The Wilmington morning star., 1946-12-25
OUT WELCOME
mat FOR CRIDDERS
Sooners To Arrive Thurs
day; N. e. State Appears
Friday Afternoon

n V11Lc, EAo', ~
ReJacksonville laid out the vel
come mat today for two power
laden football teams which vii
garnish the Gator Bowl Jan. l..
Pitting the University of Okla.
homa. co-champion of the Big
Six, against North Carolina State
of the Southern Conference. tht
game promises to boost the loca
New Years Day classic into major
! prominence among the bowl bout!
in only its second year OF exls
tence
Oklahoma Sooners were schedul
ed to arrive Thursday afternoon by
blame to begin final drills on {
Jacksonville gridiron. N. c. State
Wolfpack will arrive the following
dav by train and move to nearb.
| Ponte Vedra Beach for concluding
practice sessions.
Coach Jim Tatum gave hi
Sooners only a brief Christina
layoff from practice, hoping X
avoid a repetition of the 1889 de
bacle which saw a great, unbeater
Oklahoma team trounced II to
by Tennessee in the Orange Bowl
That year the Sooners took it easy
on pre-boWl drills.
In N. c. State, the Oklahomans
will meet a team which largely uses
the Tennessee system. Coached by
Beattie Feathers, former All-Amer'
lean at Tennessee, the Wolfpack
has a pair Of assistant coaches'
Walter Babe Woods and Bob
Suffridge who played on the Volun-
teer eleven that gave Oklahoma
its Orange Bowl shellacking.
Feathers also has spared no Ell
fort in getting his gridders into top
shape for the tilt. Only GWyr
Fletcher, sophomore tailback, may
be out of action with a cut wrist.
Both elevens have great defen-
sive records and, in addition, pack
plenty of scoring punch.
Oklahoma, noasulng a line thai
averages 2l3 pounds, chalked ur
the defensive record in the nation
against running attacks in regular
season play and was second only
to Notre Dame in total defense.
On offense, Tatum's boys ranked
sixth nationally in rushing, thanks
largely to the ground gaining tao.
tics of Joe Gelding. whose IL
average per try placed him in
second-place tie with North Caro-
lina's Charlie Justice for running
honors.
Aiding and abetting geldin9 II
thwarting the Wolfpack will be
fullback Eddy Davis, who averag-
ed 6.5 yards. quarterback Jack
Mitchell and a host OF other back
field talent.
N. c. State, whose national rank
ing was fourth in total defense
and sixth in rushing defense, ap-
pears well set up in that depart.
ment and offers an offense danger
u both On the ground and in the
air.
Feathers is knee deep in good
backs, headed by Howard (Touch-
down Turner and Leslie (Footsie)
Palmer, hard charging fullback
and kicking specialist. In addition.
he has George Blomquist, Paul
Gibson, Al Phillips and some other
fine ends who can snag passes with
the best Of them.
Oklahoma is a slight favorite il
the betting but most observer!
look for the breaks to decide the
game.
The Gator Bowl appearance will
be N. C. States second in Florida
this &c S The Wolfpack wallop.
ed the University of Florida. al
Tampa November % by a 81 to {
margin. State won eight games ir
regular season play and lost two,
both considered upsets.
Oklahoma won six and lost three
but probably gained greatest recog.
milton by holding Armysto a 81
score and outrushing the vauntec
Black Knights 1923 yards to 81
Army's smallest rushing yardage
of the year.
Some %, 1000 fans are expected te
contribute 500, 900 to witness the