| 1937 Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 1st Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1937 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1936 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Cotton Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Dallas,Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | CKi Aldrich (TCU)[1] QBSammy Baugh (TCU)[1] EL. D. Meyer (TCU)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Benny Boynton | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 17,000[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
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The1937 Cotton Bowl Classic, the firstCotton Bowl Classic game and part of the1936–37 bowl game season, took place on January 1, 1937, at theCotton Bowl inDallas,Texas. The competing teams were theMarquette Golden Avalanche, competing as afootball independent, and theTCU Horned Frogs, representing theSouthwest Conference (SWC) as conference champions. TCU won the inaugural contest, 16–6.[3][4][5]
The 1936 Marquette squad finished the regular season with a 7–1 record after losing toDuquesne in their regular season finale.[6] On December 9, Marquette accepted an invitation to play in the inaugural Cotton Bowl Classic on New Years Day.[7] The appearance marked the first all-time bowl appearance for the Golden Avalanche.[7] Marquette accepted the bid also in part to expand their brand into theSouthern United States and make contacts with other southern football teams to schedule future contests.[7] Marquette never again played in a bowl game and discontinued its football program after the 1960 season.
TCU finished the regular season with an 8–2–2 record with ties againstMississippi State andSMU and losses againstTexas Tech andTexas A&M. After they defeatedSanta Clara in their regular season finale, the Cotton Bowl extended TCU an invitation to the game overArkansas.[7] On December 16, the Horned Frogs were granted permission from theSouthwest Conference to compete against the Golden Avalanche in the Cotton Bowl Classic.[8] The appearance marked the third all-time bowl appearance for TCU.
L. D. Meyer scored the first points of the game when he successfully connected on a 33-yardfield goal to give the Horned Frogs an early 3–0 lead.[3] Marquette responded with their only points of the game later in the quarter whenArthur Guepe had apunt return of 60 yards for a touchdown.[9] After a failedextra point attempt byWard Cuff, the Golden Avalanche led 6–3.[3] The Horned Frogs retook the lead for good at the end of the first quarter when Meyer caught a 55-yardSammy Baugh touchdown pass, and with the extra point led 10–6.[3] Meyer then scored his second touchdown of the game when the second quarter when Vic Montgomery threw him an 18-yard touchdown strike.[3] Leading 16–6 entering the second half, neither team would score again giving TCU the victory.[3] For their performances,Ki Aldrich, Baugh and Meyer were named the Most Valuable Players of the game.[1]
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