University of North Texas Athletics
No. 59: Mean Green Greats Take On Sun Bowl
7/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
No. 59 - A Look At The 1959 Sun Bowl Squad
When a debate (read: argument) about the greatest football teams in North Texas history is thrown out at the Athletic Center water cooler the 1959 squad is always heavily considered.
How could it not be? A squad that featured a pair of All-Americans in Abner Haynes (rightly considered the best athlete to ever suit up for NT) and Bill Carrico, not to mention Ed Gray, Sammy Stanger, George Herring, T.D. Parks and C. Dan Smith pounded out a 9-1 record, and earned a spot in the most prestigious bowl game the program has ever been apart of.
That '59 team rolled past UTEP (31-7), Cincinnati (21-6), Houston (7-6) and Louisville (39-7), and picked up its second consecutive Missouri Valley Conference Championship. The team set a MVC record for fewest passing yards allowed in a season at 581, holding its opponents to a school-record low 27 passing first downs.
As a matter of fact, that defense allowed just 196.5 total yards per game, which has been topped by only one other team in school history (1967 - 182.1).
Only Tulsa and NT's Sun Bowl opponent, New Mexico State, managed to down the Eagles that season.
You can visit the Mean Green Athletic Center lobby to read more about T.D. Parks and the 1959 Sun Belt squad.
| 100 | 100-yd fumble return for TD | 75- | "Mean Joe" Greene | 50- | Friday, July 22 | 25- | Tuesday, August 16 |
| 99 | Fitzgerald Goes The Distance | 74- | NT Downs No. 20 SDSU | 49- | Saturday, July 23 | 24- | Wednesday, August 17 |
| 98 | Sears Woods' Stuns Knoxville | 73- | Fry & the new Mean Green | 48- | Sunday, July 24 | 23- | Thursday, August 18 |
| 97- | NT Blows Out Decatur Baptist | 72- | Yaege's Stellar Season | 47- | Monday, July 25 | 22- | Friday, August 19 |
| 96- | 96 Years Of Football | 71- | Steve Ramsey's TDs | 46- | Tuesday, July 26 | 21- | Saturday, August 20 |
| 95- | The Jump To Division I-A | 70- | Little's 1970 Season | 45- | Wednesday, July 27 | 20- | Sunday, August 21 |
| 94- | Optimist Bowl Offense | 69- | 7 All-Conference in '69 | 44- | Thursday, July 28 | 19- | Monday, August 22 |
| 93- | Michael High KR Yards | 68- | A Consensus All-American | 43- | Friday, July 29 | 18- | Tuesday, August 23 |
| 92- | Gowin 92-Yard Punt | 67- | Armour Anchors NT Offense | 42- | Saturday, July 30 | 17- | Wednesday, August 24 |
| 91- | Chancellor Saves The MGRN | 66- | Love Tops 1,000 Yds | 41- | Sunday, July 31 | 16- | Thursday, August 25 |
| 90- | Renfro/Haynes Tally 90 pts. | 65- | St. Clair's Win Pct | 40- | Monday, August 1 | 15- | Friday, August 26 |
| 89- | Redwine Bursts Onto Scene | 64- | Spider's Special Season | 39- | Tuesday, August 2 | 14- | Saturday, August 27 |
| 88- | Mean Green Robbed | 63- | NT & Navy Light Up The Scoreboard | 38- | Wednesday, August 3 | 13- | Sunday, August 28 |
| 87- | Fitzgerald Fries Competition | 62- | Khoury's 62-yd FG | 37- | Thursday, August 4 | 12- | Monday, August 29 |
| 86- | Mean Green 86 The Toads | 61- | Kennedy's 61 TFL | 36- | Friday, August 5 | 11- | Tuesday, August 30 |
| 85- | Adrian Awasom | 60- | Fouts Field | 35- | Saturday, August 6 | 10- | Wednesday, August 31 |
| 84- | Brown Delivers For NT | 59- | Meet The '59 Sun Bowl Squad | 34- | Sunday, August 7 | 9- | Thursday, September 1 |
| 83- | 83 All-Conference Selections | 58- | Thursday, July 14 | 33- | Monday, August 8 | 8- | Friday, September 2 |
| 82- | Corky Nelson | 57- | Friday, July 15 | 32- | Tuesday, August 9 | 7- | Saturday, September 3 |
| 81- | One Of The Greats | 56- | Saturday, July 16 | 31- | Wednesday, August 10 | 6- | Sunday, September 4 |
| 80- | Cedric The Sack- Getter | 55- | Sunday, July 17 | 30- | Thursday, August 11 | 5- | Monday, September 5 |
| 79- | "Blow George, Blow!" | 54- | Monday, July 18 | 29- | Friday, August 12 | 4 | Tuesday, September 6 |
| 78- | J.T. Smith Joins the NFL | 53- | Tuesday, July 19 | 28- | Saturday, August 13 | 3- | Wednesday, September 7 |
| 77- | North Texas Goes 10- 1 | 52- | Wednesday, July 20 | 27- | Sunday, August 14 | 2- | Thursday, September 8 |
| 76- | Blizzard Battle With FSU | 51- | Thursday, July 21 | 26- | Monday, August 15 | 1- | Friday, September 9 |
