1960 Sun Bowl

1960 Sun Bowl
1960 Sun Bowl
Utah State Aggies	New Mexico State Aggies
(9–1)	(10–0)
Mountain States	Border Conference
13	20
Head coach: ; John Ralston	Head coach: ; Warren B. Woodson
AP	Coaches
17	18
Date	December 31, 1960
Season	1960
Stadium	Kidd Field
Location	El Paso, Texas
Attendance	16,000
Sun Bowl
< 1959	1961 >

Last updated September 29, 2022

The 1960 Sun Bowl featured the New Mexico State Aggies and the Utah State Aggies. This was the 27th Sun Bowl (26th held between college teams), and was played at Kidd Field in El Paso, Texas.

Background

This was the year to shine for teams named Aggies. New Mexico State had a 14-game winning streak and were ranked in the AP Poll for the first time ever while also being champions of the BIAA once again. This was their third Sun Bowl as they looked to be the first team to win consecutive Sun Bowls since the Texas Western Miners did it in 1954 and 1955. One notable player for New Mexico State was Bob Gaiters, who had 197 carries for 1,338 yards and 23 touchdowns, a record for New Mexico State that still stands today. Quarterback Charley Johnson was no slouch, either. He threw 109-of-199 for 1,511 yards, with 13 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.^[1]

The Utah State Aggies were co-champions of the Skyline Conference with Wyoming. Utah State won their first nine games of the season, beating opponents such as conference opponents New Mexico, Colorado State, BYU, and Wyoming. For two weeks, they were even ranked (#18 and #19, from 10/31 to 11/7). In their final game of the year, they were shut out 6-0 by Utah, but they were still champion of the conference. This was their first conference championship since winning the Big Seven Conference title in 1946. This was their first bowl game since 1947.

Game summary

Utah State - Larscheid 13 yd run (Miller kick)
New Mexico State - Atkins 2 yd pass from Johnson (Atkins kick)
Utah State - Camilli 11 yd run (Miller kick failed)
New Mexico State - Gaithers 32 yd run (Atkins kick)
New Mexico State - Sims 7 yd pass from Johnson (Atkins kick failed)

Charley Johnson won his second MVP by throwing two touchdowns for New Mexico State, who had trailed at halftime 13–7 due to Tom Larscheid and Dolph Camilli both having touchdown runs for Utah State. But Bob Gaiters had a touchdown run and Johnson threw his second touchdown pass as Utah State's Doug Mayberry was stopped short on fourth down late in the game, sealing the win for New Mexico State for their first (and so far only) perfect season. Johnson threw 18-of-26 for 190 yards and two touchdowns in an MVP effort.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Statistics

Statistics	New Mexico State	Utah State
First Downs	18	15
Yards Rushing	44	268
Yards Passing	190	0
Total Yards	234	268
Punts-Average	3-37.3	4-52.0
Fumbles-Lost	1-1	2-1
Penalties-Yards	2-16	4-52

Aftermath

New Mexico State did not reach another bowl game for 57 years, which was the longest period of any FBS team without a bowl appearance. New Mexico State went 35–23–2 during the rest of Woodson's tenure before he was fired in 1967. Since then, the Aggies have won only the Missouri Valley Conference championship in 1976 and 1978. Gaiters and Johnson were named to the Sun Bowl Association 75th Anniversary Team in 2008.^[6] On February 14, 2009 (Valentine's Day), the 1960 football team was inducted into the First Community Bank/NMSU Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2017, the Aggies were invited to the Arizona Bowl. Their opponent for the game is Utah State.

Utah State went to the Gotham Bowl the following year. It took them 32 years to reach another bowl game.

Related Research Articles

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References

↑ "New Mexico State Athletics - Undefeated 1960 Football Team to be Inducted into First Community Bank/NMSU Athletics Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
↑ "New Mexico State 20, Utah State 13 | Recaps - Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | December 31, 2021 | el Paso, Texas".
↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-04. Retrieved 2017-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ "1960 Sun Bowl | Utah State Aggies football bowl history, 1946 to 2012 | Deseret News". Deseret News . Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
↑ http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/c94984ee#/c94984ee/28 ^{[ dead link ]}
↑ "New Mexico State Athletics - Gaiters, Johnson Honored on Sun Bowl Association 75th Anniversary Team". Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-13.

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[1] "New Mexico State Athletics - Undefeated 1960 Football Team to be Inducted into First Community Bank/NMSU Athletics Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-13.

[2] "New Mexico State 20, Utah State 13 | Recaps - Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | December 31, 2021 | el Paso, Texas".

[3] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-04. Retrieved 2017-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[4] "1960 Sun Bowl | Utah State Aggies football bowl history, 1946 to 2012 | Deseret News". Deseret News . Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-13.

[5] ttp://viewer.zmags.com/publication/c94984ee#/c94984ee/28 ^{[ dead link ]}

[6] "New Mexico State Athletics - Gaiters, Johnson Honored on Sun Bowl Association 75th Anniversary Team". Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-13.

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v t e Sun Bowl
History & conference tie-ins	History 1949 controversy Jones Stadium Kidd Field Sun Bowl Broadcasters Pac-12 Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
Games	1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 (Jan.) 1958 (Dec.) 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1977 (Jan.) 1977 (Dec.) 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Notes	Util the 1957 season, the Sun Bowl was played in January of the ensuing year (for example, the 1935 season game played in January 1936). Since 1958 (except in 1976), the Sun Bowl is played in December. The 1976 season Sun Bowl was played in January 1977 and the 1977 season Sun Bowl was played in December 1977. No game was held in the 2020 season because of pandemic-related issues.