1953 Sugar Bowl

1953 Sugar Bowl
1953 Sugar Bowl
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	Ole Miss Rebels
(11–0)	(8–0–2)
SEC	SEC
24	7
Head coach: ; Bobby Dodd	Head coach: ; Johnny Vaught
AP	Coaches
2	2
AP	Coaches
7	7
Date	January 1, 1953
Season	1952
Stadium	Tulane Stadium
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	Leon Hardeman
Favorite	Georgia Tech by 7
Referee	Fred Koster (SEC)
Attendance	80,187
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC
Announcers	Jim Britt and Tom Leavitt
Sugar Bowl
< 1952	1954 >

The 1953 Sugar Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on January 1, 1953, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. The game the featured the second-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and the seventh-ranked Ole Miss Rebels. Georgia Tech won 24–7 to complete their national championship season. (Undefeated Michigan State was the top-ranked team in both final polls, released in early December)

This was the first televised Sugar Bowl, carried by ABC.^[1]

Background

The Yellow Jackets were champions of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) with a 7–0 conference record and ranked #2 going into the game. Ole Miss finished third in the SEC, but had an undefeated regular season, highlighted by an upset win over Maryland, and were ranked in the top ten for the first time. This was the first bowl game for Ole Miss since 1948 and the program's first Sugar Bowl. This was Georgia Tech's first Sugar Bowl since 1944.^[2]

Game summary

Ole Miss scored first on a 4-yard touchdown run by Wilson Dillard, as they took a 7–0 first quarter lead. In the second quarter, Georgia Tech scored on a 1-yard Bill Brigman run to tie the game at 7. Pepper Rodgers kicked a 25-yard field goal as Georgia Tech went up 10–7 at halftime. In the third quarter, Leon Hardeman scored on a 6-yard touchdown run as Georgia Tech went up 17–7. In the fourth quarter, Rodgers threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Knox, as Georgia Tech won 24–7. Hardeman went 76 yards on 14 rushes with one touchdown and was named MVP.^[3]

Aftermath

Both teams made two more Sugar Bowls appearances in the 1950s. Ole Miss added four more in the 1960s.

Statistics

Statistics	GT	Ole Miss
First Downs	16	15
Yards Rushing	194	137
Yards Passing	101	103
Total Yards	295	287
Punts-Average	6-41.8	7-35.4
Fumbles-Lost	5-2	5-3
Interceptions	1	3
Penalties-Yards	5-42	6-60

References

^ ^a ^b "Unbeaten Tech, Mississippi in 19th Sugar Bowl". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. January 1, 1953. p. 9.
^ "Reference at www.allstatesugarbowl.org". Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
^ "Reference at www.allstatesugarbowl.org".

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[sahetr-1] "Unbeaten Tech, Mississippi in 19th Sugar Bowl". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. January 1, 1953. p. 9.

[2] "Reference at www.allstatesugarbowl.org". Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2015.

[3] "Reference at www.allstatesugarbowl.org".

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History & conference tie-ins	History Tulane Stadium Georgia Dome Caesars Superdome College Football Playoff Southeastern Conference Big 12 Conference
Games	1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 (Jan) 1972 (Dec) 1973 1974 1975 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 (Jan) 1995 (Dec) 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (Jan) 2022 (Dec) 2024 2025
Notes	The 2006 game took place in Atlanta, Georgia due to Hurricane Katrina. The game was also the national title game for either the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, or Bowl Championship Series in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004. There was a Sugar Bowl in January and December in 1972, 1995 and 2022. The game was a College Football Playoff semifinal in its 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2024 editions.