The 1951 Sugar Bowl was the 17th Sugar Bowl, played on January 1, 1951, in New Orleans, It matched the Oklahoma Sooners and the Kentucky Wildcats. Oklahoma was the Big Seven champion and was ranked first in both major polls; seventh-ranked Kentucky was the Southeastern Conference champion. Oklahoma averaged 34.5 points per game; only one team had scored more than twice in a game against Kentucky that season. Oklahoma entered the New Year's Day game with a winning streak; the Sooners' previous loss was in September1948, and they were favored by six to seven Kentucky was led by head coachBear Bryant, and Oklahoma by Bud Wilkinson. Notable players included Oklahoma's Billy Vessels and Kentucky's Charlie McClendon, Babe Parilli, and Wilbur "Shorty" Jamerson. Over 80,000 fans attended Kentucky fielded three defensive tackles for much of the game, which caused Oklahoma quarterback Claude Arnold to hurry his handoffs and passes. One Wildcat tackle was Bob Gain, winner of the Outland Trophy that season. The third was Walt Yowarsky, who had played less than five minutes on defense during the regular season. Yowarsky recovered a fumble on the Oklahoma 22-yard line, leading to Kentucky's first score: on the next play after Yowarsky's fumble recovery, Kentucky quarterback Babe Parilli threw a touchdown pass to Wilbur Jamerson for a lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Wildcats drove 81 yards for a touchdown, a run by Wilbur Jamerson, and led In the third quarter, Oklahoma had the ball, first and goal on the Kentucky 3-yard line. The Wildcat defense held on first and second down; on third down Yowarsky tackled the Oklahoma ball carrier for a five-yard loss. On fourth down, the Sooners were stopped and Kentucky took possession. In the fourth quarter, Yowarsky recovered a fumbled punt. With seven minutes left in the game, Oklahoma quarterback Billy Vessels threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Merrill Green. Kentucky, however, retained possession of the football for the rest of the game, with the exception of one play, for a Yowarsky was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
