1961 Big Ten Conference football season explained

1961 Big Ten Conference football season
Sport:American football
No Of Teams:10
Top Pick:Bob Ferguson
Season Champs:Ohio State
Season Champ Name:Champion
Second Place:Minnesota
Mvp:Sandy Stephens
Prevseason Year:1960
Nextseason Year:1962

The 1961 Big Ten Conference football season was the 66th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1961 college football season.

The 1961 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, under head coach Woody Hayes, compiled an 8–0–1, won the Big Ten championship, and was recognized as the national champion by the Football Writers Association of America. Fullback Bob Ferguson was a consensus first-team All-American and won the Maxwell Award and the UPI and Sporting News College Football Player of the Year awards.

The 1961 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, under head coach Murray Warmath, compiled an 8–2, was ranked No. 6 in the final AP Poll, and defeated UCLA in the 1962 Rose Bowl. Quarterback Sandy Stephens was a consensus first-team All-American and won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football award as the Big Ten's most valuable player. As of 2017, Stephens is the most recent Minnesota player to win the award.

Ron Miller of Wisconsin received the Sammy Baugh Trophy as the nation's top collegiate passer.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. RankTeamHead coachAP finalAP highOverall recordConf. recordPPGPAGMVP
1Ohio StateWoody Hayes
  1. 2
  1. 2
8–0–14–224.69.2Bob Ferguson
2MinnesotaMurray Warmath
  1. 6
  1. 3
8–26–116.87.8Sandy Stephens
3Michigan StateDuffy Daugherty
  1. 8
  1. 1
7–25–221.35.6George Saimes
4PurdueJack Mollenkopf
  1. 12
  1. 7
6–34–216.29.7Jack Elwell
5WisconsinMilt BruhnNRNR6–44–319.917.6Ron Miller
6MichiganBump ElliottNR
  1. 6
6–33–323.618.1John Walker
7 (tie)IowaJerry BurnsNR
  1. 1
5–42–423.918.0Al Hinton
7 (tie)NorthwesternAra ParseghianNRNR4–52–414.611.7Boyd Melvin
9IndianaPhil DickensNRNR2–70–610.718.0Byron Broome
10IllinoisPete ElliottNRNR0–90–75.932.1Tony Parrilli
Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1961 season
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1961 season
PPG = Average of points scored per game
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

On November 20, 1960, hours after the final game of the 1960 season, Iowa announced that Forest Evashevski would be replaced as head football coach by Jerry Burns. Evashevski remained at Iowa as the athletic director. Burns, who signed a three-year contract, had been an assistant coach under Evashevski since 1954 and had played at Michigan from 1947 to 1950.[3]

In the preseason AP Poll, Iowa was ranked No. 1, and Ohio State was No. 2.[1]

Bowl games

See main article: 1962 Rose Bowl.

Post-season developments

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

Statistical leaders

The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders for the 1961 season include the following:[1]

Passing yards

RankNameTeamYards
1Ron MillerWisconsin1,487
2Matt SzykownyIowa1,078
3Sandy StephensMinnesota869
4Ron DiGravioPurdue861
5Pete SmithMichigan State630

Rushing yards

RankNameTeamYards
1Bob FergusonOhio State938
2Sandy StephensMinnesota533
3Dave RaimeyMichigan496
4Roy WalkerPurdue491
5Bill SwingleNorthwestern476

Receiving yards

RankNameTeamYards
1Pat RichterWisconsin817
2Cloyd WebbIowa425
3Jack ElwellPurdue343
4Chuck BryantOhio State270
5Lonnie SandersMichigan State247

Total yards

RankNameTeamYards
1Ron MillerWisconsin1,449
2Sandy StephensMinnesota1,402
3Ron DiGravioPurdue980
4Matt SzykownyIowa956
5Bob FergusonOhio State938

Scoring

RankNameTeamPoints
1Bob FergusonOhio State66
2Sandy StephensMinnesota48
2Joe WilliamsIowa48
2George SaimesMichigan State48
2Pat RichterWisconsin48

Awards and honors

All-Big Ten honors

The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1961 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

PositionNameTeamSelectors
QuarterbackSandy StephensMinnesotaAP, UPI
HalfbackBennie McRaeMichiganAP, UPI
HalfbackGeorge SaimesMichigan StateAP, UPI
FullbackBob FergusonOhio StateAP, UPI
EndPat RichterWisconsinAP, UPI
EndJack ElwellPurdueAP
EndTom HallMinnesotaUPI
TackleBobby BellMinnesotaAP, UPI
TackleDave BehrmanMichigan StateAP
TackleFate EcholsNorthwesternUPI
GuardMike IngramOhio StateAP, UPI
GuardStan SezurekIowaAP
GuardTony ParrilliIllinoisUPI
CenterLarry OnestiNorthwesternAP, UPI

All-American honors

At the end of the 1961 season, Big Ten players secured two of the 11 consensus first-team picks for the 1961 College Football All-America Team.[4] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:

PositionNameTeamSelectors
FullbackBob FergusonOhio StateAFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, TSN, UPI, CP, Time, WCFF
QuarterbackSandy StephensMinnesotaAP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI, WCFF

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

PositionNameTeamSelectors
TackleBobby BellMinnesotaAFCA, FWAA, TSN, CP
GuardDave BehrmanMichigan StateAP, FWAA
CenterBill Van BurenIowaTSN, CP
EndPat RichterWisconsinUPI
TackleFate EcholsNorthwesternTime

Other awards

Ohio State fullback Bob Ferguson won the Maxwell Award and the UPI and Sporting News College Football Player of the Year awards. He finished second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy behind Ernie Davis.[5]

Ron Miller of Wisconsin received the Sammy Baugh Trophy as the nation's top collegiate passer. He was the first Big Ten player to receive the award.

1962 NFL Draft

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1962 NFL draft:[6]

NamePositionTeamRoundOverall pick
Bob FergusonBackOhio State15
Fate EcholsTackleNorthwestern16
Bennie McRaeBackMichigan221
Sandy StephensBackMinnesota225
Chuck BryantEndOhio State334
Larry Ferguson Back Iowa452
Stan Sczurek Guard Purdue453
Bill Tunnicliff Running back Michigan563
Jon Schopf Guard Michigan570
Larry BowieTacklePurdue673
John Elwell End Purdue675
Sam TidmoreEnd Ohio State681
Sherwyn Thorson Guard Iowa787
Quarterback Wisconsin788
End Illinois791
End Minnesota794
John HavlicekWide receiver Ohio State795
Ron HatcherRunning backMichigan State899

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1961 Big Ten Conference Year Summary. Sports Reference LLC. SR/College Football. January 9, 2017.
  2. News: Stephens Voted Big 10 Most Valuable: Minnesota Quarterback Beats Bob Ferguson By 2 Votes; Ron Miller Is 3rd. Chicago Tribune. December 17, 1961. 2-1.
  3. News: Jerry Burns Becomes Head Coach at Iowa. Lincoln Journal and Star. November 20, 1960. 36.
  4. Web site: 2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. February 1, 2017. 5–6. December 22, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141222163944/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2014/Awards.pdf. dead.
  5. Web site: 1961 Heisman Trophy Voting. Sports Reference LLC. SR/College Football. January 17, 2017.
  6. Web site: 1962 NFL Draft: Full Draft. National Football League. NFL.com. January 13, 2017.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "1961 Big Ten Conference football season".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.