The 1979 Sun 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 between the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

and the played on Saturday, December 22, in

Background

The Huskies were the runner-up in the

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

, behind

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. The Longhorns had lost two games by a combined total of nine points, with the two losses costing them a

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 ...

title. This was Washington's first Sun Bowl and Texas' second straight.

Game summary

Husky defensive lineman

Stafford Mays Stafford Earl Mays (born March 13, 1958) is a former American football defensive tackle. Life and career Mays was born in Lawrence, Kansas. He went to Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington. Mays played junior college football at Mount Hood C ...

recovered quarterback

Rick McIvor Richard Edward McIvor (born September 26, 1960) is a former American football player. He played quarterback for the Texas Longhorns and the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals. He was the Sheriff of Jeff Davis County, Texas. Early life A native of For ...

's fumble late in the first quarter in Longhorn territory. Ten seconds into the second quarter, junior quarterback

Tom Flick Thomas Lyle Flick (born August 30, 1958) is a former American football quarterback who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with five teams. He played college football at the University of Washington, and is currently a corpo ...

threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to freshman

Paul Skansi Paul Anthony Skansi (born January 11, 1961) is an American football scout for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). A former wide receiver, he played college football for the Washington Huskies and was drafted by the ...

for the first score. On the second play of the Longhorns' ensuing drive, strong safety Greg Grimes recovered McIvor's fumble at the 25-yard line, giving Washington another shot at scoring. Five plays later, Willis Ray Mackey scored on a touchdown run to make it But on Washington's next possession, Flick fumbled the ball to defensive lineman

Kenneth Sims Kenneth Wayne Sims (born October 31, 1959) is a former American college and professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League for eight seasons during the 1980s. He played college football at Texas, where he w ...

, who recovered it in Texas territory. Forty three yards later, Donnie Little threw a touchdown pass to Brad Beck with 3:10 to go in the half. In gusty winds, the rest of the game was a defensive affair, with the Longhorns' fumbles in the first half proving costly. Skansi caught five passes for 52 yards and was named MVP. Mays had 12 tackles, a fumble recovery, and two sacks.

Aftermath

The Huskies returned to the Sun Bowl three times (

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

), but lost all three; the Longhorns returned in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Statistics

References

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 Texas Longhorns football bowl games Washington Huskies football bowl games December 1979 sports events in the United States

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