This Week in College Football History: 1954 Senior Bowl

As part of an ongoing series throughout the fall, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame posts This Week in College Football History, which takes a look back at some of college football's landmark moments over the last 143 years.

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January 9, 1954 - In the fifth Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., Gene Filipiski of Villanova led the North past the South, 20-14. The South, which featured future College Football Hall of Fame player J.D. Roberts of Oklahoma and College Football Hall of Fame coach Vince Dooley of Auburn, struck first with a 26-yard touchdown run by Tommy Lewis of Alabama. The North, coached by Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns, responded by scoring the next two touchdowns and taking a 13-7 halftime lead. On the first play of the second half, Georgia’s Zeke Bratkowski hit Tulane’s Max McGee on a 60-yard scoring strike to put the South back on top, 14-13. Ultimately, the touchdown would be the final points for the South, coached by Steve Owen of the New York Giants. The North, which rushed for 266 yards on the day behind the efforts of Filipiski and Maryland’s Ralph Felton, mounted an 18-play, 95-yard drive in the game’s waning minutes to give the North its third consecutive victory.