| Game Name: | Cotton Bowl Classic |
| Subheader: | 21st Cotton Bowl Classic |
| Date Game Played: | January 1 |
| Year Game Played: | 1957 |
| Football Season: | 1956 |
| Home Name Short: | TCU |
| Home Nickname: | Horned Frogs |
| Home Record: | 7–3 |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 7 |
| Home 3Q: | 7 |
| Home 4Q: | 7 |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | 8 |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 8 |
| Home Rank Ap: | 14 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 14 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Syracuse |
| Visitor Nickname: | Orangemen |
| Visitor Record: | 7–1 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 13 |
| Mvp: | Jim Brown (Syracuse RB) Norman Hamilton (TCU T) |
| Type: | bg |
| Attendance: | 61,500 |
| Odds: | TCU by 4 points[1] |
| Referee: | C.W. Davis (SWC; split crew: SWC, Independent) |
The 1957 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 21st edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, on Tuesday, January 1. Part of the 1956–57 bowl game season, it matched the independent and eighth-ranked Syracuse Orangemen and No. 14 TCU Horned Frogs of the Southwest Conference (SWC).[2] Favored TCU held on to win by a point, 28–27.[3]
See main article: 1956 college football season.
See main article: 1956 Syracuse Orangemen football team. The Orangemen had just one loss (in September at Pittsburgh,[4] [5] [6] who lost in the Gator Bowl), but they were ranked eighth, led by senior running back Jim Brown, a consensus All-American. This was the second bowl appearance for Syracuse; their first was four years earlier in the Orange Bowl.
See main article: 1956 TCU Horned Frogs football team. TCU was runner-up in the Southwest Conference, but was invited due to first place Texas A&M being under NCAA sanctions.[7] This was the Horned Frogs' fifth Cotton Bowl appearance; they won their first in 1937 (with quarterback Sammy Baugh), but dropped their next three (1945, 1952, 1956).
TCU had two 14-point leads, both near the end of the halves. John Nikkel started the scoring for TCU with a touchdown catch from Chuck Curtis, and in the second quarter, Jim Shofner caught a touchdown to make it 14–0. But Jim Brown ran for two touchdowns in a span of 6:52 to tie the game at halftime. Late in the third quarter after Brown fumbled the ball back to TCU, Curtis scored on a touchdown run to give TCU the lead back. After another Brown fumble early in the fourth quarter, Jim Swink ran it in from three yards out to give TCU a 28–14 lead with under twelve minutes to go. Syracuse went 49 yards in 13 plays and scored on a Brown run, who lined up for his third PAT attempt of the day to narrow the lead to seven.
TCU's Chico Mendoza blocked the extra point to keep the lead at eight points. Syracuse had one last drive in them, going 43 yards in three plays. Jim Ridlon caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Charles Zimmerman with 1:16 left, and Brown's kick narrowed the lead to 28–27. The two-point conversion was not introduced until the 1958 season. Rather than attempt the expected onside kick, Syracuse opted to kick it deep, but TCU held on and did not give up the ball, in the Horned Frogs' last bowl win until 1998. Brown (back) and Norman Hamilton (line) were named the outstanding players of the game.
First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
Fourth quarter
| Statistics | TCU | Syracuse | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 15 | 16 | |
| Rushes–yards | 56–133 | 53–235 | |
| Passing yards | 202 | 63 | |
| Passes (C–A–I) | 13–16–0 | 3–7–1 | |
| Total Offense | 72–335 | 60–298 | |
| Punts–average | 4–37.5 | 2–46.5 | |
| Fumbles–lost | 3–2 | 3–3 | |
| Turnovers | 2 | 4 | |
| Penalties–yards | 4–40 | 1–5 |