1956 Tangerine Bowl

The 1956 Tangerine Bowl was an American college football bowl game played after the 1955 season, on January 2, 1956, at the Tangerine Bowl stadium in Orlando, Florida. The Juniata Indians with a record of 8–0 faced the Missouri Valley Vikings with a record of 9–1.^[3] Juniata had outscored their regular season opponents 240–32 with 4 shutouts, and had a 23-game winning streak, while Missouri Valley had outscored their opponents 207–84 with 2 shutouts.^[3] The teams played to a 6–6 tie.

1956 Tangerine Bowl
Juniata Indians Missouri Valley Vikings (8–0) (9–1) Independent Missouri College Athletic Union 6 6 Head coach:  Robert C. Hicks Head coach:  Volney Ashford
1 2 3 4 Total Juniata 6 0 0 0 6 Missouri Valley 6 0 0 0 6
Date	January 2, 1956
Season	1955
Stadium	Tangerine Bowl
Location	Orlando, Florida
MVP	Barry Drexler, Juniata[1]
Favorite	Missouri Valley by 7[2]
Attendance	10,000[2]
Tangerine Bowl  < 1955  1957 >

The undefeated 1955 Hillsdale College football team refused an invitation to this bowl when organizers insisted that Hillsdale's four African-American players would not be allowed to play in the game.^[4][5]

Game summary

All scoring took place in the first quarter, with each team scoring a touchdown via a passing play, and both teams missing their extra point attempts. Despite other scoring chances, including Juniata having two first-and-goal opportunities in the fourth quarter, the game ended in a 6–6 tie.

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP JC MVC 1 10:23 2 15 MVC Ken Gibler 10-yard touchdown reception from Bobbie Joe Scates, Lavon Norvell kick short 0 6 1 5:14 11 67 JC Barry Drexler 30-yard touchdown reception from Pat Tarquinio, Keith Birmingham kick wide 6 6 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 6 6

^[2]

Statistics

Statistics[2]	Juniata	Missouri Valley
First downs	16	16
Rushing yards	95	152
Passes attempted	26	13
Passes completed	15	7
Passes intercepted by	1	1
Passing yards	216	119
Yards penalized	5	25
Punts–average	3–23.3	5–39.4
Fumbles lost	2	0

Notes

• Juniata head coach Robert C. Hicks was unrelated to Bob Hicks who was the head coach at Indiana in 1957.^[6] Robert C. Hicks later coached at DePauw and Wagner.
• Missouri Valley head coach Volney Ashford is an inductee of the College Football Hall of Fame.