Interesting how closely these teams look on paper:
Avg Pts per Game:
Missouri 32.2
Virginia 32.2
Avg Pts allowed per Game
Missouri 19.4
Virginia 20.4
Avg Yds per Game
Missouri 329.3
Virginia 326.3
Also, both teams have their conference leading rusher yet both are ranked in the top 40 in the country in run defense!
The Gator Bowl has had it fair share of interesting events from Woody Hayes punching a player after an INT to Florida State dropping Bobby Bowden as they tried to carry him off the field for his last game. Despite these, I found it interesting that WIKI listed Missouri and Clemson as the saviors for this bowls longevity:
My family will be leaving tonight for the game and hope for some good tailgating weather as the forecast tomorrow is 75F (68F at kickoff). MIZ…The first two years of the event did not sell out the small capacity stadium, drawing only 7,362 to the 1946 game when the Wake Forest Demon Deacons defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks, 26–14. The stadium was expanded in 1948 and renamed the Gator Bowl Stadium in honor of the event. However, it was not until the 1949 matchup between the Clemson Tigers and the Missouri Tigers that the future of the Gator Bowl was assured: the 1948 attendance of 16,666 for a 20–20 tie between Maryland and Georgia was nearly doubled with 32,939 watching Clemson squeak by Missouri, 24–23, on a late field goal by Jack Miller.
