The 1966 Tangerine Bowl was an NCAA College Division game following the 1966 season, between the West Chester Golden Rams and the Morgan State Bears. Morgan State linebacker Willie Lanier was named the game's most valuable player.[1]
| 1966 Tangerine Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 10, 1966 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1966 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Tangerine Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Orlando, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Willie Lanier[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 7138[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
Background
editThe game was one of four regional finals in the College Division, the predecessor of Division II; the other three postseason games were the Pecan, Grantland Rice, and Camellia bowls, also played on December 10.
In 1965, Morgan State defeated Florida A&M in the Orange Blossom Classic, which was the unofficial championship game for historically black colleges and universities. In 1966, Morgan State, led by Lanier, was invited to play in the Tangerine Bowl. The Bears were on a 17-game winning streak going into the Tangerine Bowl, and based on that and their 1965 victory, they merited inclusion on their quality of play.[3]
Inviting the Bears, however, represented a significant social change. It would be the first time that a team from an historically black college was invited to play in the game in central Florida. Orlando, the city where the game would be played, had never hosted an integrated high school or college football game. Orlando's mayor Bob Carr decided to end the practice that limited participation in the game to all white teams. The game's hosts made sure the two teams were treated equally, and mingled with each other at events before the game. ABC covered the game on network television.[3]
Notable participants
editMorgan State players who subsequently had NFL careers include Lanier, defensive back Bob Wade (who would come to greater fame as the basketball coach at Baltimore's Dunbar High, and as head basketball coach at the University of Maryland, the first black coach of a major sport at that school[3]), quarterback and kicker (later, defensive back) Daryl Johnson, wide receiver Alvin Mitchell, and linebacker (later, running back) Jeff Queen. Wade also went on to be head basketball coach for the Maryland Terrapins. James Phillips played in the NFL and went on to become head football and wrestling coach at Morgan State. Lanier and head coach Earl Banks are inductees of the College Football Hall of Fame. Lanier is an inductee of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
West Chester quarterback Jim Haynie, offensive end Don Wilkinson, and head coach Bob Mitten are inductees of their university's hall of fame.[4]
Scoring summary
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References
edit- ^ a b c Naylor, Robert L. (December 11, 1966). "BEARS BEAT RAMS, 14-6 IN FLORIDA". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 1, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Morgan State Wins Tangerine Bowl Game 14-6". The News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. Associated Press. December 11, 1966. Retrieved March 1, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Schmuck, Peter (December 25, 2015). "1966 Morgan State bowl team that broke barriers to be honored". Baltimore Sun.
- ^ "Hall of Fame". wcupagoldenrams.com. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
Further reading
edit- Freeman, David (December 16, 2015). "50 Years Later Morgan State Returns To Orlando". morganstatebears.com. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
- Schmuck, Peter (December 25, 2015). "1966 Morgan State bowl team that broke barriers to be honored". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 1, 2017.