1962 Big Ten Conference football season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1962 Big Ten Conference football season
SportAmerican football
Number of teams10
Top draft pickEd Budde
ChampionWisconsin
  Runners-upMinnesota
Season MVPRon Vander Kelen
Seasons
← 1961
1963 →
1962 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Wisconsin $ 6 1 0 8 2 0
No. 10 Minnesota 5 2 0 6 2 1
Northwestern 4 2 0 7 2 0
Ohio State 4 2 0 6 3 0
Michigan State 3 3 0 5 4 0
Purdue 3 3 0 4 4 1
Iowa 3 3 0 4 5 0
Illinois 2 5 0 2 7 0
Indiana 1 5 0 3 6 0
Michigan 1 6 0 2 7 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1962 Big Ten Conference football season was the 67th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1962 NCAA University Division football season.

The 1962 Wisconsin Badgers football team, under head coach Milt Bruhn, compiled an 8–2 record, won the Big Ten championship, led the conference in scoring offense (32.2 points per game), and was ranked No. 2 in the final AP Poll. After losing only one game in the regular season, the Badgers lost to USC in the 1963 Rose Bowl. Quarterback Ron Vander Kelen led the Big Ten with 1,582 passing yards and 1,839 total yards and won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the conference's most valuable player. End Pat Richter led the conference with 694 receiving yards and was a consensus first-team All-American.

The 1962 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, under head coach Murray Warmath, compiled a 6–2–1 record, led the conference in scoring defense (6.8 points allowed per game), finished in second place in the Big Ten, and was ranked No. 10 in the final AP Poll. Tackle Bobby Bell was a consensus first-team All-American, won the Outland Trophy as college football's best interior lineman, and finished third in the voting for the 1962 Heisman Trophy.

The 1962 Northwestern Wildcats football team, under head coach Ara Parseghian, compiled a 7–2 record and finished in third place in the conference. The Wildcats were ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll before losing consecutive games late in the season. They remained ranked No. 16 in the final Coaches' Poll. Quarterback Tom Myers totaled 1,537 passing yards, and center Jack Cvercko was a consensus first-team All-American.

The conference's other statistical leaders included Michigan State fullback George Saimes with 642 rushing yards and Wisconsin's Lou Holland with 72 points scored.

Season overview[edit]

Results and team statistics[edit]

Conf. Rank Team Head coach AP final AP high Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG MVP
1 Wisconsin Milt Bruhn #2 #2 8–2 6–1 32.2 13.0 Ron Vander Kelen
2 Minnesota Murray Warmath #10 #5 6–2–1 5–2 14.6 6.8 Bobby Bell
3 (tie) Northwestern Ara Parseghian NR #1 7–2 4–2 26.3 17.6 George Thomas
3 (tie) Ohio State Woody Hayes NR #1 6–3 4–2 22.8 10.9 Bill Armstrong
5 (tie) Michigan State Duffy Daugherty NR #4 5–4 3–3 21.0 10.7 George Saimes
5 (tie) Purdue Jack Mollenkopf NR #7 4–4–1 3–3 15.7 7.6 Roy Walker
5 (tie) Iowa Jerry Burns NR NR 4–5 3–3 14.1 18.4 Larry Ferguson
8 Illinois Pete Elliott NR NR 2–7 2–5 8.3 26.0 Ken Zimmerman
9 Indiana Phil Dickens NR NR 3–6 1–5 14.0 15.6 Woody Moore
10 Michigan Bump Elliott NR NR 2–7 1–6 7.8 23.8 Dave Raimey

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1962 season[1]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1962 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[edit]

There were no changes in the conference's head football coaches between the 1961 and 1962 seasons.

Regular season[edit]

Bowl games[edit]

On January 1, 1963, USC (ranked No. 1) defeated Wisconsin (ranked No. 2), 42–37, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. This was the first No. 1 versus No. 2 match-up to occur in a bowl game. Ron Vander Kelen, the Wisconsin quarterback and Pete Beathard, the USC quarterback, were both named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game. Down 42–14 in the fourth quarter, Vander Kelen put together a number of drives to score 23 unanswered points and put the Badgers in position to win the game.

Post-season developments[edit]

There were no changes in the conference's head football coaches between the 1962 and 1963 seasons.

Statistical leaders[edit]

The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders for the 1962 season include the following:[1]

Passing yards[edit]

Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Ron Vander Kelen Wisconsin 1,582
2 Tom Myers Northwestern 1,537
3 Mike Taliaferro Illinois 1,139
4 Duane Blaska Minnesota 862
5 Woody Moore Indiana 770

Rushing yards[edit]

Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 George Saimes Michigan State 642
2 David Francis Ohio State 624
3 Sherman Lewis Michigan State 590
4 Larry Ferguson Iowa 547
5 Marv Woodson Indiana 540

Receiving yards[edit]

Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Pat Richter Wisconsin 694
2 Paul Flatley Northwestern 626
3 Thurman Walker Illinois 240
4 Jim Warren Illinois 230
5 Harvey Chapman Michigan 223

Total yards[edit]

Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Ron Vander Kelen Wisconsin 1,839
2 Tom Myers Northwestern 1,435
3 Mike Taliaferro Illinois 1,265
4 Duane Blaska Minnesota 965
5 Woody Moore Indiana 756

Scoring[edit]

Rank Name Team Points[1]
1 Lou Holland Wisconsin 72
2 Sherman Lewis Michigan State 54
2 Steve Murphy Northwestern 54
2 George Saimes Michigan State 54
5 Ron Smith Wisconsin 42
5 David Francis Ohio State 42

Awards and honors[edit]

All-Big Ten honors[edit]

The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1962 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

Position Name Team Selectors
Quarterback Ron Vander Kelen Wisconsin AP, UPI
Halfback George Saimes Michigan State AP, UPI [fullback]
Halfback Paul Warfield Ohio State AP, UPI
Back Marvin Woodson Indiana AP
Halfback Larry Ferguson Iowa UPI
End Pat Richter Wisconsin AP, UPI
End John Campbell Minnesota AP, UPI
Tackle Bobby Bell Minnesota AP, UPI
Tackle Don Brumm Purdue AP, UPI
Guard Jack Cvercko Northwestern AP, UPI
Guard Julian Hook Minnesota AP, UPI
Center Dave Behrman Michigan State AP
Center Bill Armstrong Ohio State UPI

All-American honors[edit]

At the end of the 1962 season, Big Ten players secured four of the 11 consensus first-team picks for the 1962 College Football All-America Team.[3] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:

Position Name Team Selectors
Tackle Bobby Bell Minnesota AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, TSN, UPI, Time, WCFF
End Pat Richter Wisconsin AFCA, AP, FWAA, TSN, UPI, Time, WCFF
Fullback George Saimes Michigan State AFCA, AP, FWAA, TSN, UPI, WCFF
Guard Andy Cvercko Northwestern TSN, UPI, Time, WCFF

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

Position Name Team Selectors
Tackle Don Brumm Purdue AP, FWAA
Guard Ed Budde Michigan State Time

Other awards[edit]

Bobby Bell of Minnesota won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in college football. He also finished third in the voting of the Heisman Trophy.[4]

1963 NFL Draft[edit]

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1963 NFL Draft:[5]

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
Ed Budde Offensive tackle Michigan State 1 4
Bob Vogel Offensive tackle Ohio State 1 5
Pat Richter End Wisconsin 1 7
Dave Behrman Center Michigan State 1 11
Daryl Sanders Offensive Tackle Ohio State 1 12
Don Brumm Defensive end Purdue 1 13
Bobby Bell Tackle Minnesota 2 16
Lonnie Sanders Cornerback Michigan State 2 22
Jim Kanicki Tackle Michigan State 2 23
Paul Flatley End Northwestern 4 44
Bill Munsey Back Minnesota 4 51
Jack Cverko Guard Northwestern 5 63
Gary Moeller Guard Ohio State 5 66
George Saimes Safety Michigan State 6 71
Tom Bloom Back Purdue 6 74
John Johnson Tackle Indiana 6 80
Bill Zorn Tackle Michigan State 7 85
Dave Francis Back Ohio State 7 91
Gary Kroner Back Wisconsin 7 93
Burt Petkus Guard Northwestern 7 97

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "1962 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  2. ^ "Vanderkelen Named Best In Big Ten". Chicago Tribune. December 16, 1962. p. 2-1, 2-2.
  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 February 1, 2017.
  4. ^ "1962 Heisman Trophy Voting". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  5. ^ "1963 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved January 13, 2017.