Nobody was ready for what happened just before the 1954 Gator Bowl between Texas Tech and Auburn.

Nobody ever forgot, either. As a result, a tradition was born for the Red Raiders, on the banks of the St. Johns River and nearly 1,000 miles from Lubbock, Texas.

A crowd of 28,641 at the old Gator Bowl stadium had just settled in to watch favored Auburn and quarterback Vince Dooley take on Tech, the first team from Texas to appear in the game.

Bursting from one end zone was the blur of a black horse (named, aptly, Blackie) galloping onto the field, straight down the middle. In Blackie's saddle was Tech student Joe Kirk Fulton, wearing a black outfit, a black bolero hat, a black mask and the startling contrast of a red cape.

Trailing behind, doing its best to keep up, was the Tech football team. The sight sent not only their emotions soaring, but that of Jacksonville football fans, who didn't have a dog in this fight, but marveled at the daring way the Red Raiders took the field.

Atlanta Journal sportswriter Ed Danforth wrote: "No team in any bowl game ever made a more sensational entrance."

Texas Tech went on to win the game 35-13, the first of two victories it would post in three Gator Bowl appearances.

The Red Raiders will play in their fourth Gator Bowl on Jan. 1 against Virginia, and the significance of the birth of the modern form of the Masked Rider mascot 55 years ago will be marked by the return of Tech's iconic symbol. Tech student Kevin Burns will be atop Midnight Matador not only before and during the game, but at the Winn Dixie Hometown Gator Bowl Parade on Dec. 31.

Also appearing will be Fulton, who is a Lubbock businessman.

In allowing the Masked Rider to be at the game, the Gator Bowl is breaking with a long-standing policy against live animal mascots at the game. Since the 1974 Gator Bowl between Auburn and Texas, when Auburn's War Eagle attacked a Longhorns player, the Gator Bowl has forbidden animals on the field before or during the game.

The ban also was intended to minimize the emotional lift that some pregame rituals involving mascots can mean to a team and its fans.

"We're supposed to remain neutral in this game," Gator Bowl Association president Rick Catlett said. "We try to make sure there's a level playing field."

An attempt was made to soften the policy when Florida State made its last appearance in 2005. School officials were told by the Gator Bowl Association that Renegade, the Appaloosa horse, would be allowed to be on the FSU sideline, and Chief Osceola (portrayed by a student) could plant the flaming spear in the Seminoles' end zone.

However, the owner of Renegade wanted the horse to be able to ride to midfield and plant the spear there, as is done at FSU home games, and decided not bring the horse to Jacksonville.

Catlett said Texas Tech has agreed to similar ground rules involving the Masked Rider. After the pregame entrance, Burns must keep Midnight Matador under control for the rest of the game, with no full-gallop stunts.

Catlett said the history involved between Tech's mascot and the Gator Bowl played "a significant role," in allowing Burns and Midnight Matador to ride.

"The Masked Rider was born at the Gator Bowl," Catlett said. "We thought it was only appropriate that it would be allowed to return."

In the spirit of fair play, the Virginia Cavalier mascot, which sometimes rides a horse, would be allowed its own form of equine transportation at the game, Catlett said.

But it is unlikely to create as much of a stir as the Masked Rider. While most college football fans adore their mascots - FSU with Renegade, Georgia with Uga the Bulldog, Colorado with Ralphie the Buffalo and Texas with Bevo the Longhorn steer leap to mind - Red Raiders fans would put their love of the Masked Rider against any other.

"There is the strongest emotional attachment to the Masked Rider among Tech fans," said Steve Uryasz, a senior associate athletic director at Tech and executive director of the Red Raider Club. "It's more than just a mascot people see at the games. The Masked Rider is as much a part of the team as a player. When he rides onto the field [before the Gator Bowl] people will feel the electricity."

Before the 1954 Gator Bowl, the Tech mascot was merely a student in the black outfit and red cape, who only occasionally rode a horse at games.

According to Tech's Web site, the team's nickname, the Red Raiders, was adopted in 1936. Credit for coming up with the name has been given to former Lubbock Morning Avalanche sports editor Collier Parrish, because of the team's red uniforms and a Road Warrior-like schedule that rivaled the early Florida State teams under Bobby Bowden.

In 1937, Tech student George Tate was the mascot, and he was the first one to ride a horse onto the field before a game for the first time.

But between then and the 1953 season, the student portraying the Red Raider rode a horse only on special occasions.

After Tech was invited to the Gator Bowl, coach DeWitt Weaver asked Fulton, who was then the Red Raider, to use a horse to make a grand entrance in Jacksonville. Tech was petitioning for a spot in the Southwest Conference, and Weaver believed the school had a better chance if it had a more high-profile mascot in the mold of Texas' Bevo or Oklahoma's Sooner Schooner.

The Masked Rider was at Tech to stay after the scintillating performance at the Gator Bowl. And the mascot quickly became so important that the Masked Rider Committee, composed of faculty, students and one graduate, was formed to supervise the tryouts, schedule and policies involving the Masked Rider.

About a dozen students each year try out, with strict grade and character requirements, as well as equestrian ability that is tested over a seven-day period.

The student playing the Masked Rider receives tuition, books and a $250 per month stipend.

However, he or she must make personal appearances with the horse year-round, at fairs, rodeos and other public functions.

The Masked Rider program hasn't been without controversy. There was an uproar in 1974 when Anne Lynch was selected as the first female Masked Rider. Among the letter writers to a newspaper was one from a Tech fan who claimed making a female student the Masked Rider would be the same as electing a male student homecoming queen.

Lynch performed well, the furor died down and 12 other Masked Riders have been female. The most recent was Amy Bell last year.

Safety also has been an issue. In 1982, a Southern Methodist cheerleader was knocked down by the horse. In 1992, a referee was similarly struck. The cheerleader spent a week in the hospital. The referee, though knocked out, was able to return to the game.

The most tragic incident involving the Masked Rider was Sept. 3, 1994. Amy Smart, making her first appearance as the Rider, was thrown from a horse named Double T when rounding a corner of the stadium.

The riderless Double T began galloping wildly, scattering players, officials and people on the sidelines. He then ran up a stadium ramp, slipped on the concrete, and struck his head on the ground. He was killed instantly.

None of those incidents interrupted the Masked Rider program, but the stunts have been toned down over time.

For example, the horse is not allowed to run around the perimeter of the Tech Stadium since the 1992 incident involving the official.

In the past few years, the Rider has not been allowed to celebrate touchdowns by going full-speed down the sidelines.

Burns was admonished publicly by the Masked Rider Committee for a stunt in the Oklahoma game Nov. 17. Burns rode at full speed with the reins in his mouth and his hands aloft in the "guns-up" gesture favored by Tech fans. It was once a common practice by the Masked Rider but was banned in the 1990s.

"The safety of people on the field, the Masked Rider and the horse is our primary concern," said Bill Dean, vice president of the Tech Alumni Association. "We require our Masked Riders to be expert equestrians, and we have strict policies involving the performance."

That said, Dean said there are few sights in college football more thrilling than the Masked Rider and the horse going full-tilt down the middle of the field, trailed by the Red Raiders football team.

"The emotions among our fans get very high at that point," Dean said. "We hope the people in Jacksonville this Gator Bowl get as much of a thrill as they did in 1954."

garry.smits@jacksonville.com,

(904) 359-4362