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1958 Cotton Bowl Classic
1958 Cotton Bowl Classic
22nd Cotton Bowl Classic
Navy Midshipmen	Rice Owls
(8–1–1)	(7–3)
Independent	SWC
20	7
Head coach: ; Eddie Erdelatz	Head coach: ; Jess Neely
AP	Coaches
5	6
AP	Coaches
8	7
Date	January 1, 1958
Season	1957
Stadium	Cotton Bowl
Location	Dallas, Texas
MVP	Tom Forrestal (Navy QB) ; Tony Stremic (Navy G)
Favorite	Navy by 1 point
Referee	Albie Booth (ECAC;; split crew: ECAC, SWC)
Attendance	75,504
Payout	US$160,000 per team
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Tom Harmon,; Forest Evashevski
Cotton Bowl Classic
< 1957	1959 >

The 1958 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 22nd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday, January 1. Part of the 1957–58 bowl game season, it matched the independent and fifth-ranked Navy Midshipmen and the No. 8 Rice Owls of the Southwest Conference (SWC). Slightly favored,^[1] Navy won 20–7.^[3]^[4]

Teams

This was the only bowl game of the season that matched two top-ten teams in the final AP Poll, which was released in early December.^[5] This was the first Cotton Bowl Classic televised by CBS.

Navy

The fifth-ranked Midshipmen (8–1–1) were favored by a point.^[1] They lost early in the season at North Carolina and tied #16 Duke in November. Notable late season wins were at #5 Notre Dame (20–6) and a shutout of #10 Army (14–0). It was Navy's third appearance in a major bowl and first Cotton Bowl.

Rice

The eighth-ranked Owls (7–3) had been to three previous Cotton Bowls, two within the decade, and finished first in the Southwest Conference for the fourth time in eleven years.

Game summary

Rice never recovered after Navy led 13–0 at halftime on touchdown runs by Joe Tranchini and Harry Hurst. Team captain Ned Oldham added another early in the third quarter to give Navy a commanding 20–0 lead.^[3]^[4] Ken Williams—stepfather of pro wrestler Steve Austin—caught a touchdown pass from Frank Ryan to narrow the lead to 13, but Rice never seriously threatened from that point on. Navy outgained Rice on ground by 222 yards to 137 as the Owls committed six turnovers. Forrestal and Ryan both had 13 completions, which set a Cotton Bowl record.

Scoring

First quarter

Navy – Joe Tranchini 1-yard run (Roland Brandquist kick failed)

Second quarter

Navy – Harry Hurst 13-yard run (Ned Oldham kick)

Third quarter

Navy – Oldham 19-yard run (Oldham kick)
Rice – Ken Williams 8-yard pass from Frank Ryan (King Hill kick)

Fourth quarter

No scoring

Aftermath

Rice did not win another conference championship until 1994; their next bowl win was in December 2008, and they have yet to return to the Cotton Bowl.

Navy reached the Cotton Bowl six years later (with Roger Staubach at quarterback), but lost to top-ranked Texas, and have not returned.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Sooners, Navy favored today". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 1, 1958. p. 10.
^ "Navy, Rice get $160,000 each". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 2, 1958. p. 19.
^ ^a ^b "Tom Forrestal leads Navy to 20-7 victory over Rice". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. January 2, 1958. p. 18.
^ ^a ^b Ratliff, Harold (January 2, 1958). "Forrestal pilots Navy in 20-7 rout of Rice". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 17.
^ "Auburn voted national grid champs by AP". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 3, 1957. p. 2B.