Tar Heel Firsts: UNC’s first bowl game

Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesNorth Carolina football had seen 10-win seasons and conference championships prior to 1946. However, due to the non-existence and then scarcity of bowl games, it took until the 1946 season for the Tar Heels to ever appear in one.

Carl Snavely was in his second season in his second stint at the helm in Chapel Hill. He had gone 15-2-1 in two seasons from 1934-35, but then left for Cornell when the then-school president decided to de-emphasize football. During his time with the Big Red, he led the team to a 8-0 record in 1939, a season for which the school claims a national championship, although several other teams probably have stronger…