1963 Sun Bowl
The 1963 Sun Bowl was played between the SMU Mustangs and the Oregon Webfoots.
Background
SMU was invited to the Sun Bowl on the basis of their win over fourth ranked Navy and Air Force earlier in the season. The Webfoots on the other hand were a decent 7-3 team led by Len Casanova, who were going to their 3rd bowl game in 5 years under two head coaches. This was the Sun Bowl's first game under its stadium of the same name.
Game summary
Dennis Keller had a touchdown run in the first quarter and Bob Berry threw two touchdown passes in the second quarter to give Oregon a 21-0 lead at halftime. It was up to Danny Thomas and Mac White to try to bring SMU back, and they narrowed the lead to 21-14 as each threw a touchdown pass to John Roderick in the fourth quarter. SMU's onside kick with less than a minute remaining went out of bounds, giving the Webfoots the ball and ulimately the win. Oregon won their first bowl game since the 1917 Rose Bowl. It would be their last bowl win until the 1989 Independence Bowl. Bob Berry went 11-of-26, but threw for 146 yards with two touchdowns and one interception and was named MVP. Conversely, Danny Thomas threw 15-of-26 for 188 yards for one touchdown and two interceptions for the Mustangs. [1][2][3][4]
Statistics
| Statistics | SMU | Oregon |
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| First Downs | 20 | 16 |
| Yards Rushing | 145 | 173 |
| Yards Passing | 232 | 146 |
| Total Yards | 377 | 319 |
| Punts-Average | 4-39.2 | 7-36.0 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 4-3 | 1-1 |
| Interceptions | 1 | 4 |
| Penalties-Yards | 5-38 | 7-79 |
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References
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Pound sign (#) denotes national championship game.
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