The 1960 Sun Bowl featured the

New Mexico State Aggies The New Mexico State University teams are called the Aggies, a nickname derived from the university's agricultural beginnings. The mascot is known as " Pistol Pete". NMSU's colors are crimson and white. Since 2005 the Aggies have competed in the ...

and the

Utah State Aggies The Utah State Aggies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Utah State University, located in Logan. The school fields 16 sports teams – seven men and nine women – and compete in the Mountain West Conference. Sports spon ...

. This was the 27th Sun Bowl (26th held between college teams), and was played at Kidd Field in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

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 The UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). They are informally referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or Texas–El Paso. UTEP was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1967 to 2005, ...

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. The Utah State Aggies were co-champions of the

Skyline Conference The Skyline Conference is a college athletic conference based in the New York City area that competes in the NCAA's Division III. The league was originally chartered on May 16, 1989, as a men's basketball conference and now sponsors 17 sports (ni ...

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 Tom Larscheid (born April 6, 1940) is a former Vancouver-based radio sports broadcaster and football player. After a career playing college and CFL football, he was the colour commentator for the CFL's BC Lions and the NHL's Vancouver Canucks for ...

and

Dolph Camilli Adolph Louis Camilli (April 23, 1907 – October 21, 1997) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers. He was named the National League's Most Valuable Pl ...

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 Douglas Clark Mayberry (born March 23, 1937) is a former American football player who played with the Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders. He played college football at Utah State University and the University of California, Berkeley The U ...

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.

Statistics

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. On February 14, 2009 (

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

), 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.

References

{{Utah State Aggies bowl game navbox

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

Sun Bowl New Mexico State Aggies football bowl games Utah State Aggies football bowl games December 1960 sports events in the United States