ARLINGTON, Texas – Dicky Maegle, one of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic's greatest legends, passed away on Sunday, July 4, at his home in Houston at the age of 86.
 
In the 1954 Cotton Bowl Classic, Maegle rushed for 265 yards on 11 attempts and scored three touchdowns in Rice's 28-6 victory over Alabama. Although 67 years may have passed since that infamous day, his 24.1 yards per carry remains a Cotton Bowl Classic and an NCAA bowl game record. His 265 rushing yards stood as the Cotton Bowl standard until 2008.
 
However, as amazing as Maegle's record-setting statistics were that day, there is one play that has endured the test of time to overshadow his incredible offensive performance…The Bench Tackle Play.

Maegle had just scored on a 79-yard run, the longest in Cotton Bowl history at that point, to give the Owls a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter. Alabama took the ensuing kickoff and drove to the Rice 10-yard line before fumbling the football back into the hands of the Owls. An illegal procedure penalty pushed the line of scrimmage back to the five-yard line to set up an improbable turn of events on first down. The Owls offensive line blocked the play to perfection as Maegle rounded right end, kicking up white dust from the end zone. He eluded the grasp of Tide cornerback Bart Starr and seemingly was long gone, sailing up the sideline in front of the Alabama team bench. Just as he approached midfield, the unthinkable occurred. Tommy Lewis, the Crimson Tide's team captain, leaped off the bench, stepped around his teammates and ran onto the field to throw a perfect block into Maegle's blind side as he reached the 42-yard line.
 
Lewis dashed back to the bench and buried his head in his hands as television and radio announcers fumbled for words to describe what had just taken place. A capacity crowd of 75,504 fans looked on in disbelief. Maegle lay motionless on the stadium turf as referee Cliff Shaw signaled a touchdown for Rice. In Shaw's judgement, had it not been for Lewis' bizarre play, Maegle would have scored, and he was awarded a 95-yard touchdown run.
 
Maegle, who later in life changed the spelling of his name from "Moegle" to make it easier to pronounce, was virtually unstoppable that day with touchdown runs of 79, 95 and 34 yards. But it was the collision between Lewis and Maegle that is remembered most. Afterward, both players made the rounds to various national TV shows, including the Ed Sullivan Show in New York City, to talk about the play.
 
Lewis explained that he was "just too full of Alabama" to watch Maegle run for a touchdown. Maegle equated the tackle to running down an alley when someone suddenly opens a door.
 
The nation's media voted The Bench Tackle as the sports oddity of 1954. Complete with an asterisk, this 95-yard scoring gallop remains as the longest rushing play – and most talked about – in Cotton Bowl history.
 
Maegle was inducted into the inaugural class of the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in the spring of 1998. He was enshrined as a member of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979.