15th Annual
Sugar Bowl
January 1, 1949
#5 Oklahoma 14 (Final: 10-1-0)
#3 North Carolina 6 (Final: 9-1-1)
Tulane Stadium
Att: 80,383
Official Game Stats – PDF
Official Sugar Bowl Rosters – PDF
Mitchell Provides Enough Offense as Oklahoma Wins Defensive Struggle in Sugar Bowl
Darrell Royal (11) and Charley Justice (22) starred for Oklahoma and North Carolina, respectively, in the 1949 Sugar Bowl. Photos courtesy of schools.
How Oklahoma and North Carolina Met in the 1949 Sugar Bowl
The outcome of the 15th annual Sugar Bowl between North Carolina and Oklahoma may have been determined three days before when Choo-Choo Charley Justice, the Tar Heels’ engine, came down with a virus. For that entire period, a small pre-game steak was all he could eat.
Still, weakened though he was, Justice had North Carolina looking like the favorite it was early, driving to the Oklahoma 7. Then he took the snap from the Tar Heel single-wing formation, started to roll out, stumbled and tried to force a pass in the flat anyway. “I made the mistake of throwing off-balance,” Justice moaned. “He was in the right place at the right time.”
Oklahoma linebacker Myrle Greathouse picked it off and brought the crowd to its feet as he picked up three blockers and rumbled 69 yards to the UNC 14 where Eddie Knox tackled him from behind.
Eight plays later, Sooner quarterback Jack Mitchell scored from the 1.
UNC recovered quickly though, taking advantage of a Sooner turnover – a fumble on the OU 30. On a spectacular double reverse Bob Kennedy accepted the ball from Hosea Rodgers and dashed to the 3. Rodgers followed up with the short TD run, but Bobby Cox missed the PAT.
North Carolina still had a chance to go into halftime in front, driving to the 8 in the fading minutes before intermission. But Justice overthrew a pass in the end zone and failed to gain the necessary two yards on fourth down. The Tar Heels didn’t get past their own side of the field again until the last stages of the game.
“North Carolina never used it as an excuse,” said OU’s Darrell Royal, “but I always felt Charley Justice’s strength diminished as the game went along, that his health had a lot to do with it.”
On a trick play in the third period, Royal, moving from halfback to quarterback for one snap, threw a long pass to end Frankie Anderson. It was underthrown, but defender Dick Bunting deflected it into Anderson’s hands at the 10. Lindell Pearson scored on an eight-yard run, and then the Sooners concentrated on ball control and defense.
It wasn’t a spectacular game, but after Royal planted a kiss on the cheek of Bud Wilkinson in the locker room the young coach mused, “You know, maybe defense isn’t a glamorous way to win a Sugar Bowl, but it will win football games and that’s what we were down here for, wasn’t it?”
Justice, fighting back tears, felt he was the biggest factor in Oklahoma’s victory. “I threw that one away,” he said lip quivering. “I gave them that first touchdown with that bad pass. They’ve got a great ball club. I lost it. You could say that.”
The deepest cut for North Carolina was yet to come. The Sooners, flushed with victory, showered and dressed quickly, and boarded their buses to return to their hotel. The Tar Heels took their time, letting the sting of the upset fade.
But when the team left the dressing room, the parking area was deserted. The buses assigned to Carolina took Oklahoma’s cheering contingent by mistake. After a futile search, Coach Carl Snavely and some team members waved down a passing truck.
The team stood in the open back end and the driver brought them to the vicinity of their hotel. “Ya’ll have to get off a couple of blocks from the hotel,” the driver said. “I’m not allowed to drive to the entrance.”
As dark began to envelop New Orleans, the downtrodden Tar Heels slipped unnoticed into a side entrance of the hotel.
Recap excerpted from the book “Sugar Bowl Classic: A History” by Marty Mulé, who covered the game and the organization for decades for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Miller Award Winner Jack Mitchell.
Sugar Bowl Game Program, January 1, 1949.
1949
Tulane Stadium
Att: 80,383
Oklahoma 7 0 7 0 – 14
North Carolina 6 0 0 0 – 6
SCORING SUMMARY
Okla: Mitchell 1-yard run (Ming kick)
UNC: Rodgers 2-yard run (Kick failed)
Okla: Pearson 8-yard run (Ming kick)
| Oklahoma |
Team Stats |
N. Carolina |
| 15 |
First Downs |
12 |
| 186 |
Rushing Yards |
128 |
| 1-4-0 |
Passing |
8-21-2 |
| 43 |
Passing Yards |
82 |
| 229 |
Total Yards |
210 |
| 5-36.8 |
Punting |
7-38.0 |
| 1-1 |
Fumbles-Lost |
0-0 |
| 40 |
Penalty Yards |
30 |
Rushing
OU: Heath 12-58; Thomas 19-51
UNC: Justice 16-84; Rodgers 12-25, 1 TD
Passing
OU: Royal 1-1-0, 43 yards
UNC: Justice 6-13-1, 57 yards
Receiving
OU: Anderson 1-43
UNC: Weiner 3-35; Kennedy 4-25
Miller Award recipient: Jack Mitchell, Oklahoma quarterback
