writer Clayton Byers. It was edited by UNM Media Relations.)
EL PASO, Texas — Don Rumley, a 19-year-old Navy reservist from Princeton, Ill., led New Mexico to a 34-24 victory over Denver University in the 11th Annual Sun Bowl. The 180-pound halfback passed for three touchdowns and rushed for another in the highest scoring game in the 11 years of this New Year’s Day football event.
A crowd of 15,000 was on its feet throughout a 28-point fourth period in which New Mexico came from behind to capture its first bowl victory in three attempts. It was also the first victory for a Border Conference team in the El Paso game’s history.
Denver, Big Seven champion, rolled up 10 points before New Mexico countered, and remained dangerous the last scoring its final touchdown with less than two minutes to play.
A 63-yard dash with an interception sentfullback Rudy Krall over with UNM’s firstscore in the second period. Krall and Rumley engineered a 70-yard drive to set up the next score when Rumley scooted in from nine yards for a 13-10 Lobo lead.
Then, after a scorelessNew Mexico third period, when Denver had regained the lead at 17-13, Rumley whipped out two aerials for touchdowns to sub end William Moseley and a third to Lavon McDonald.
One reason the Lobos were Sun Bowl champs is a story of gridiron heroism. It’s about Fred Doar, UNM’s star center, chief linebacker and kicker.
The 210-pound Navy trainee was on the bottom of a heap in the first play of the game. After that he played outstanding ballstopping Denver backs time after time. But teammates noticed their captain wasn’t “talking it up” as usual. In fact, he was silent. X-rays after the game showed that Doar had broken hisjaw in two places on the first play.
Blue skies and a blazing sun made it baseball weather for the game. Nearly 16,000 short-sleeved customers heard a minister intone a prayer dedicating this game to the nine members of the Lobos’ 1939 Sun Bowl team who left the football field to die on the battle field during World War II.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Denver | 10 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 24 | |
| New Mexico | 0 | 13 | 0 | 21 | 34 | |
| Scoring | ||||||
| DU – Karamigios 21 run (Redding kick) | ||||||
| DU – Miller 28 FG | ||||||
| UNM – Krall 65 interception return (kick failed) – | ||||||
| UNM – Rumley 9 run (Doar kick) | ||||||
| DU – Adams 2 run (Redding kick) | ||||||
| UNM – Moseley 37 pass from Rumley (Doar kick) | ||||||
| UNM – Moseley 47 pass from Rumley (Doar kick) | ||||||
| UNM – McDonald 28 pass from Rumley (Doar kick | ||||||
| DU – Karamigios 35 pass from Cochran (Redding kick) | ||||||
| Statistics | ||||||
| UNM | DU | |||||
| First Downs | 15 | 13 | ||||
| Rushing Yards | 171 | 238 | ||||
| Passing Yards | 207 | 39 | ||||
| Passing | 8-12-1 | 3-16-1 | ||||
| Total Offense | 378 | 277 | ||||
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-1 | 1-0 | ||||
| Penalties-Yards | 90 | 25 | ||||
| Punts-Avg. | 44.0 | 33.0 | ||||
| Punt Returns | 18 | 94 | ||||
| Kickoff Returns | 5-111 | 7-113 | ||||