Bowden Wyatt – Syndication Server

Tennessee shuts out Oklahoma in 1939 Orange Bowl

A look back at Tennessee’s shutout win against Oklahoma in the 1939 Orange Bowl.

No. 7 Tennessee (3-0) will play Oklahoma (3-0) Saturday in Week 4 of the 2024 college football season. Saturday’s contest will be the Southeastern Conference opener for both schools.

Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. EDT at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. ABC will televise the SEC contest.

Saturday will mark the fifth game in the series between the Vols and Sooners, and the first meeting as conference opponents.

Tennessee and Oklahoma first played each other during the 1939 Orange Bowl at Burdine Stadium in Miami, Florida. The game was contested on Jan. 2, 1939.

Tennessee won its first national championship in school history during the 1938 season.

Tennessee (11-0, 7-0 SEC), under head coach Robert Neyland, defeated the Sooners, 17-0.

Tennessee led, 10-0, at halftime, after an 8-yard run by Bob Foxx.

Captain Bowden Wyatt extended the Vols’ lead to 10-0 after a 32-yard field goal in the second quarter.

Babe Wood scored on a 19-yard touchdown run for the final score in the fourth quarter.

Tennessee had three All-America performers on the 1938 team, including Wyatt, George Cafego and Bob Suffridge.

Following their playing careers, Wyatt and Cafego returned to Tennessee to coach.

Wyatt was the Vols’ head coach from 1955-62. Cafego was an assistant coach at Tennessee from 1955-84, serving under five head coaches including Wyatt, Jim McDonald, Doug Dickey, Bill Battle and Johnny Majors.

Cafego was also Tennessee’s head baseball coach from 1958-62.

Suffridge played football at Central High School in Knoxville, Tennessee.

A look back at Tennessee’s win against Texas A&M in 1957

A look back at Tennessee’s win against Texas A&M in 1957.

Tennessee first fielded a football team in 1891 and the Vols have played in memorable games throughout its history.

Each week, Vols Wire will recap a memorable game against its upcoming opponent.

Vols Wire revisits Tennessee’s 3-0 victory against Texas A&M in the 1957 Gator Bowl.

Tennessee and head coach Bowden Wyatt entered the contest with a 7-3 record. The Aggies were led by head coach Bear Bryant.

Sammy Burklow kicked a 17-yard field goal for Tennessee in the contest’s only points.

Tennessee’s Bobby Gordon and Texas A&M’s John David Crow were named co-MVPs of the game. Crow won the 1957 Heisman Memorial Trophy.

Gordon recorded 56 rushing yards on four attempts, while Crow totaled 46 rushing yards on 14 attempts.

Vols’ football history 1955-1962: Head coach Bowden Wyatt

KNOXVILLE — University of Tennessee football is rich in tradition and Vols Wire will explore the program by examining each head coach’s tenure.

This installment will focus on the stint of Bowden Wyatt which lasted eight seasons from 1955-62.

Wyatt, a former standout at end for the Vols, replaced Harvey Robinson. Robinson, who coached as the head man on Rocky Top following the retirement of Robert Neyland, had the unenviable task of replacing the General after being his assistant.

As head coach, Robinson went 10-10-1 in two seasons, including 4-6 in his final campaign.

Wyatt replaced Robinson (who later came back to assist him) and stayed at Tennessee for eight seasons, compiling a career record of 49-29-4 at UT, where he later became athletic director.

Prior to returning to Tennessee, Wyatt was an assistant coach at Mississippi State.

His first head coaching job was at Wyoming from 1947-52. With the Cowboys, he was the Skyline Six Coach of the Year in 1949 and the Skyline Conference Coach of the Year in 1950.

From there, he went to Arkansas. He coached the Razorbacks in 1953 and 1954. He was the Southwestern Conference Coach of the Year in 1954.

The Knoxville Journal, Oct. 16, 1955 Bowden Wyatt — The Knoxville Journal, Oct. 16, 1955

Wyatt won 99 games in his coaching career, including 59 at Tennessee.

In 1956, the local product from Roane County High School was Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Volunteers to the conference title and a perfect regular season.

The Vols lost the Sugar Bowl to Baylor following the season. On the 1956 squad, Wyatt coached the great Johnny Majors, who finished as the Heisman Trophy runner-up to Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung.

At UT, Wyatt beat Alabama five times.

Wyatt is a College Football Hall of Famer as a player (1972) and was enshrined as a coach in 1997.