1946 Gator Bowl

The First Gator Bowl

(4–3–1)

(2–4–3)

Head coach:
Peahead Walker

Head coach:
John D. McMillan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wake Forest	6	0	6	14	26
South Carolina	0	7	0	7	14

Date

January 1, 1946

Season

1945

Stadium

Fairfield Stadium

Location

Jacksonville, Florida

MVP

Back Nick Sacrinty (Wake Forest)

Attendance

7,362

The 1946 Gator Bowl was the first inaugural game and it featured the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the South Carolina Gamecocks, both from the Southern Conference. It was one of only two bowl rematches of a regular season game that ended in a tie.

Background

This was the first bowl game appearance for either team. The two had played earlier in the season (November 22nd) in Charlotte, ending in a tie, 13–13. Wake Forest had finished 4–0–1 down the stretch, while South Carolina was 3–3–2, but were still invited to play.

Game summary

Nick Sacrinty scored for Wake Forest on a touchdown run to give them a 6–0 lead in the first quarter. South Carolina responded with a Bobby Giles touchdown run to have a 7–6 halftime lead. But Wake Forest would score three straight running touchdowns with two Dick Brinkley touchdowns and a Bob Smathers touchdown to have a 26–7 lead. South Carolina would have a touchdown late on an interception return, but Wake Forest held on to win with the run game being their strong suit, with 378 of their 396 yards being on the run, outgaining the Gamecocks.^[1]

Aftermath

Wake Forest has not played in the Gator Bowl since this game, and they would have to wait until 1992 for their next bowl win. South Carolina would not win a bowl game until 1995, on their 9th bowl appearance, with four being in Jacksonville.

Statistics

Statistics	Wake Forest	South Carolina
First Downs	24	7
Yards Rushing	378	88
Yards Passing	18	69
Total Yards	396	157
Fumbles-Lost	3-1	3-1
Interceptions	2	1
Penalties-Yards	8-70	1-5

References

↑ Brittany Norris. "1st Gator Bowl" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-01-13. Retrieved 2015-01-11.

TaxSlayer Bowl

History & conference tie-ins	History Broadcasters Big Ten Conference Southeastern Conference

Games	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1960 1960 1961 1962 1963 1965 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1971 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1989 1989 1991 1991 1992 1993 1994 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2016

Notes	There was a Gator Bowl in January and December in 1954, 1960, 1965, 1971, 1989, and 1991.

South Carolina Gamecocks bowl games

Wake Forest Demon Deacons bowl games

1946 Gator Bowl 1949 Dixie Bowl 1979 Tangerine Bowl 1992 Independence Bowl 1999 Aloha Bowl 2002 Seattle Bowl 2007 Orange Bowl 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl 2008 EagleBank Bowl 2011 Music City Bowl 2016 Military Bowl

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