Raisin Bowl

1949

Occidental 21

Colorado State 20

Occidental Fight Song

Note: Occidental College Tigers were undefeated at 8-0 and champions of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1948. Occidental was rated among the top six small college teams in the nation. They were one of twelve undefeated teams in the nation that year. Today, the SCIAC and Occidental compete at the Div. III level.

Colorado State, then called Colorado A&M, posted an 8-2 record to finish second in the Skyline Conference in 1948 and had stunned the University of Colorado at Boulder in the last game of the season to earn the Raisin Bowl bid. Colorado State would not attend another bowl game for 41 years. A star for the Rams was Eddie Hanna, an African-American. There were only 10 African-American players playing in the 21 bowl games that season. Three of these players represented Colorado A&M.

FRESNO, Jan I. (AP)- Three touchdown passes by second-string quarterback Don Ross gave undefeated Occidental College and 21-20 victory over Colorado A&M in the Raisin Bowl today and the prestige of being the only western team to win a New Year's Day Bowl game.

In the triumph, the little Southern California college became the only undefeated, untied team on the west coast at the end of the 1948 season.

Ignoring an intermittent rain that turned the field into a virtual quagmire and made for slippery ball-handling, Ross came off the bench to thrill the 10,000 spectators with his aerials in the third and fourth quarter.

Twice, the Bengals from Occidental were forced to come from behind in the fourth annual Raisin Bowl contest and it was the three perfect conversions of Fullback Steve Smith that resulted in the final one-point margin.

The Aggies scored first in the second quarter when Quarterback Bob Hainlen faked goal on the Occidental 13-yard line and passed to Halfback Keith Thompson who went over unmolested from the five. Hainlen missed the kick that might have tied the game later.

The Aggies climbed aboard a 13-0 lead a few minutes later when Left Half Eddie Hanna raced 71 yards down the sidelines to score and Frank Faucett's kick was good.

But in the third quarter Ross took over with the air attack that gave the Tigers a 40-yard edge in combined rushing and passing yards. He passed to Right End Bill Pearson from the 18 yard stripe for a score.

Then on the second play of the fourth quarter, after a 30 yard scamper by 145 pound halfback, Chuck Schlegel, and a 15 yard drive by Ted Calderone, Ross passed again to Pearson in end zone from 21 yards out.

The Aggies came right back when Hanna took a handoff on his own 21 and scampered 79 yards for a score. But Ross again stepped back and spotted a perfect 39-yard toss to Bob Levin who half-stumbled 30 yards into the end zone.

Colorado A&M's Eddie Hanna carries in the Raisin Bowl.

Colorado A&M's Bob Hainlen (#5) passes to Al Riegel (#45).

Attendance- 10,000

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

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