The 1960 Lenoir Rhyne Bears football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that compiled an undefeated 11–0–1 record and won the NAIA national football championship.

Season summary

The team represented Lenoir Rhyne College (now known as

Lenoir–Rhyne University Lenoir–Rhyne University is a private Lutheran university in Hickory, North Carolina. Founded in 1891, the university is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Academics The university i ...

) as a member of the

North State Conference Conference Carolinas, formerly known as the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference (CVAC) or the Carolinas Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) primarily at the Divisio ...

(NSC) during the

1960 NAIA football season The 1960 NAIA football season was the fifth season of college football sponsored by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The season was played from August to December 1960, culminating in the fifth annual NAIA Football National ...

. In their 19th season under head coach

Clarence Stasavich Clarence Stasavich (February 9, 1913 – October 24, 1975) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Lenoir–Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina from 1946 to 1961 ...

, the team compiled an 11–0–1 record (6–0 against NSC opponents) and won the NSC championship. The Bears were ranked No. 2 in the final

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

small college poll and No. 3 in the final UPI small college coaches poll. (The small college polls included both NCAA and NAIA programs.) Both polls were issued before the team's post-season victories. On December 3, the Bears played in the NAIA's Eastern Regional playoff. The game ended in a 20–20 tie. NAIA officials decided to award Lenoir Rhyne the Eastern berth in the

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has b ...

(then the NAIA national championship game) based on total yards gained by in the playoff game. In the Holiday Bowl, Lenoir Rhyne defeated Humboldt State, 15–14, to win the NAIA national championship. The Bears trailed, 14-12, late in the game after freshman kicker Marion Kirby missed two extra point tries. With 1:35 remaining in the game, Kirby kicked a game-winning field goal. The team played its home games at Lenoir Rhyne College Field in

Hickory, North Carolina Hickory is a city located primarily in Catawba County, with formal boundaries extending into Burke and Caldwell counties. The city lies in the U.S. state of North Carolina. At the time of the 2020 census, Hickory's population was 43,490. Hickor ...

Honors and awards

The team was led on offense by tailback Lee Farmer. He was selected as the NSC's most valuable player for the second consecutive season. Farmer scored both of Lenoir Rhyne's touchdowns in the Holiday Bowl and was named the game's most valuable player. Coach Stasavich finished second in the balloting (behind

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

Warren Woodson Warren Brooks Woodson (February 24, 1903 – February 22, 1998) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Arkansas State Teachers College, now the Universi ...

) for small college coach of the year.

Schedule

References

{{NAIA football national champion navbox Lenoir Rhyne Lenoir–Rhyne Bears football seasons NAIA Football National Champions College football undefeated seasons

Lenoir–Rhyne Bears football The Lenoir–Rhyne Bears football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Lenoir–Rhyne University located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The team competes in the NCAA Division II and are members of the South Atlantic Co ...