| 1943 Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 9th Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
 Burdine Stadium inMiami, Florida, hosted the Orange Bowl. | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1943 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1942 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Burdine Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Miami, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | L.L. McMasters (SEC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 25,166 | ||||||||||||||||||
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The1943 Orange Bowl, part of the1942bowl game season, took place on January 1, 1943, at theOrange Bowl inMiami, Florida. The competing teams were theAlabama Crimson Tide, representing theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) and theBoston College Eagles, competing as afootball independent. Alabama won the game 37–21.
The 1942 Alabama squad finished the regular season 8–3 with losses coming to theGeorgia Bulldogs,Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Georgia Navy Pre-Flight (anall-star team of military personnel). The Monday following the 35–19 defeat against Georgia Navy Pre-Flight, Alabama accepted a bid to play in the Orange Bowl on New Years Day.[1] The appearance marked the first for Alabama in the Orange Bowl, and their seventh overall.[1]
The 1942 Boston College squad entered their final game of the regular season against the rivalHoly Cross Crusaders ranked No. 1 with a perfect record of 8–0.[2] In the contest, the Crusaders upset the heavily favored Eagles by a final score of 55–12 resulting in Boston College losing their No. 1 ranking and finishing the regular season with a record of 8–1.[2] The following Monday, the Eagles accepted a bid to play in the Orange Bowl on New Years Day.[1] The appearance marked the first for Boston College in the Orange Bowl, and their third overall.[1]
Looking to rebound from their loss to Holy Cross in the regular season finale, Boston College was looking for redemption against the Crimson Tide.[3] With this mindset entering the game, the Eagles raced to a 14–0 first quarter lead.[4]All-AmericanfullbackMike Holovak scored both first-quarter touchdowns for the Eagles on a 65-yard reception fromEdward Doherty and on a 33-yard run.[4] Alabama responded with a 22 point second quarter to take a 22–21 lead at the half. Wheeler Leeth scored the Crimson Tide's first points on a 14-yard touchdown reception fromRuss Mosley and Ted Cook had Alabama's second score on a 17-yard reception from Johnny August. George Hecht missed bothextra points and Alabama only trailed by two 14–12.[4] The teams then traded touchdown with Bama scoring on a 40-yard Tom Jenkins run and Boston College on a one-yard Mike Holovak run with a 15-yard George Hechtfield goal at the end of the end of the quarter giving Alabama a 22–21 lead athalftime.[4]
In the second half, the Alabama defenseshutout the Boston College offense, and the offense scored two more touchdowns. Johnny August reached the endzone on a 15-yard touchdown run in the third and Tom Jenkins on a one-yard run in the fourth.[4] The final points of the game came late in the fourth when on a punt the Eagles' Harry Connolly was tackled byJoe Domnanovich in the endzone for asafety on a failedpunt attempt.[4]
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