See also: 1936 Marquette Golden Avalanche football team
The 1936 Marquette squad finished the regular season with a 7–1 record after losing to Duquesne in their regular season finale.[5] On December 9, Marquette accepted an invitation to play in the inaugural Cotton Bowl Classic on New Years Day.[6] The appearance marked the first all-time bowl appearance for the Golden Avalanche.[6] Marquette accepted the bid also in part to expand their brand into the Southern United States and make contacts with other southern football teams to schedule future contests.[6]
TCU finished the regular season with a 8–2–2 record with ties against Mississippi State and SMU and losses against Texas Tech and Texas A&M. After they defeated Santa Clara in their regular season finale, the Cotton Bowl extended TCU an invitation to the game over Arkansas.[6] On December 16, the Horned Frogs were granted permission from the Southwest Conference to compete against the Golden Avalanche in the Cotton Bowl Classic.[7] The appearance marked the third all-time bowl appearance for TCU.
Game summary[]
L. D. Meyer scored the first points of the game when he successfully connected on a 33-yard field goal to give the Horned Frogs an early 3–0 lead.[3] Marquette responded with their only points of the game later in the quarter when Arthur Guepe had a punt return of 60 yards for a touchdown.[8] After a failed extra point attempt by Ward Cuff, the Golden Avalanche led 6–3.[3] The Horned Frogs retook the lead for good at the end of the first quarter when Meyer caught a 55-yard Sammy Baugh touchdown pass, and with the extra point led 10–6.[3] Meyer then scored his second touchdown of the game when the second quarter when Vic Montgomery threw him an 18-yard touchdown strike.[3] Leading 16–6 entering the second half, neither team would score again giving TCU the victory.[3] For their performances, Ki Aldrich, Baugh and Meyer were named the Most Valuable Players of the game.[1]
