Willie Evans, who, as a standout halfback in 1958, helped the University of Buffalo secure its first invitation to a bowl game, only to be barred with a teammate from playing in it because they were black — a decision that so outraged the team that it refused to participate — died on Wednesday in Buffalo. He was 79.

His wife, Roberta Evans, said the cause was injuries sustained in a fall.

Evans, a varsity athlete in several sports in high school, had little experience with football before he started at the University of Buffalo (now the State University of New York at Buffalo) in the mid-1950s.

Coached by Dick Offenhamer, known for his grueling training regimens, the Buffalo Bulls of Evans’s day were a close-knit, hard-hitting bunch. Evans, 6 feet tall and 182 pounds, played on the freshman team for most of 1956 but soon became a force on the varsity squad.

The Bulls favored a punishing ground attack, and Evans led the team in rushing for the next three seasons. He scored nine rushing touchdowns and ran for 1,559 yards during his college career, averaging 6.36 yards per carry, a record that stands at the university.