1951 Sun Bowl

1951 Sun Bowl
West Texas State Buffaloes Cincinnati Bearcats (9–1) (8–3) Border Conference MAC 14 13 Head coach:  Frank Kimbrough Head coach:  Sid Gillman
1 2 3 4 Total West Texas State 0 7 7 0 14 Cincinnati 0 6 7 0 13
Date	January 1, 1951
Season	1950
Stadium	Sun Bowl
Location	El Paso, Texas
Attendance	16,000

The 1951 Sun Bowl was a college football bowl game that took place in El Paso, Texas, on January 1, 1951, between the West Texas State Buffaloes and the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. This was the 17th Sun Bowl (16th between collegiate teams) that had been played in El Paso, the second oldest bowl game, the only older being the Rose Bowl.

Scoring summary

Gene Rossi threw 14-of-29 for 170 yards. The winning touchdown occurred on a fourth down punt. Punter Frank Wise moved under center and took the snap, lateraling to the right to quarterback Gene Mayfield. Mayfield completed a pass to Billy Cross at the Cincinnati 40 and Cross broke several tackles to finish the 62-yard touchdown dash. With the game running out, the Bearcats managed to get to the West Texas A&M 27, but two straight sacks doomed Cincinnati.

Second Quarter

• West Texas A&M - Bill Cross 4-yard run (Roy Lee Dunn Kick)
• Cincinnati - Tom McKeever 3-yard run (kick failed)

Third Quarter

• Cincinnati - Bob Stratton 17-yard pass from Gene Rossi (Bill Shalonsky kick)
• West Texas A&M - Cross 62-yard pass from Gene Mayfield (Dunn kick)

Statistics

Statistics	Cincinnati	West Texas A&M
First Downs	12	19
Rushing Yards	106	238
Passing yards	170	123
Passing A-C-I	30-14-3	15-6-3
Punts-Average	5-30.4	4-39.5
Fumbles-Lost	3-0	3-0
Penalties-Yards	8-70	8-80