & conference tie-ins
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Games
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Notes
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- The game was also the national title game (
Bowl Coalition
,
Bowl Alliance
, or
Bowl Championship Series
) in 1994, 1995, 1998, 2001, and 2005.
- There was an Orange Bowl in January and December in 1996, 2014, and 2021.
- The 2015, 2018, and 2021 (December) editions were
College Football Playoff
semifinals.
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