1954 Cotton Bowl Classic
| 1954 Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 12th Man Tackle Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1954 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1953 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Cotton Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Dallas, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | T Richard Chapman (Rice) End Dan Hart (Rice) HB Dickey Maegle (Rice) |
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| Attendance | 75,504 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1954 Cotton Bowl Classic, part of the 1953 bowl game season, took place on January 1, 1954, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. The competing teams were the Alabama Crimson Tide, representing the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as conference champions, and the Rice Owls, representing the Southwest Conference (SWC) as conference co-champions. Rice won the game 28–6, but its victory was overshadowed by Alabama's Tommy Lewis and his "12th man tackle" of Rice running back Dicky Moegle in the second quarter.
The 1953 Alabama squad won only six games all year, and only four of seven conference games. However, the other three conference games were ties, and a 4–0–3 record was good enough to win Alabama the SEC title. It was 'Bama's first conference championship since 1945 and last until 1961. Following their victory over Auburn in the Iron Bowl to clinch the conference championship, Alabama accepted an invitation to play in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day. The appearance was the second for Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, as they defeated Texas A&M 29–21 in the 1942 game.
Rice accepted a bid for the Cotton Bowl following their 41–19 victory over Baylor to clinch a share of the conference championship with Texas. The appearance marked the third for Rice in the Cotton Bowl, as they defeated Colorado 28–14 in the 1938 game and North Carolina 27–13 in the 1950 game.
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