Jan. 1, 1964 - The first University of Texas football team ever to be recognized as the national intercollegiate champion sealed its claim to preeminence today with an overwhelming 28-6 victory over Navy in the Cotton Bowl. Roger Staubach, the Heisman Trophy winner who became the most celebrated player of the year in leading Navy to a ranking second only to Texas, was hounded mercilessly and eclipsed by Duke Carlisle (left). The Texas quarterback threw two tremendous touchdown passes and scored one touchdown himself in one of the most shining performances on record in this New Year’s Day fixture. The 75,504 spectators gathered in mild sunny weather could scarcely credit their eyes at the ease with which Texas manhandled and crushed a foe that was thought to be its match.
From the time they took the opening kickoff and went 78 yards across the goal line, Darrell Royal’s Longhorns were masters of the field. The game turned into a rout in the second period, and Navy did not score until it was behind, 28-0. The fast, powerful Texas line, in which Scott Appleton measured up to his acclaim as the top lineman of the year, was the chief instrument of Navy’s destruction. Staubach set a personal record for persecution in losing 47 yards trying to run. His worst previous day was a minus 33 against Pitt last year. “But these guys hit harder than Pitt,” Roger said afterwards. “I never spent so much time on the seat of my pants.” Middie coach Wayne Hardin, who had hoped to dethrone Texas as No. 1, was a good loser. “This is the best team we’ve seen,” he said. “I never saw a team any more deserving of being No. 1.”
Among the fans at today’s game was Lynda Bird Johnson, 19, Texas coed and daughter of the President. Hundreds of Dallas policemen patrolled the mammoth bowl, many more than usual because of President Johnson’s daughter. “We brought them in quietly, and we want to get them out the same way,” a Dallas police lieutenant said. Lynda Bird was accompanied by an unidentified midshipman and Secret Service agents.
