1955 Orange Bowl

The 1955 Orange Bowl was the 21st edition of the college football bowl game, held in Miami, Florida, on Saturday, January 1. It matched the Duke Blue Devils of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Seven Conference. Duke, ranked fourteenth in both polls, was favored by two touchdowns,[1] and won, 34–7.[2][3][4]

1955 Orange Bowl
21st Orange Bowl
Duke Blue Devils Nebraska Cornhuskers
(7–2–1) (6–4)
ACC Big Seven
34 7
Head coach: 
William D. Murray		 Head coach: 
Bill Glassford
APCoaches
1414
APCoaches
NRNR
1234 Total
Duke 014614 34
Nebraska 0070 7
DateJanuary 1, 1955
Season1954
StadiumBurdine Stadium
LocationMiami, Florida
FavoriteDuke by 14 points[1]
RefereeCliff Ogden (Big Seven;
split crew: Big Seven, ACC)
Attendance68,750
United States TV coverage
NetworkCBS
AnnouncersBob Neal

Unranked Nebraska was the Big Seven runner-up to undefeated Oklahoma, the defending Orange Bowl champions. The Sooners were not invited due to the conference's no-repeat rule for the postseason.[1][3][5]

Included in the record attendance was Vice President Richard Nixon,[2] an alumnus of Duke's law school.

Teams
Main article: 1954 college football season

Both teams were making their first Orange Bowl appearance.

Duke
Main article: 1954 Duke Blue Devils football team

The Blue Devils won all four of their conference games; they tied Purdue and lost to both Army and Navy. This was Duke's fourth bowl game appearance, and the first in ten years.

Nebraska
Main article: 1954 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

The unranked Huskers were making their second bowl appearance, the other was fourteen years earlier. Nebraska had four losses in the regular season, the last was a 55–7 drubbing at #3 Oklahoma.[5]

Scoring summary
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
  • Duke – Bob Pascal 7-yard run (Jim Nelson kick)
  • Duke – Jerry Kocourek 5-yard pass from Jerry Barger (Nelson kick)
Third quarter
  • Nebraska – Don Comstock 3-yard run (Bob Smith kick)
  • Duke – Sonny Sorrell 5-yard pass from Barger (kick failed)
Fourth quarter
  • Duke – Nick McKeithan 1-yard run (Nelson kick)
  • Duke – Sam Eberdt 3-yard run (Nelson kick)
Source:[6][7]

Statistics
Statistics    Duke    Nebraska
First Downs236
Rushes–yards64–28834–84
Passing yards8226
Passes (C–A–I)7–13–01–9–2
Total Offense77–37043–110
Punts–average5–26.67–28.9
Fumbles–lost2–10–0
Turnovers12
Penalties–yards2–302–20
Source:[6][7]

References
  1. "Busy scoreboard eyed as Duke, Nebraska tangle". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 1, 1955. p. 8.
  2. "Duke loses to Huskers 34-7 in Orange Bowl". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 1, 1955. p. 1C.
  3. Funk, Ben (January 2, 1955). "Duke rips Huskers 34-7". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). Associated Press. p. 1C.
  4. "The 1950s | Orange Bowl".
  5. "Oklahoma tramples Nebraska, 55 to 7". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. November 21, 1954. p. 2, section 3.
  6. "Game-by-game recaps: 1955" (PDF). 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl media guide. January 2019. p. 29.
  7. "Bowl games: 1955 Orange Bowl" (PDF). 2005 Nebraska Cornhuskers football media guide. (supplement). 2005. Archived from the original on July 23, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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