ALABAMA v DUKE -1945 | Sugar Bowl

Date: 1/1/1945 | Info: 11th Annual Sugar Bowl Classic ~ January 1, 1945

#11 Duke 29 (Final: 7-3-0)
Alabama 26 (Final: 5-2-2)

Grantland Rice, the famed sportswriter, covered many of the biggest sports events of the first half of the 20th Century.

He said he never saw a game the equal of this Sugar Bowl, a game of contrasting styles, a game that changed hands four times, and a game that was in doubt until the last second. Literally.

This game came to a stirring climax exactly 60 playing minutes after the kickoff, with 24 open yards to the end zone in front of a ball-carrier straining to get free of a defender hanging on for dear life as the gun sounded.

As the chilly, golden afternoon began to fade, Rice searched for the precise words to describe what he had just witnessed. He settled on a simple and succinct lead: "The Sugar Bowl classic of 1945 must go down in the book as one of the great thrillers of all time."

At the same time in the Duke locker room, Blue Devil captain Gordon Carver was sighing, "I sure was glad to hear that final whistle."

The civilian kids from the Capstone of Alabama put on a show against the war veterans of Duke. The power-running of Tom Davis and George Clark prevailed over the air-arm of the Crimson Tide's Harry Gilmer. But just barely.

In a game that went off like a Roman candle, Clark broke off a 52-yard run on Duke's first possession, leading to a touchdown.

Then Gilmer lit up the crowd, rearing up and hitting Hal Self, who was stopped by Davis a foot from the end zone. Norman Hodges took it in from there, but the PAT was missed.

It shortly happened again. On a third-and-27 from the Duke 41, Gilmer was chased back again, almost tripping over a defender and nearly in the grasp of two more Blue Devils. Suddenly he broke loose, leaped high, arched his back, and whipped the ball 40 yards to end Ralph Jones.

"He wasn't supposed to throw to me . . . just picked me out," Jones marveled afterward.

Hodges scored on the next play, but Paul Stephanz blocked the PAT.

The first quarter wasn't over yet and three touchdowns were already on the board. Things were heating up.

Gilmer took 'Bama on yet another binge. From the 49, Gilmer, again being rushed by the tormented Blue Devils, leaped on the dead run and duplicated his bulls-eye to Jones, this time to the 10. Gilmer then threw over the middle to Jones who then stepped into the end zone from the 2. This time Gilmer kicked the PAT, making the score 19-7, Alabama, and putting the crowd - not to mention Tide coach Frank Thomas - in a frenzy.

Smarting, the Blue Devils struck back, cutting up the Tide defense as it was expected to do before. Cliff Lewis raced 26 yards to the Bama 1, where Davis scored. The half ended with the Crimson Tide ahead 19-13.

The vaunted Duke runners began asserting themselves in the third period with Davis getting 10 straight carries and a one-yard touchdown. The PAT put Duke in front 20-19. Bobby Morrow changed that with a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Duke charged right back, but the gritty Tide stopped the Devils at the 1, then took an intentional safety so Gilmer could kick out from the 20. The strategy backfired when second-string halfback Jim LaRue raced around left end on a reverse from the 39, bounced off a pair of Alabamians, and carried two with him until he went down at the Tide 20.

"The play was run precisely as called and diagrammed,'' LaRue recalled. Clark, on a spectacular burst, went off tackle and covered the remaining distance to put Duke in fron 29-26 with less than a minute remaining.

Gilmer got the Tide to its 43 with time for one play. He heaved a shot to Jones at the Duke 30. Jones pivoted and had a clearing for an instant. He only had to beat Duke safety Carver and 'Bama was home. Carver managed to grab and hold on to the receiver's woolen stocking and finally brought him down at the 24 as the gun went off.

"The sad thing is that I had another receiver further downfield, Jack McConville," Gilmer said. "I got off a weak pass to Jones, but McConville recognized instantly what to do and turned to block the only defensive back that had a chance of getting Ralph. But when he turned he slipped. On the film you can plainly see him beat the ground."

Rice could scarcely contain his enthusiasm, saying the 18-year-old Gilmer, who rolled up 142 yards passing - almost a hundred yards fewer than Duke's 336 yards rushing - was "the greatest college passer I ever saw."

Gilmer finished the game a perfect 8-of-8.
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