Oklahoma had won its thirteenth straight Big Seven title and Syracuse was an independent.
The first of the day's four major bowl games, kickoff was at 1 p.m. EST on CBS television,[4] and Oklahoma was a thirteen-point favorite.
[1] Oklahoma scored early with a Prentice Gautt rushing touchdown three minutes into the game.
With 2:56 left in the quarter, Brewster Hobby caught a lateral and then passed to Ross Coyle, who ran 79 yards for the touchdown and a 14–0 lead.
Mark Weber gave the Orangemen their only points on his touchdown run after a 69-yard drive, but the two-point conversion failed on an incomplete pass, and that was the end of the scoring.