1979 Sun Bowl

The 1979 Sun Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game that featured the Texas Longhorns and the Washington Huskies.

Background

The Huskies finished second in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Longhorns had lost two games by a combined total of nine points, with the two losses costing them a Southwest Conference title. This was Washington's first Sun Bowl and Texas' second straight.

Game summary

Stafford Mays recovered Texas quarterback Rick McIvor's fumble late in the first quarter in Longhorn territory. 10 seconds into the second quarter, Tom Flick threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Paul Skansi to make it 7–0 Huskies. On the second play of the Longhorns' ensuing drive, 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 14–0. But on Washington's next possession, Flick fumbled the ball to Kenneth Sims, who recovered it in Texas territory. 43 yards later, Donnie Little threw a touchdown pass to Brad Beck with 3:10 to go in the half. The rest of the game was a defensive affair, with the Longhorns fumbles in the first half proving costly. Skansi caught 5 passes for 52 yards on his way to being named MVP. Mays had 12 tackles, a fumble recovery, and two sacks.^[1][2]

Aftermath

The Huskies have returned to the Sun Bowl three times since this game, though they lost all three. The Longhorns returned to the Sun Bowl in 1982.

Statistics

References