1962 Big Ten Conference football season explained

1962 Big Ten Conference football season
Sport:American football
No Of Teams:10
Top Pick:Ed Budde
Season Champs:Wisconsin
Season Champ Name:Champion
Second Place:Minnesota
Mvp:Ron Vander Kelen
Prevseason Year:1961
Nextseason Year:1963

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

Results and team statistics

Conf. RankTeamHead coachAP finalAP highOverall recordConf. recordPPGPAGMVP
1WisconsinMilt Bruhn
  1. 2
  1. 2
8–26–132.213.0Ron Vander Kelen
2MinnesotaMurray Warmath
  1. 10
  1. 5
6–2–15–214.66.8Bobby Bell
3 (tie)NorthwesternAra ParseghianNR
  1. 1
7–24–226.317.6George Thomas
3 (tie)Ohio StateWoody HayesNR
  1. 1
6–34–222.810.9Bill Armstrong
5 (tie)Michigan StateDuffy DaughertyNR
  1. 4
5–43–321.010.7George Saimes
5 (tie)PurdueJack MollenkopfNR
  1. 7
4–4–13–315.77.6Roy Walker
5 (tie)IowaJerry BurnsNRNR4–53–314.118.4Larry Ferguson
8IllinoisPete ElliottNRNR2–72–58.326.0Ken Zimmerman
9IndianaPhil DickensNRNR3–61–514.015.6Woody Moore
10MichiganBump ElliottNRNR2–71–67.823.8Dave Raimey
Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1962 season
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1962 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

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

Bowl games

See main article: 1963 Rose Bowl. 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

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

Statistical leaders

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

Passing yards

RankNameTeamYards
1Ron Vander KelenWisconsin1,582
2Tom MyersNorthwestern1,537
3Mike TaliaferroIllinois1,139
4Duane BlaskaMinnesota862
5Woody MooreIndiana770

Rushing yards

RankNameTeamYards
1George SaimesMichigan State642
2David FrancisOhio State624
3Sherman LewisMichigan State590
4Larry FergusonIowa547
5Marv WoodsonIndiana540

Receiving yards

RankNameTeamYards
1Pat RichterWisconsin694
2Paul FlatleyNorthwestern626
3Thurman WalkerIllinois240
4Jim WarrenIllinois230
5Harvey ChapmanMichigan223

Total yards

RankNameTeamYards
1Ron Vander KelenWisconsin1,839
2Tom MyersNorthwestern1,435
3Mike TaliaferroIllinois1,265
4Duane BlaskaMinnesota965
5Woody MooreIndiana756

Scoring

RankNameTeamPoints
1Lou HollandWisconsin72
2Sherman LewisMichigan State54
2Steve MurphyNorthwestern54
2George SaimesMichigan State54
5Ron SmithWisconsin42
5David FrancisOhio State42

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 1962 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

PositionNameTeamSelectors
QuarterbackRon Vander KelenWisconsinAP, UPI
HalfbackGeorge SaimesMichigan StateAP, UPI [fullback]
HalfbackPaul WarfieldOhio StateAP, UPI
BackMarvin WoodsonIndianaAP
HalfbackLarry FergusonIowaUPI
EndPat RichterWisconsinAP, UPI
EndJohn CampbellMinnesotaAP, UPI
TackleBobby BellMinnesotaAP, UPI
TackleDon BrummPurdueAP, UPI
GuardJack CverckoNorthwesternAP, UPI
GuardJulian HookMinnesotaAP, UPI
CenterDave BehrmanMichigan StateAP
CenterBill ArmstrongOhio StateUPI

All-American honors

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:

PositionNameTeamSelectors
TackleBobby BellMinnesotaAFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, TSN, UPI, Time, WCFF
EndPat RichterWisconsinAFCA, AP, FWAA, TSN, UPI, Time, WCFF
FullbackGeorge SaimesMichigan StateAFCA, AP, FWAA, TSN, UPI, WCFF
GuardAndy CverckoNorthwesternTSN, UPI, Time, WCFF

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

PositionNameTeamSelectors
TackleDon BrummPurdueAP, FWAA
GuardEd BuddeMichigan StateTime

Other awards

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

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

NamePositionTeamRoundOverall pick
Ed BuddeOffensive tackleMichigan State14
Bob VogelOffensive tackleOhio State15
Pat RichterEndWisconsin17
Dave BehrmanCenterMichigan State111
Daryl SandersOffensive TackleOhio State112
Don BrummDefensive endPurdue113
Bobby BellTackleMinnesota216
Lonnie SandersCornerbackMichigan State222
Jim KanickiTackleMichigan State223
Paul FlatleyEndNorthwestern444
Bill MunseyBackMinnesota451
Jack CverkoGuardNorthwestern563
Gary MoellerGuardOhio State566
George SaimesSafetyMichigan State671
Tom BloomBackPurdue674
John JohnsonTackleIndiana680
Bill ZornTackleMichigan State785
Dave FrancisBackOhio State791
Gary KronerBackWisconsin793
Burt PetkusGuardNorthwestern797

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1962 Big Ten Conference Year Summary. Sports Reference LLC. SR/College Football. January 9, 2017.
  2. News: Vanderkelen Named Best In Big Ten. Chicago Tribune. December 16, 1962. 2-1, 2-2.
  3. 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.
  4. Web site: 1962 Heisman Trophy Voting. Sports Reference LLC. SR/College Football. January 17, 2017.
  5. Web site: 1963 NFL Draft: Full Draft. National Football League. NFL.com. January 13, 2017.

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