The 1956 Sun Bowl featured the Wyoming Cowboys and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. This was the first Sun Bowl played on January 2 since 1950.

1956 Sun Bowl
1234 Total
Wyoming 00714 21
Texas Tech 0077 14
DateJanuary 2, 1956
Season1955
StadiumKidd Field
LocationEl Paso, Texas
RefereeJohn Hart (Border;
split crew: Border, Mountain States)
Attendance14,500
Sun Bowl
 < 1955  1957

Background

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Texas Tech was the champions of the Border Conference while Wyoming finished fourth in the Skyline Conference.

Game summary

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Larry Zowada threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to John Watts to break the scoreless tie for Wyoming. But Tech responded with a Ronnie Herr touchdown run to tie the game going into the fourth quarter. Tech scored in the fourth on Fewin's touchdown run. But that is when Wyoming took over, as Zowada threw another touchdown pass to tie the game up. After Tech received the ball on the kickoff, Don Schmidt fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Pete Kutches. Three plays later, Ova Stapleton scored on a touchdown run, and from that point on the game was sealed for the Cowboys. Jim Crawford rushed for 103 yards on 18 carries and was named MVP.[1][2]

Statistics

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Statistics Texas Tech Wyoming
First downs 13 12
Rushing yards 202 129
Passing yards 57 172
Total offense 259 301
Passing 6–14–1 8–12–1
Fumbles–lost 5–3 1–0
Penalties–yards 3–35 10–82
Punts–average 4–34.0 7–30.0

Aftermath

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Weaver remained coach and athletic director until 1960. They did not reach the Sun Bowl again until 1964 and not win a bowl game until 1973. Tech has not won a Sun Bowl since 1951.

Wyoming went 10–0 the following season and Crawford led the nation in rushing yards. But believing that they would get a better bowl appearance, they declined the Sun Bowl invitation. No other invitations came. They reached the Sun Bowl again in 1958 and 1966, winning both times.

References

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  1. ^ "Wyoming 21, Texas Tech 14 | Recaps – Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | December 31, 2021 | el Paso, Texas".
  2. ^ "Auto PDF p hotos s chools text sports m footbl auto PDF 05mediaguide bowlhistory".