A Rice running back who holds a unique place in Alabama’s football lore has died.
The College Football Hall of Fame and Rice University announced Dicky Maegle’s death on Tuesday, reporting the former All-American died on Sunday at the age of 86.
Maegle set a Rice record for rushing yards in a game when he ran for 265 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries in the Owls’ 28-6 victory over Alabama in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1954. It’s also the most rushing yards that the Crimson Tide has allowed to an opposing player in a game.
Maegle scored on runs of 75, 95 and 34 yards against Alabama, even though he didn’t reach the end zone on the longest of those touchdowns.
With Rice leading 7-6 in the second quarter, Maegle broke loose from the Owls 5-yard line. But as he sprinted down the field, Alabama’s Tommy Lewis came off the bench – without his helmet -- and tackled him at the Crimson Tide 40-yard line before hurrying back to the bench. The officials awarded Rice a touchdown on the play, and Maegle still holds the Cotton Bowl record for the longest run from scrimmage.
A fullback who scored the Tide’s touchdown against Rice and served as a team captain, Lewis famously explained: “I guess I’m just too full of Bama.”
Maegle and Lewis appeared together on “The Ed Sullivan Show” two days after the Cotton Bowl.
(At the time of the play, Maegle’s last name was spelled Moegle, but he changed it later to a more phonetic spelling because it was consistently mispronounced.)
Maegle was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in 1998.
Lewis died in Huntsville in 2014.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.