1965 Big Ten Conference football season explained

1965 Big Ten Conference football season
Sport:American football
No Of Teams:10
Top Pick:Tom Mack
Season Champs:Michigan State
Season Champ Name:Champion
Second Place:Ohio State
Mvp:Jim Grabowski
Prevseason Year:1964
Nextseason Year:1966

The 1965 Big Ten Conference football season was the 70th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1965 NCAA University Division football season.

This was the first year Big Ten teams were allowed to play 10 regular season games. Ohio State was the lone school not to play a 10th game, sticking with nine-game regular seasons through 1970.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. RankTeamHead coachAP finalAP highOverall recordConf. recordPPGPAGMVP
1Michigan StateDuffy Daugherty
  1. 2
  1. 1
10–17–023.96.9Steve Juday
2Ohio StateWoody HayesNR
  1. 10
7–26–117.313.1Doug Van Horn
3 (tie)PurdueJack MollenkopfNR
  1. 2
7–2–15–222.712.7Bob Griese
3 (tie)MinnesotaMurray WarmathNRNR5–4–15–218.816.0John Hankinson
5IllinoisPete ElliottNRNR6–44–323.511.8Jim Grabowski
6NorthwesternAlex AgaseNRNR4–63–414.120.8Jim Burns
7 (tie)MichiganBump ElliottNR
  1. 4
4–62–518.516.1Bill Yearby
7 (tie)WisconsinMilt BruhnNRNR2–7–12–58.129.1Tom Brigham
9IndianaJohn PontNRNR2–81–613.422.5Bill Malinchak
10IowaJerry BurnsNRNR1–90–79.419.2Dave Long
Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1965 season
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1965 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]

Bowl games

See main article: 1966 Rose Bowl.

Post-season developments

Statistical leaders

The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders for the 1965 season include the following:[1]

Passing yards

RankNameTeamYards
1Bob GriesePurdue1,719
2John HankinsonMinnesota1,483
3Steve JudayMichigan State1,253
4Charles BurtWisconsin1,143
5Fred CustardoIllinois1,124

Rushing yards

RankNameTeamYards
1Jim GrabowskiIllinois1,258
2Clinton JonesMichigan State900
3Bob ApisaMichigan State715
4Carl WardMichigan639
5Bob McKelveyNorthwestern587

Receiving yards

RankNameTeamYards
1Jack ClancyMichigan762
2John WrightIllinois755
3Gene WashingtonMichigan State719
4Bill MalinchakIndiana699
5Bob HadrickPurdue562

Total yards

RankNameTeamYards
1Bob GriesePurdue1,784
2John HankinsonMinnesota1,623
3Steve JudayMichigan State1,380
4Jim GrabowskiIllinois1,258
5Fred CustardoIllinois1,244

Scoring

RankNameTeamPoints
1Clinton JonesMichigan State72
2Bob ApisaMichigan State60
3John KuzniewskiPurdue48
3Bob McKelveyNorthwestern48
3Willard SanderOhio State48

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 1965 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

Offense

PositionNameTeamSelectors
QuarterbackSteve JudayMichigan StateAP
QuarterbackBob GriesePurdueUPI
Running backJim GrabowskiIllinoisAP, UPI [fb]
Running backClinton JonesMichigan StateAP, UPI [hb]
Running backCarl WardMichiganAP, UPI [hb]
EndGene WashingtonMichigan StateAP, UPI
EndBob HadrickPurdueAP
TackleTom MackMichiganAP, UPI
TackleKarl SingerPurdueAP, UPI
GuardJohn NilandIowaAP, UPI
GuardDoug Van HornOhio StateAP, UPI
CenterLarry KaminskiPurdueAP
CenterRay PryorOhio StateUPI

Defense

PositionNameTeamSelectors
Defensive endAaron BrownMinnesotaAP, UPI [offense]
Defensive endBubba SmithMichigan StateAP, UPI
Defensive endDavid LongIowaUPI
Defensive tackleBill YearbyMichiganAP, UPI
Defensive tackleJerry ShayPurdueAP, UPI
Defensive guardHarold LucasMichigan StateUPI
LinebackerDwight KellyOhio StateAP, UPI
LinebackerDon HansenIllinoisAP, UPI
LinebackerRon GoovertMichigan StateAP
Defensive backRich VolkMichiganAP, UPI [s]
Defensive backGeorge WebsterMichigan StateAP, UPI [lb]
Defensive backRon AcksIllinoisAP
Defensive backJohn FillOhio StateAP
Defensive backDon JapingaMichigan StateUPI [hb]
Defensive backCharles KingPurdueUPI [hb]

All-American honors

At the end of the 1965 season, six Big Ten players secured consensus first-team honors on the 1965 College Football All-America Team.[3] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:

PositionNameTeamSelectors
Running backJim GrabowskiIllinoisAFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, FN, Time, TSN, WCFF
Defensive endAaron BrownMinnesotaAP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, FN, Time, TSN, WCFF
QuarterbackBob GriesePurdueAFCA, CP, NEA, UPI, FN, WCFF
Defensive backGeorge WebsterMichigan StateAFCA, AP, NEA, UPI, FN, WCFF
Defensive tackleBill YearbyMichiganAFCA, NEA, UPI, Time, TSN, WCFF
Defensive endBubba SmithMichigan StateAFCA, UPI, WCFF

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

PositionNameTeamSelectors
Offensive endGene WashingtonMichigan StateCP, FN
Offensive tackleKarl SingerPurdueAP
Offensive guardDoug Van HornOhio StateAFCA, UPI
Offensive guardJohn NilandIowaTime, TSN
QuarterbackSteve JudayMichigan StateAP
Running backClinton JonesMichigan StateFWAA
Defensive tackleJerry ShayPurdueAFCA, FN
Middle guardHarold LucasMichigan StateNEA
LinebackerIke KelleyOhio StateAP, UPI, FN [center]
LinebackerRon GoovertMichigan StateFWAA

Other awards

The 1965 Heisman Trophy was awarded to Mike Garrett of USC. Three Big Ten players finished among the top 10 in the voting: Illinois fullback Jim Grabowski (third); Michigan State quarterback Steve Juday (sixth); and Purdue quarterback Bob Griese (eighth).[4]

1966 NFL Draft

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1966 NFL draft:[5]

NamePositionTeamRoundOverall pick
Tom MackOffensive tackleMichigan12
Randy BeislerDefensive endIndiana14
John NilandOffensive guardIowa15
Jerry ShayOffensive tacklePurdue17
Jim GrabowskiRunning backIllinois19
Gale GillinghamOffensive tackleMinnesota113
Harold LucasTackleMichigan State223
Al RandolphRunning backIowa337
Tom BarringtonRunning backOhio State338
Bill MalinchakWide receiverIndiana339
Don HansenLinebackerIllinois342
Dave LongDefensive endIowa343
Doug Van HornGuardOhio State455
Ron AcksDefensive backIllinois457
Gary SnookQuarterbackIowa458
Steve SmithWide receiverMichigan571
Jack ClancyWide receiverMichigan573
Bill BriggsDefensive endIowa575

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1965 Big Ten Conference Year Summary. Sports Reference LLC. SR/College Football. January 31, 2017.
  2. News: Grabowski Big Ten's Most Valuable. Chicago Tribune. Roy Damer. December 25, 1965. 2-1.
  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: 1966 Heisman Trophy Voting. Sports Reference LLC. SR/College Football. January 26, 2017.
  5. Web site: 1966 NFL Draft: Full Draft. National Football League. NFL.com. January 26, 2017.