The 1979 Sun Bowl was a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

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 ...

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 List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

, behind

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. 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 also included schools from Oklaho ...

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 Hoo ...

recovered quarterback

Rick McIvor Richard Edward McIvor (born September 26, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns. Aft ...

's fumble late in the first quarter in Longhorn territory. Ten seconds into the second quarter, junior quarterback Tom Flick threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to freshman

Paul Skansi Paul Anthony Skansi (born January 11, 1961) is an American professional 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 dra ...

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, 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 en ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

), 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 Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

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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