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Sun Bowl 1959
New Mexico State 28 North Texas State 8
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By BOB INGRAM El Paso Herald-Post
They picked up where they left off their smashing seasonal win over Hardin-Simmons and improved a good deal on that job. And from the defensive standpoint, in the Sun Bowl they were 100 percent better than they were against Texas Western on that same turf last October.
Warren Woodson, their coach, said it was the best game they played in 1959.
What impressed many of the observers among the near capacity crowd was the Aggies' hard-charging and hard-tackling line. It seemed to overwhelm North Texas at times. Woodson got tremendous play from his two tackles, Lou Zivkovich and Billy Ray Locklin from the ends, E.A. Sims and George Mulholland and other front wall operatives. These men helped keep North Texas ball carriers in a pressure cooker all afternoon.
In the backfield, Charley Johnson, in playing the entire game on offense, out-shone North Texas' pair of quarterbacks. Bob Gaiters was the team's stand out player on moving the ball. But their toughest defensive man in that sector was their fullback, Louis Kelley.
They'll lose him along with another fullback, Sal Gonzales, Tackles Locklin and Bob Cerny, Guard Ben Landin, End Mulholland and Quarterback Dan Villanueva.
They are some good men but it doesn't look like graduation will stop the Aggies in 1960.
They struck with swiftness carrying out their bargain of making it an offensive game in the Sun Bowl. Johnson passed to Atkin for 57 yards. Bob Kelly intercepted an ill advised thrown flat pass and fumbled into the end zone where Locklin recovered for a touchdown. Kelly caught a pass from Johnson for 15 yards to end a 98 yard journey for the Aggies.
These three rapid-fire touchdowns took a lot of starch out of North Texas. And the Eagles going virtually all the way to the goal line on their drives and losing the ball was enough to dishearten any team.
Bill Christie, their scatter gun second string halfback, gave them a lift in the third when he returned a punt 51 yards for a touchdown. But Gaiters, running 44 in the fourth and knocking a few pursuers down enroute, drove the final nail in North Texas' coffin of despair.
The game was expected to produce something new from each team. True to the policy of trying to score on the first play of the game, the Aggies put Atkins in a pass-throwing role- the first time he has thrown the ball with N. M. State. His pass, was dropped. The North Texans split and spread their backfielders at times and several times ran with the Oklahoma swinging gate formation. But it wasn't effective.
North Texas' fumbling undoubtedly ruined their chances of victory. But omitting the fumbling, the Aggies might have still won the 1959 Sun Bowl game.
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| Aggies (in dark jerseys) go after another North Texas fumble. | |
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| North Texas Coach Odus Mitchell surveys the troops before the game. | |
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| NMSU opening kickoff. | Louis Kelley (44) disrupts Eagles' play. |
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Bob Langford (33) trips up North Texas back. |
Charley Johnson was the game MVP. |
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Attendance: 14,000
Scoring Summary
First Quarter NMSU- Atkins 57 yard pass from Johnson (Gaiter 2 pt. run) NMSU- Locklin fumble recovery in endzone (run failed)
Second Quarter NMSU- Kelly 15 yard pass from Johnson (Villanueva kick)
Third Quarter NT- Christie 51 punt return (Perkins pass from Duty)
Fourth Quarter NMSU- Gaiters 44 run (Villanueva kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing NMSU- Gaiters 20-123, Johnson 7-31, Kelley 7-24, Atkins 3-15 NT- Haynes 13-73, Duty 3-22, Cole 3-17, Christie 6-15
Passing NMSU- Johnson 7-15-124 NT- Cole 10-17-113, Duty 5-14-69
Receiving NMSU- Atkins 1-57, Kelly 2-25, Kelley 2-23, Mulholland 2-22 NT- Haynes 4-50, Christie 2-39, Perkins 2-21, Rosa 2-16
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The
New Mexico State University Aggies gave a peak performance in the 25th
annual Sun Bowl game with their 28-8 victory over the North Texas
Eagles.
