1945 Sugar Bowl

1945 Sugar Bowl
1945 Sugar Bowl
Alabama Crimson Tide	Duke Blue Devils
(5–1–2)	(5–4)
SEC	SoCon
26	29
Head coach: ; Frank Thomas	Head coach: ; Eddie Cameron
	AP
	11
Date	January 1, 1945
Season	1944
Stadium	Tulane Stadium
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
Referee	J.D. Thomason (SEC;; split crew: SEC, Southern)
Attendance	72,000
Sugar Bowl
< 1944	1946 >

The 1945 Sugar Bowl, part of the 1944 bowl game season, took place on January 1, 1945, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. The competing teams were the Alabama Crimson Tide, representing the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Duke Blue Devils, representing the Southern Conference (SoCon). Duke won the game 29–26.^[2]

Teams

Alabama

The 1942 Alabama squad finished the regular season 5–1–2 with its loss coming to the Georgia Bulldogs and the two ties coming against the LSU Tigers and the Tennessee Volunteers. With most of America's youth still serving in the armed forces, Frank Thomas scrambled to assemble a team in 1944. Finally he was able to fill out a roster, mostly composed of 17-year-old freshmen and students who had been rejected as unsuitable for military service. This team went down in Tide history as the "War Babies".^[3] On November 25, the Crimson Tide was invited to compete in the Sugar Bowl, marking the first time that a school had competed in the four major bowls at that time (Rose, Cotton, Orange and Sugar Bowls).^[4] The appearance marked the first for Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and their eighth overall bowl appearance.^[4]

Duke

Game summary

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	Alabama	Duke
1	12:35		67 yards, 5 plays		Duke	George Clark 14-yard touchdown run, Harold Raether kick good	0	7
1			64 yards, 6 plays		Alabama	Norwood Hodges 1-yard touchdown run, Hugh Morrow kick no good	6	7
1			97 yards, 7 plays		Alabama	Norwood Hodges 1-yard touchdown run, Hugh Morrow kick blocked	12	7
2			80 yards, 6 plays		Alabama	Ralph Jones 12-yard touchdown reception from Harry Gilmer, Hugh Morrow kick good	19	7
2			63 yards, 4 plays		Duke	Tom Davis 2-yard touchdown run, Harold Raether kick no good	19	13
3			64 yards, 12 plays		Duke	Tom Davis 1-yard touchdown run, Harold Raether kick good	19	20
4					Alabama	Interception returned 78 yards for touchdown by Hugh Morrow, Hugh Morrow kick good	26	20
4					Duke	Harry Gilmer intentionally grounded the ball in endzone for a safety	26	22
4			40 yards, 2 plays		Duke	George Clark 20-yard touchdown run, Harold Raether kick good	26	29
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							26	29

References

^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "Bowl/All-Star Game Records" (PDF). 2011 NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA.org. p. 33. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
^ "Duke ralley in final minutes beats fighting Tide in Sugar Bowl clash". The Tuscaloosa News. January 2, 1945. p. 7. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
^ Scott, Richard. Legends of Alabama Football. Sports Publishing LLC, 2004, ISBN 978-1-58261-277-5, p. 12
^ ^a ^b Bassett, Norman (November 26, 1944). "Alabama will play Duke eleven in Sugar Bowl game New Years Day". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 6. Retrieved January 9, 2011.

[1] National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "Bowl/All-Star Game Records" (PDF). 2011 NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA.org. p. 33. Retrieved September 30, 2011.

[January_2,_1945-2] "Duke ralley in final minutes beats fighting Tide in Sugar Bowl clash". The Tuscaloosa News. January 2, 1945. p. 7. Retrieved January 9, 2011.

[3] Scott, Richard. Legends of Alabama Football. Sports Publishing LLC, 2004, ISBN 978-1-58261-277-5, p. 12

[TCLNovember_26,_1944-4] Bassett, Norman (November 26, 1944). "Alabama will play Duke eleven in Sugar Bowl game New Years Day". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 6. Retrieved January 9, 2011.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Sugar Bowl
History & conference tie-ins	History Tulane Stadium Georgia Dome Caesars Superdome College Football Playoff New Year's Six 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.