1967 Big Ten Conference football season

The 1967 Big Ten Conference football season was the 72nd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1967 NCAA University Division football season.

1967 Big Ten Conference football season
SportAmerican football
Number of teams10
1968 NFL/AFL draft
Top draft pickJohn Williams
Co-championsIndiana, Minnesota, Purdue
Season MVPLeroy Keyes
Seasons
← 1966
1968 →
1967 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Indiana + 6 1 0 9 2 0
Minnesota + 6 1 0 8 2 0
No. 9 Purdue + 6 1 0 8 2 0
Ohio State 5 2 0 6 3 0
Illinois 3 4 0 4 6 0
Michigan 3 4 0 4 6 0
Michigan State 3 4 0 3 7 0
Northwestern 2 5 0 3 7 0
Iowa 0 6 1 1 8 1
Wisconsin 0 6 1 0 9 1
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The season resulted in a three-way tie for the conference championship, as Indiana, Purdue, and Minnesota each finished with a conference record of 6–1. Each team was 1–1 against the others; as Indiana defeated Purdue, Purdue defeated Minnesota, and Minnesota defeated Indiana. As of 2022, this was the last conference championship for both Indiana and Minnesota. Purdue has won one conference title since then, in 2000.

The 1967 Indiana Hoosiers football team, under head coach John Pont, was ranked No. 4 in the final AP Poll. The Hoosiers lost to USC in the 1968 Rose Bowl. Quarterback Harry Gonso was selected as the team's most valuable player.

The 1967 Purdue Boilermakers football team, under head coach Jack Mollenkopf, was ranked No. 9 in the final AP Poll. Purdue running back Leroy Keyes led the conference with 114 points scored, was a consensus first-team All-American, won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the conference, and finished third in the voting for the 1968 Heisman Trophy.

The 1967 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, under head coach Murray Warmath, was unranked in the final AP Poll (which ranked only ten teams at the time), but was 14th in the final Coaches Poll. Offensive tackle John Williams was the first Big Ten player selected in the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft with the 23rd overall pick.

Due to Big Ten's "no-repeat" policy barring teams from making consecutive Rose Bowl appearances, Purdue was ineligible. The next tiebreaker was the team which had gone the longest since last playing in Pasadena. Since Indiana had never been, and Minnesota appeared following the 1960 and '61 seasons, the Hoosiers got the nod despite their loss to the Gophers.

Season overview

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Results and team statistics

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Conf. Rank Team Head coach AP final AP high Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG MVP
1 (tie) Indiana John Pont #4 #4 9–2 6–1 17.9 14.5 Harry Gonso
1 (tie) Minnesota Murray Warmath NR NR 8–2 6–1 16.3 10.6 Tom Sakal
1 (tie) Purdue Jack Mollenkopf #9 #2 8–2 6–1 29.1 15.4 Leroy Keyes
4 Ohio State Woody Hayes NR NR 6–3 5–2 16.1 13.3 Dick Worden
5 (tie) Illinois Jim Valek NR NR 4–6 3–4 14.3 21.3 John Wright
5 (tie) Michigan Bump Elliott NR NR 4–6 3–4 14.4 17.9 Ron Johnson
5 (tie) Michigan State Duffy Daugherty NR #3 3–7 3–4 17.3 19.3 Dwight Lee
8 Northwestern Alex Agase NR NR 3–7 2–5 14.9 21.3 Bruce Gunstra
9 (tie) Iowa Ray Nagel NR NR 1–8–1 0–6–1 16.1 27.7 Silas McKinnie
9 (tie) Wisconsin John Coatta NR NR 0–9–1 0–6–1 12.0 22.4 Tom Domres

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1967 season[1]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1967 season[1]
PPG = Average of points scored per game[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game[1]
MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy; trophy winner in bold[2]

Preseason

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Regular season

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Bowl games

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Post-season developments

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Statistical leaders

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The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders for the 1967 season include the following:[1]

Passing yards

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Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Mike Phipps Purdue 1,800
2 Bill Melzer Northwestern 1,146
3 Ed Podolak Iowa 1,014
4 Dean Volkman Illinois 1,005
5 John Boyajian Wisconsin 966

Rushing yards

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Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Ron Johnson Michigan 1,005
2 Leroy Keyes Purdue 986
3 Rich Johnson Illinois 768
4 Perry Williams Purdue 746
5 Silas McKinnie Iowa 588

Receiving yards

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Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Leroy Keyes Purdue 758
2 Al Bream Iowa 703
3 John Wright Illinois 698
4 Jim Beirne Purdue 643
5 Jim Berline Michigan 624

Total yards

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Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Mike Phipps Purdue 2,020
2 Harry Gonso Indiana 1,443
3 Ed Podolak Iowa 1,337
4 Dennis Brown Michigan 1,286
5 Bill Melzer Northwestern 1,205

Scoring

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Rank Name Team Points[1]
1 Leroy Keyes Purdue 114
2 Perry Williams Purdue 66
3 Jade Butcher Indiana 60
4 Curt Wilson Minnesota 48
5 Ron Johnson Michigan 42
5 Chico Kurzawski Northwestern 42

Awards and honors

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All-Big Ten honors

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The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1967 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

Offense

Position Name Team Selectors
Quarterback Mike Phipps Purdue AP
Quarterback Harry Gonso Indiana UPI
Running back Leroy Keyes Purdue AP, UPI
Running back Ron Johnson Michigan AP, UPI
Running back Perry Williams Purdue AP, UPI [fullback]
Offensive end Jim Beirne Purdue AP, UPI
Offensive end John Wright Illinois AP
Offensive end Billy Anders Ohio State UPI
Offensive tackle John Williams Minnesota AP, UPI
Offensive tackle Dick Himes Ohio State AP, UPI
Offensive guard Bruce Gunstra Northwestern AP, UPI
Offensive guard Gary Cassells Indiana AP, UPI
Center Joe Dayton Michigan AP, UPI

Defense

Position Name Team Selectors
Defensive end Bob Stein Minnesota AP, UPI
Defensive end George Olion Purdue UPI
Defensive end George Chatlos Michigan State AP
Defensive tackle McKinley Boston Minnesota AP, UPI
Defensive tackle Lance Olssen Purdue UPI
Defensive tackle Tom Domres Wisconsin AP
Middle guard Chuck Kyle Purdue AP, UPI
Linebacker Ken Criter Wisconsin AP, UPI
Linebacker Dick Marvel Purdue UPI
Linebacker Ken Kaczmarek Indiana AP
Linebacker Jim Sniadecki Indiana AP
Linebacker Tom Stincic Michigan UPI
Defensive back Ron Bess Illinois AP, UPI
Defensive back Tom Garretson Northwestern AP, UPI [safety]
Defensive back Tom Sakal Minnesota AP, UPI

All-American honors

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At the end of the 1967 season, only one Big Ten player secured consensus first-team honors on the 1967 College Football All-America Team.[3] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans was:

Position Name Team Selectors
Running back Leroy Keyes Purdue AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, WC, Time, TSN

Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:

Position Name Team Selectors
Offensive tackle John Williams Minnesota Time
Offensive guard Gary Cassells Indiana AP, FWAA, WCFF
Defensive end Bob Stein Minnesota FWAA, NEA, WC

Other awards

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The 1967 Heisman Trophy was awarded to Gary Beban of UCLA. Purdue running back Leroy Keyes finished third in the voting.[4]

1968 NFL/AFL Draft

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The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft:[5]

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
John Williams Offensive tackle Minnesota 1 23
Doug Crusan Offensive tackle Indiana 1 27
Cyril Pinder Running back Illinois 2 39
John Wright Wide receiver Illinois 2 53
Lance Olssen Tackle Purdue 3 65
Charlie Sanders Tight end Minnesota 3 74
Dick Himes Tackle Ohio State 3 81
Jess Phillips Defensive back Michigan State 4 84

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "1967 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  2. ^ "Keyes Voted Big Ten's Most Valuable Player". Chicago Tribune. December 27, 1967. pp. 3–1, 3–4.
  3. ^ "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. pp. 5–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  4. ^ "1967 Heisman Trophy Voting". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  5. ^ "1968 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2017.