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Sun Bowl 1960
New Mexico State 20 Utah State 13
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EL PASO, Tex. (UPI)- New Mexico State's Aggies struck for two second half touchdowns Saturday on the passing of quarterback Charley Johnson and the running of halfback Bob (Bad News) Gaiters to down Utah State 20-13, in a bruising Sun Bowl football battle.
New Mexico State, in winning its 15th straight game, had to overcome Utah State's fine running game, led by halfback Tom Larscheid and 210-pound fullback Doug Mayberry.
The 190-pound Johnson, of Big Spring, Tex., completed 18 of 26 passes, two of them good for touchdowns.
Utah State scored first on a 13 yard run by Larscheid. The play culminated a short drive that had been set up by a 52 yard punt return to the New Mexico State 18. On that return, All-American Merlin Olsen provided key blocking.
At that point, Johnson decided to take to the air and he hit Pervis (After-Burner) Atkins in the endzone for the three yard score. Atkins converted to tie the game up at 7-7.
The Aggie score only served to make the Utah Staters mad so they started an 80 yard drive that ended up in a touchdown in 15 plays, all of them on the ground, with Mayberry and Larscheid alternating with the ball carrying. This time, Quarterback Dolf Camilli kept the ball on a 13 yard sweep for the score and the Utags held a 13-6 halftime lead.
The New Mexico State Aggies, Border Conference champions, took the lead for the first time early in the third period when Gaiters, of Zanesville, Ohio, took a pitchout and skirted end for 32 yards and a touchdown. Atkins kick was good to put New Mexico State ahead, 14-13, to the delight of some 16,000 fans who sat in sunny, mild weather to watch this 26th annual game.
New Mexico State padded its lead with a score in the fourth quarter when Johnson, capping a 6-yard drive, pitched from the seven to giant end E.A. Sims in the end zone.
Coach John Ralston's Aggies, Skyline Conference co-champions, set their defenses to contain the feared Atkins, the famous New Mexico State halfback. For the most part they did a good job of it, although Atkins did score on the connection with Johnson. He also kicked two extra points.
For the second year in a row, Johnson was voted the Dr. C. Hendricks trophy as the most valuable player in the game. He won it last year when the Aggies upset North Texas State 28-8.
Note: The crowd arrived early and by the time the pregame ceremonies got underway the stands, all of them, were filled. It was a filling swan song for the soon-to-be abandoned Sun Bowl field. The new 30,000 seat stadium, which will be located not far from the present one, is expected to be ready in time for the 1961 game.
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| Pervis Atkins scores first NMSU touchdown on a 3 yard pass from Charley Johnson. | |
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| Sal Gonzalez (45) returns a punt for the Aggies. | |
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| Atkins signs autographs after game. | These were the Merlin Olsen years at Utah State. |
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Attendance- 16,000
Scoring Summary
First Quarter USU- Larscheid 13 run (Miller kick)
Second Quarter NMSU- Atkins 3 yard pass from Johnson (Atkins kick) USU-Camilli 11 run (kick failed)
Third Quarter NMSU- Gaithers 32 run (Atkins kick)
Fourth Quarter NMSU- Sims 7 yard pass from Johnson (kick failed)
Individual Statistics
Rushing NMSU- Gaiters 13-65, Atkins 7-10, Alba 3-4 USU- Mayberry 19-91, Larscheid 16-83, Montalbo 5-42, Reese 9-28, Camilli 3-8
Passing NMSU- Johnson 18-26-190 USU- Camilli 0-2-0, Montalbo 0-2-0
Receiving NMSU- Kelley 6-64, Sims 5-44, Atkins 3-28 USU- None
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