Today's Tidbit... Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun
Some teams have trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time, but the 1949 Emory & Henry gridders doubled up twice, winning two conference championships and playing in two bowl games. In the finest season in school history, the Emory & Henry Wasps buzzed through the regular season to finish 10-0.
By going 2-0 in their first season of play in the Virginia Little Six Conference and 4-0 in the Smokey Mountain Conference, Emory & Henry won two conference titles. The Wasps tossed the ball all over the field in their 32-6 victory over Randolph-Macon in the final regular season finale to earn a trip to play Hanover of Indiana in the Burley Bowl in Johnson City, Tennessee, five days later on Thanksgiving Day. Like many bowls named for local flora, the Burley Bowl earned its title from a type of tobacco and for being part of the annual Tobacco Festival. The 1949 game was the fifth of twelve Burley Bowls featuring teams such as Emory & Henry, East Tennessee, and West Chester.
Game day opened with the governor's arrival, a parade featuring a few high school bands and 28 queens from local communities, all of which prepared the crowd of 12,000 for the 2:15 kickoff, as they hoped the rain would hold off as forecasted.
Facing a Hanover College team that had given up 33 points all season, the Wasps stung early and often behind the arm of quarterback Chick Davis and the legs of halfback Bob Miller, nesting a 32-0 lead before the rain started falling at the end of the first half.
Neither team scored in the second half as the rain made a mess of the field and the game.
Most would consider 11-0 a successful season. Still, before the Burley Bowl, Emory & Henry received feelers about playing in the Tangerine Bowl on January 2, 1950. Their dominant performance against Hanover convinced the Orlando powers-that-be to invite them to face St. Vincent of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in the only bowl game of the season featuring two undefeated teams. The Tangerine Bowl was a low-budget affair, forcing St. Vincent to drive to Orlando on a three-day trip that saw the wheels turn for 540, 340, and 223 miles on successive days.
It was anyone's guess who should be favored in the contest. Both teams had offensive firepower, Emory & Henry running the Split-T and St. Vincent running the Adaptable T. More critical for St. Vincent, they had given up only 6 points all year, so they played a little defense.
The 10,000 Tangerine Bowl attendees saw an exciting, low-scoring game highlighted by a long second-quarter punt return by St. Vincent's Vince Sundry, setting up a touchdown and conversion. Emory & Henry responded on the next possession with a 64-yard touchdown drive when the power of two again came into play. The Wasps, who had struggled with extra point kicking all year, missed the point after touchdown, but St. Vincent was offside on the play. Having won two conferences and playing in their second bowl game, Emory & Henry received a second chance to convert, but the Wasps missed that one, leaving them with a 7-6 deficit at the half.
Emory & Henry dominated the second half and threatened several times. However, two interceptions in St. Vincent territory, a goal-line fumble, and St. Vincent's defense stiffening each time it mattered left Emory & Henry scoreless in the second stanza, resulting in St. Vincent going home the winner.
There may be another team out there that played in two bowl games in the same season (in a non-playoff setting), but Emory & Henry is the only team I know that went 1-1 in one bowl season.
Please comment below if you know of another team that doubled their pleasure, like the 1949 Emory & Henry team.
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Hardin Simmons played in three bowl games in 1948. Winning 2 and tying one.
The Hardin–Simmons Cowboys have played in 8 NCAA-sanctioned bowl games with a record of 5–2–1.[9][dead link]
Season Date Bowl W/L Opponent PF PA Coach Notes
1935 January 1, 1936 Sun Bowl T New Mexico A&M 14 14 Frank Kimbrough notes
1936 January 1, 1937 Sun Bowl W Texas Western 34 6 Frank Kimbrough notes
1942 January 1, 1943 Sun Bowl L Second Air Force 7 13 Clark Jarnagin notes
1946 January 4, 1947 Alamo Bowl W Denver 20 0 Warren B. Woodson notes
1947 January 1, 1948 Harbor Bowl W San Diego State 53 0 Warren B. Woodson
1948 December 11, 1948 Grape Bowl†T Pacific (CA) 35 35 Warren B. Woodson
1948 December 18, 1948 Shrine Bowl W Ouachita Baptist 41 12 Warren B. Woodson
1948 December 30, 1948 Camellia Bowl W Wichita State 49 12 Warren B. Woodson
1958 December 31, 1958 Sun Bowl L Wyoming 7 14 Sammy Baugh notes
Total 9 games 5–2–2
Arkansas State played Camp Breckinridge December 2, 1951 in the Refrigerator Bowl in Evansville, Indiana. Arkansas State won 46-12. They the went to Orlando to play in the Tangerine Bowl January 1, 1952 losing to Stetson 35-20.
That Arkansas State team went 10-2 with the other loss 32-0 at Mississippi State. A-State shut out 7 teams. Miss St and Stetson only teams to give up fewer than 34 points to A-State that year.