1947 Sun Bowl
| 1947 Sun Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1947 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1946 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Kidd Field | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | El Paso, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | approximately 10,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$9,438 per team | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1947 Sun Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies of the Southern Conference and the Cincinnati Bearcats. It took place on January 1, 1947, at Kidd Field in El Paso, Texas. Cincinnati defeated Virginia Tech 18–6 in cold and icy conditions that led to a scoreless first half and three blocked extra points by Virginia Tech. The game was the first NCAA-sanctioned post-season football contest for Cincinnati, and was the first bowl game in Virginia Tech history. The 1947 game was also the 13th edition of the Sun Bowl, which had been played every year since 1935. In exchange for their participation in the event, each team received $9,438.
The 1947 Sun Bowl game was held as the culminating event of the Sun Carnival and was held at 15,000-seat Kidd Field on the campus of Texas Western University, today known as the University of Texas El Paso. The matchup of Virginia Tech and Cincinnati was out of character for the Sun Bowl, which traditionally matched the champion of the Border Conference with the best possible opponent.Hardin-Simmons University, champions of the Border Conference, declined a Sun Bowl bid, as did the second-place team, Texas Tech. With no other option, a member of the Sun Bowl Committee—who happened to be an alumnus of Virginia Tech—suggested inviting the Hokies to play against Cincinnati, which had already accepted an invitation.
Virginia Tech came into the game having gone 3-3-3 under coach James Kitts. Kitts, in his first year replacing coach H. M. McEver, had coached the team in 1941 before the outbreak of World War II interrupted the Virginia Tech football program. During the 1946 season, Kitts' team defeated the No. 12 N.C. State Wolfpack for the first win over an Associated Press Top 25 team in school history, the Washington and Lee University Generals, and the Hokies' traditional rivals, the Virginia Military Institute Keydets. During Virginia Tech's preparations before its departure for El Paso, heavy snow fell on Blacksburg, Virginia, forcing the team to use snowplows and construction equipment to clear a space for the team to practice. The Hokies traveled to El Paso without star punter and rusher Bobby Smith, who had been injured in Virginia Tech's final regular-season game.
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