The 1961 Gotham Bowl was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

postseason

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

between 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 ...

and the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only two private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior to j ...

Background

For the second straight year, the Aggies were champion of the

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. The Bears had finished tied for 6th in the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

. Both teams were making bowl games for the 2nd straight year. This became the inaugural Gotham Bowl after attempts to invite schools such as Syracuse and Holy Cross to last year's game failed, leaving the bowl makers to cancel the game and wait for 1961.

Game summary

*Baylor – Bull 14 yard touchdown run (Choate kick) *Baylor – Choate 22 yard field goal *Utah State – Turner 32 yard field goal *Baylor – Trull 2 yard touchdown run (Choate kick) *Baylor – Plumb 38 yard touchdown pass from Trull (Choate kick) *Utah State – Munson 4 yard touchdown run (run failed) Ronnie Bull scored on a 14-yard run to give the Bears a 7–0 lead as the first quarter expired, all set up by an Aggie fumble. Carl Choate added in a field goal later in the 2nd to make it 10–3 with 5:28 remaining in the half, which turned out to be the halftime lead. The Aggies narrowed the lead with a 36-yard field goal with 8:47 in the 3rd, but Don Trull increased the lead on a touchdown sneak with 1:22 remaining in the quarter to make it 17–3. Ted Plumb caught a 38-yard pass from Trull to make it 24–3 with 9:48 to go in the game. Munson made the final score 24–9 on his touchdown run, but by then there was only five minutes remaining as Baylor won their first bowl game since 1956. The Aggies turned the ball over eight times, while Don Trull threw 11-of-16 for 116 yards for the Bears. Bull rushed for 61 yards on 13 carries and caught 4 passes for 25 yards.

Aftermath

The Aggies did not reach another bowl game again until

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. As for the Bears, they next played in a bowl game two years later, in the Bluebonnet Bowl.

Statistics

References

{{Utah State Aggies bowl game navbox

Gotham Bowl The Gotham Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game that was played in New York City, United States, in 1961 and 1962. The game was initially created as a fund-raising attempt for the March of Dimes. The game was not a success financially: ...

Baylor Bears football bowl games Utah State Aggies football bowl games December 1961 sports events in the United States