| Bluegrass Bowl | |
| Defunct: | yes |
| Stadium: | Cardinal Stadium |
| Location: | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Years: | 1958 |
The Bluegrass Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played only once, on December 13, 1958, at Cardinal Stadium (later known as "Old Cardinal Stadium") in Louisville, Kentucky. The Oklahoma State Cowboys defeated the Florida State Seminoles, 15–6.[1]
Game organizers expected the Bluegrass Bowl to be an annual event in Louisville, starting with the 1958 contest. The first choices for the game were the Kentucky Wildcats and the Alabama Crimson Tide, which went 5–4–1 in its first season under Bear Bryant, who had previously coached at Kentucky for eight seasons. The Wildcats, who had received poor treatment from the Louisville crowd during a 51–0 win over at Cardinal Stadium in their season opener, turned down the bid,[2] with the team's lettermen voting 18–12 against. Kentucky's players voting to turn down bowl bids was nothing new: they said no to the Gator Bowl in 1953, despite a 7–2–1 record in Bryant's final season in Lexington, and again in 1954 after going 7–3. Alabama also declined;[3] Oklahoma State and Florida State accepted invitations.
Bowl organizers successfully negotiated a national television contract with American Broadcasting Company (ABC), with a 100mile blackout. At the time, ABC held only a secondary affiliation in Louisville with primary CBS affiliate WHAS-TV. A crowd of 15,000, less than half capacity, was expected for the inaugural game. Tickets were priced at $6.50 each, though due to unenthusiastic demand they were being sold for $1.50 on the day of the game. Parking cost 25 cents.
| Year Game Played: | 1958 |
| Game Name: | Bluegrass Bowl |
| Football Season: | 1958 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Florida State |
| Visitor Nickname: | Seminoles |
| Visitor School: | Florida State University |
| Visitor Record: | 7–3 |
| Visitor Coach: | Tom Nugent |
| Visitor Conference: | Independent |
| Visitor Rank Ap: | NR |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 6 |
| Home Name Short: | Oklahoma State |
| Home Nickname: | Cowboys |
| Home School: | Oklahoma State University |
| Home Record: | 7–3 |
| Home Coach: | Cliff Speegle |
| Home Conference: | Independent |
| Home Rank Ap: | 19 |
| Home 1Q: | 0 |
| Home 2Q: | 7 |
| Home 3Q: | 8 |
| Home 4Q: | 0 |
| Date Game Played: | December 13 |
| Stadium: | Cardinal Stadium |
| City: | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Attendance: | 7,000 (3,152 paid) |
| Us Announcers Link: | List of announcers of major college bowl games |
| Us Announcers: | Howard Cosell, Harry Wismer[4] |
| Us Network: | ABC[5] |
| First Game Ever Played: | yes |
| Last Game Ever Played: | yes |
Oklahoma State entered the game ranked #19 in the AP Poll, while Florida State was unranked. Florida State was an independent with a 7–3 regular season record; Oklahoma State was also 7–3 as an independent, having left the Missouri Valley Conference after the 1956 season and not joining the Big Eight Conference until 1960. Florida State, in their final season under head coach Tom Nugent, made in their third bowl game. Oklahoma State, coached by Cliff Speegle, was appearing in its fourth bowl game.
The game was played at Cardinal Stadium on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, just behind Freedom Hall, where the 1958 NCAA University Division basketball tournament had been held in March. Kickoff was at 2:00 p.m.,[5] with a game time temperature of 20F, and falling. The playing field was icy and slippery, causing the players to forego cleats and wear tennis shoes instead. The cold weather on top of the general indifference to the contest kept the attendance low; crowd estimates were in the 5,000–10,000 range, and many accounts state that just over 7,000 attended.
In the first quarter, Florida State took two drives into Oklahoma State territory but missed 16 and 23-yard field goal attempts.
Early in the second quarter, Oklahoma State halfback Duane Wood ran 17 yards for a score, putting the Cowboys up 7–0. Late in the second quarter, Oklahoma State again drove deep into Florida State territory, but on fourth-and-five, Florida State defender Ron Hinson stripped the ball from Oklahoma State's Forrest Campbell just a foot from the goal line.
Florida State fumbled twice in the third quarter. Oklahoma State took the second fumble for a 10-play, 39-yard touchdown drive capped by another Duane Wood touchdown run. Wood then caught a pass for a two-point conversion to give Oklahoma State a 15–0 lead.
Florida State scored a fourth-quarter touchdown without a successful conversion, giving Oklahoma State a 15–6 win.
ABC's coverage of the otherwise forgettable Bluegrass Bowl was notable for two reasons: it was the last broadcast of Harry Wismer and the first national telecast to feature Howard Cosell. It was also the first-ever national broadcast of a Florida State football game. Due to the cold weather, the press covering the game deserted the windowless press box and all crowded into a single enclosed, heated room with windows for the game.
In January 1959, officials stated that paid attendance for the game was 3,152 with $18,132.50 of actual income.[6] The Bluegrass Bowl organizers proclaimed the game a success despite the low attendance and stated that the game would be played again, but it was not. The 1959 edition had been scheduled for December 19, but was canceled on November 29 after Alabama and Kentucky both declined invitations, as they had done for the inaugural edition of the bowl.[7] Alabama played in the 1959 Liberty Bowl, while Kentucky, having finished the season with a losing record, did not play in a bowl game.
| Statistics | FSU | OSU |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 12 | 13 |
| Yards Rushing | 100 | 298 |
| Yards Passing | 185 | 77 |
| Total Yards | 285 | 375 |
| Punts-Average | 2-30 | 5-30 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-2 | 1-1 |
| Interceptions | 4 | 1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 3-25 | 6-65 |
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State