| Game Name: | Gator Bowl |
| Date Game Played: | December 30 |
| Year Game Played: | 1961 |
| Football Season: | 1961 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Penn State |
| Visitor Nickname: | Nittany Lions |
| Visitor Record: | 7–3 |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | NR |
| Visitor Rank Coaches: | 19 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 6 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 10 |
| Home Name Short: | Georgia Tech |
| Home Nickname: | Yellow Jackets |
| Home Record: | 7–3 |
| Home Rank Ap: | 13 |
| Home Rank Coaches: | 13 |
| Home 1Q: | 2 |
| Home 2Q: | 7 |
| Home 3Q: | 0 |
| Home 4Q: | 6 |
| Mvp: | QB Galen Hall (Penn State) HB Joe Auer (Georgia Tech) |
| Us Network: | CBS |
| Type: | bg |
| Referee: | James Artley (SEC; split crew: SEC, EIFA) |
The 1961 Gator Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 30, 1961, at Gator Bowl Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. The game pitted the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Penn State started the season ranked #7, though a loss to Miami early in the season dropped them out. Penn state had a three-game winning streak going into this bowl game, which was their third straight bowl appearance.
The Yellow Jackets managed to have a winning season for the first time in two years, with highlights being a win over #7 ranked Rice and a four-game winning streak in the middle season, with losses to LSU, Tennessee, and Alabama compounding their season. This was the third straight bowl appearance in the Gator Bowl.
For Penn State, Galen Hall threw 12-of-22 for 175 yards and three touchdowns in an MVP effort. Joe Auer rushed for 98 yards on 10 carries for Georgia Tech in an MVP effort. Georgia Tech outrushed and outpassed Penn State (211 to 138 and 201 to 175, respectively), but the Yellow Jackets turned the ball over five times, while the Nittany Lions only turned it over once.[1]
The Nittany Lions went to three more bowl games in the decade, two of them being Gator Bowls. Georgia Tech went to three more bowl games in the decade (the latter being Dodd's last game as coach), with one being a Gator Bowl.