| 1941 Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 7th Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1941 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1940 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Burdine Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Miami, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Emil H. Heintz (ECAC; (split crew: ECAC, SEC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 29,554 | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1941 Orange Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the Mississippi State Maroons and the Georgetown Hoyas.
The Maroons finished second in the Southeastern Conference, as first-place winner Tennessee played in the Sugar Bowl. This was Mississippi State's first bowl game since 1937.
Jim Daniels was set to punt the ball from his end zone when Hunter Corhern blocked the punt and John Tripson recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Billy Jefferson increased the lead on a 2-yard touchdown dive. A key play called back proved to be costly for the Hoyas. Georgetown QB Julius Koshlap hit Arthur Lenski for 46 yards to the Mississippi State 4. It was called back due to the referee claiming Koshlap was not 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage before throwing the ball (which was a rule at the time). Jimmy Castiglia narrowed the lead to 14-7 on his touchdown run, but the Maroons held the Hoyas to no more points, winning their first ever bowl game.[1][2]
The Maroons (who changed their name to Bulldogs in 1960) did not make a bowl game again until 1963 and an Orange Bowl until 2014. Georgetown did not make a bowl game again until 1950.
| Statistics | Mississippi State | Georgetown |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 8 | 14 |
| Rushing yards | 106 | 125 |
| Passing yards | 52 | 104 |
| Total offense | 158 | 229 |
| Interceptions | 0 | 3 |
| Punts–average | 11–36.8 | 8–28.2 |
| Fumbles–lost | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Penalties–yards | 11–71 | 8–90 |