1959 Orange Bowl

The 1959 Orange Bowl featured the Syracuse Orangemen and the Oklahoma Sooners in the 25th annual Orange Bowl.

Background

This was Oklahoma's 4th Orange Bowl in six seasons and 13th straight Big Seven Conference title while Syracuse was making their 2nd Orange Bowl appearancein six seasons.

Game summary

Oklahoma scored early with a Prentice Gautt rushing touchdown three minutes into the game. With the quarter running down, Syracuse fumbled the ball back to the Sooners after driving to the Sooners red zone. With 2:56 left in the quarter, Brewster Hobby caught a lateral and then passed to Ross Coyle, who ran 79 yards for the touchdown. After a scoreless second quarter, Hobby sealed the game when he returned a Syracuse punt 40 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0. Mark Weber gave the Orangmen their only points of the game on his touchdown run after a 69 yard drive, but the conversion failed, as the two teams failed to score again. Despite Syracuse's run attack, 2 fumbles by the backs and 2 passes that were intercepted doomed the Orange as Oklahoma won their 4th Orange Bowl in six seasons.

1954 Orange Bowl

The 1954 Orange Bowl was a postseason American college football bowl game between the first-ranked Maryland Terrapins and the fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners. It was the twentieth edition of the Orange Bowl and took place at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami, Florida on January 1, 1954.

The game was the first Orange Bowl to feature tie-ins between the Big Seven Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) champions. It was the first-ever meeting of the two teams. Maryland and Oklahoma were head coached by former colleagues Jim Tatum and Bud Wilkinson, respectively, who had previously coached together at the United States Navy's Iowa Pre-Flight School and the University of Oklahoma.

Pre-game buildup

The game was the first postseason bowl game in which the players were required to play on both the offense and defense. This was a result of the NCAA's newly instituted "one-platoon" rules that limited player substitutions. It also featured the Orange Bowl's first conference tie-in between the Big Seven and the ACC.

2015 Orange Bowl

The 2015 Capital One Orange Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on December 31, 2015 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The 82nd Orange Bowl was a College Football Playoff semifinal with the winner of the game competing against the winner of the 2015 Cotton Bowl: Alabama Crimson Tide football in the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship, which took place at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It was one of the 2015–16 bowl games that concluded the 2015 FBS football season.

The game matched the undefeated and number 1 overall team in the nation, the Clemson Tigers, against the 1 loss Oklahoma Sooners.

This was the fifth overall meeting between these two teams, with Clemson winning the series 3–2. The game was a rematch of the previous year's Russell Athletic Bowl, which Clemson won 40–6.

Teams

The two participants for the game were two of the semifinalists which were the Clemson Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners.

Clemson

Clemson began the season hoping to improve on their 10-3 record from last year. In the preaseason poll, the Tigers ranked number 12, and to kick off the season, won their first 3 games. In their 4th game, they faced the undefeated and 6th ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, with both teams having playoff aspirations. Despite leading for most of the game, the game came down to a key 2 point conversion stop by Clemson, essentially sealing the game for the Tigers. The Tigers then won 4 more games to finally reach the number 1 ranking in all of the polls, just in time for a huge matchup with the defending ACC Champions, the Florida State Seminoles. Despite losing for most of the first half, Clemson came back in the 2nd half to win the game, 23-13. The Tigers then won the rest of their games, including a matchup with North Carolina in the ACC Championship game. Clemson won the game 45-37, to give Clemson their first ACC Championship since 2011.

1951 Orange Bowl

The 1951 Orange Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Miami Hurricanes and the Clemson Tigers.

Background

Although they finished 2nd in the Southern Conference due to a tie with South Carolina, the Tigers had not lost a single game on route to their first ever Orange Bowl appearance. Miami was playing their first Orange Bowl since 1946, their third overall (with three different head coaches).

Game summary

Fred Cone gave Clemson a 7-0 lead on his 1-yard touchdown run that culminated a 76-yard drive, which proved to be the halftime lead as the Hurricanes mustered just one first down in the first half. Six plays after receiving the opening kickoff in the second half, Glenn Smith caught a pass from Billy Hair for a touchdown to make it 13-0. Miami retaliated with a touchdown run by Harry Mallios that had been set up by a Smith run of 45 yards. After an interception by the Tigers, Miami took advantage and soon scored on a touchdown pass to lead 14-13. With six minutes to go in the game, Mallios returned a punt that seemed to be a 79-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach. However, penalties were called on Miami, driving them back to their own end zone. Halfback Frank Smith took a pitchout to try and drive the Hurricanes out of their own endzone, but he was tacked by defensive guard Sterling Smith in the endzone, giving the Tigers a 15-14 lead and ultimately the win.