The 1948 Cotton Bowl featured a matchup between two unbeaten teams in SMU and Penn State. Led by All-America Doak Walker, the Mustangs jumped ahead early. Walker tossed a 53-yard scoring pass to Paul Page and later scored on a two-yard touchdown carry.
The Nittany Lions struck back when, just before halftime, Elwood Petchel connected on a 38-yard touchdown pass to Larry Cooney which cut the SMU lead to 13-7. Penn State scored the only points of the second half when Petchel threw his second scoring pass of the game on a six-yard toss to Wallace Triplett in the third quarter. The Nittany Lions, however, missed the extra point, and the game ended in
a 13-13 tie.
| SMU | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | - | 13 |
| Penn State | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | - | 13 |
| GAME STATISTICS |
Scoring Summary
SMU - Paul Page 53 pass from Doak Walker (Walker kick)
SMU - Walker 2 run (kick failed)
Penn State - Larry Cooney 38 pass from Elwood Petchel (Czekaj kick)
Penn State - Wallace Triplett 6 pass from Petchel (kick failed)
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| Team Statistics | SMU | Penn State |
| First Downs | 12 | 12 |
| Yards Rushing | 92 | 165 |
| Yards Passing | 114 | 93 |
| Total Yards | 206 | 258 |
| Passes | 11-25 | 7-15 |
| Punts-Average | 7-33.1 | 4-33.4 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-1 | 2-2 |
| Interceptions | 1 | 1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 1-5 | 3-15 |
| Attendance | | 43,000 |
Individual Statistics
Rushing: SMU - Walker 18-66; Penn State - Petchel 9-25
Passing: SMU - Johnson 6-16, Walker 5-9;
Penn State - Petchel 7-15-93
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