University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Football History Book
July 2, 1999 | Football
July 2, 1999
Carolina 35 - Air Force 0
December 28, 1963
Jacksonville, Fla.
Attendance: 50,018
It had been 13 years since Charlie Justice had led Carolina to the 1950 Cotton Bowl, so when the Tar Heels got a chance to play in the 1963 Gator Bowl, they made the most of it. The Tar Heels walloped the Air Force, 35-0.
Ken Willard was the hero of the day. He ran for 94 yards on 18 carries and scored the first touchdown which keyed the runaway victory. When Willard wasn't running in this rout, he did his share of the offensive blocking.
Joe Robinson scored on a five-yard pass and also caught a two-yard conversion to give the Tar Heels a 20-0 lead at intermission.
Coach Jim Hickey's Tar Heels had 23 first downs to the Academy's 14, and piled up 370 yards in total offense compared to 260 for the Falcons.
Gary Black completed all six of his passes for 71 yards and one touchdown and he rushed for another score. Junior Edge was good on five of his nine throws for 42 yards.
Carolina finished the season 9-2, its best record in Hickey's eight years at the helm.
Air Force 0 0 0 0 - 0 Carolina 6 14 8 7 - 35NC - Willard 1 run (kick failed) NC - Edge 6 run (pass failed) NC - Robinson 5 pass from Black (Robinson pass from Black) NC - Kesler 1 run (Lacey pass from Edge) NC - Black 5 run (Chapman kick)
AF UNC First Downs 14 23 Rushes-Yardage 29-95 50-251 Passing Yardage 165 119 Passes 14-36-5 12-21-0 Total Offense 260 370 Return Yardage 0 66 Punts 4-40.0 4-40.0 Fumbles-Lost 3-2 2-0 Penalties-Yardage 3-35 3-42
Rushing Carolina: Willard 18-94, Kesler 9-32, Edge 7-29, Bowman 2-29, Black 4-28, Chapman 6-23, Westfall 2-9, Eason 1-5, Edwards 1-2. Air Force: Isaacson 3-44, Amdor 4-12, Dyre 3-12, Lorber 2-11, Tollstam 2-7, Backus 1-6, Ritchie 1-2, Murray 1-2, Wargo 1-0, McArtor 1-(-1).
Passing (Comp-Att-Int-Yds) Carolina: Black 6-6-0-71, Edge 5-9-0-42, Kinney 1-6-0-6. Air Force: Issaacson 9-23-3-85, Murphy 3-7-1-36, McArtor 2-5-1-44, Backus 0-1-0-0.
Receiving Carolina: Lacey 3-35, Hammett 3-34, Robinson 2-21, Willard 2-13, Sigmon 1-10, Chapman 1-6. Air Force: Greth 3-35, Puster 2-46, Greenlee 2-24, Spiegelhauer 2-14, Ross 1-18, Matthews 1-11, Ritchie 1-9, Stein 1-7, Jaggers 1-1.
