1968 Pittsburgh Steelers season explained

Team:	Pittsburgh Steelers
Year:	1968
Record:	2–11–1
Division Place:	4th NFL Century
Coach:	Bill Austin
Stadium:	Pitt Stadium
Playoffs:	Did not qualify
Ap All-Pros:	Roy Jefferson (2nd team)
Shortnavlink:	Steelers seasons

The 1968 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team's 36th in the National Football League.

1968 continued the team's descent in the NFL's basement, finishing with a third league-worst 2–11–1 record (Eagles and Falcons both 2-12) and the dismissal of head coach Bill Austin at the end of the season, leading to the eventual hiring of Chuck Noll. To this date, Austin is the last head coach to be fired by the Steelers.

The season is notable in that the Steelers had their last tied game before the NFL adopted the overtime rule in regular-season games in 1974 in Week 9 against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 28–28 stalemate; that game actually was the deciding game in the NFL Century Division that season, as the Cardinals had swept the Cleveland Browns but finished the season 9–4–1, 1/2 game behind the 10–4 Browns. Since that game, the Steelers have only had two tied games, both happening after the overtime rule took effect.

In addition, the Steelers lost to the Baltimore Colts at home, 41–7, in Week 3, as the Colts went on to play in Super Bowl III, in which they were upset by the AFL's New York Jets. After that loss, the Steelers would go another 40 years before losing to the Colts at home again, winning 12 straight (including three postseason meetings, among them the now-famous 1995 AFC Championship game as well as the 1975 Divisional Playoff Game that saw the introduction of the Terrible Towel) before losing to the now-Indianapolis Colts, 24–20, on November 10, 2008.^[1]

Offseason

No major player transactions happened in the offseason, although the team would draft Notre Dame running back Rocky Bleier with their last pick (16th round) in the 1968 draft. Bleier's drafting by the team was mainly at the insistence of Steelers owner Art Rooney, who thought Bleier was Catholic for attending Notre Dame, even though Bleier was actually Presbyterian. Bleier would play ten games for the Steelers before being drafted again—this time by the military to fight in Vietnam. Despite being wounded the following summer, Bleier would go on to be a major contributor to the Steelers' success in the 1970s.

The most notable offseason change happened with the team's uniforms. After just two seasons, the team ditched the so-called "Batman"-themed uniforms and adopted a modified version of their pre-1966 black design for both jerseys. The team brought back the Northwestern-style stripes on the sleeves, but put a white stripe in between each gold stripe on the black jerseys and black trim on each of the stripes on the white jerseys. The team also adopted white numbers on the home jerseys (the lone carryover from the "Batman" jerseys), while the team retained the gold pants from the "Batman" uniforms as well as the team's helmet, which was adopted in 1963. Save for wearing white pants with the white jerseys in 1970 and '71, as well as changing the font of the jersey numbers in 1997, these uniforms remain in use as of 2022.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue
1	September 15	New York Giants	L 20–34	0–1	Pitt Stadium
2	September 22	at Los Angeles Rams	L 10–45	0–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
3	September 29	Baltimore Colts	L 7–41	0–3	Pitt Stadium
4	October 5	at Cleveland Browns	L 24–31	0–4	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
5	October 13	at Washington Redskins	L 13–16	0–5	D.C. Stadium
6	October 20	New Orleans Saints	L 12–16	0–6	Pitt Stadium
7	October 27	Philadelphia Eagles	W 6–3	1–6	Pitt Stadium
8	November 3	at Atlanta Falcons	W 41–21	2–6	Atlanta Stadium
9	November 10	at St. Louis Cardinals	T 28–28	2–6–1	Busch Memorial Stadium
10	November 17	Cleveland Browns	L 24–45	2–7–1	Pitt Stadium
11	November 24	San Francisco 49ers	L 28–45	2–8–1	Pitt Stadium
12	December 1	St. Louis Cardinals	L 10–20	2–9–1	Pitt Stadium
13	December 8	at Dallas Cowboys	L 7–28	2–10–1	Cotton Bowl
14	December 15	at New Orleans Saints	L 14–24	2–11–1	Tulane Stadium
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 45,698
Referee: Bernie Ulman
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – Hoak 6 run (kick failed)6–0
New York Giants – Morrison 10 pass from Tarkenton (Gogolak kick)7–6
Pittsburgh – Gros 5 pass from Nix (Shockley kick)13–7
New York Giants – Morrison 13 pass from Tarkenton (Gogolak kick)13–14
New York Giants – Minniear 1 run (Gogolak kick)13–21
New York Giants – Tarkenton 4 run (Gogolak kick)13–28
Pittsburgh – Compton 9 pass from Nix (Shockley kick)20–28
New York Giants – FG Gogolak 23 20–31
New York Giants – FG Gogolak 17 20–34

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 49,647
Referee: George Rennix
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Los Angeles – Casey 5 pass from Gabriel (Gossett kick)0–7
Pittsburgh – FG Lusteg 20 3–7
Los Angeles – FG Gossett 12 3–10
Pittsburgh – Gros 1 run (Lusteg kick)10–10
Los Angeles – Casey 55 pass from Gabriel (Gossett kick)10–17
Los Angeles – Bass 28 pass from Gabriel (Gossett kick)10–24
Los Angeles – Bass 10 run (Gossett kick)10–31
Los Angeles – Bass 1 pass from Gabriel (Gossett kick)10–38
Los Angeles – Ellison 4 pass from Plum (Gossett kick)10–45

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 44,480
Referee: Jim Tunney
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Baltimore – FG Michaels 38 0–3
Baltimore – Mitchell 4 pass from Morrall (Michaels kick)0–10
Baltimore – Brown 2 run (Michaels kick)0–17
Baltimore – Boyd 25 interception return (Michaels kick)0–24
Baltimore – FG Michaels 19 0–27
Baltimore – Stukes 60 interception return (Michaels kick)0–34
Baltimore – Hilton 13 interception return (Michaels kick)0–41
Pittsburgh – Gros 7 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)7–41

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 81,865
Referee: Fred Swearingen
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – FG Lusteg 25 3–0
Cleveland – Leigh 20 run (Cockroft kick)3–7
Cleveland – Warfield 28 pass from Nelsen (Cockroft kick)3–14
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 13 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)10–14
Cleveland – FG Cockroft 27 10–17
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 13 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)10–24
Cleveland – Kelly 2 run (Cockroft kick)10–31
Cleveland – Barney 8 lateral from Kelly (Cockroft kick)10–38
Pittsburgh – Martha 60 fumble return (Lusteg kick)17–38

at D.C. Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 50,659
Referee: Norm Schachter
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Washington – Jerry Smith 17 pass from Jurgensen (no kick-fumble)0–6
Washington – FG Gogolak 24 0–9
Pittsburgh – FG Lusteg 24 3–9
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 33 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)10–9
Washington – Jerry Smith 49 pass from Jurgensen (Gogolak kick)10–16
Pittsburgh – FG Lusteg 30 13–16

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 32,303
Referee: Bud Brubaker
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

New Orleans – FG Durkee 23 0–3
New Orleans – Wheelwright 1 run (Durkee kick)0–10
Pittsburgh – Gros 2 run (kick failed)6–10
Pittsburgh – Hoak 71 run (kick failed)12–10
New Orleans – FG Durkee 37 12–13
New Orleans – FG Durkee 31 12–16

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 26,908
Referee: Jim Tunney
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Philadelphia – FG Baker 38 0–3
Pittsburgh – FG Lusteg 34 3–3
Pittsburgh – FG Lusteg 15 6–3
This game was dubbed the "O. J. Bowl" as it was rumored that the losing team would get to draft O. J. Simpson. He would eventually be drafted by the Buffalo Bills.

at Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 47,727
Referee: George Rennix
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – Jefferson 27 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)7–0
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 61 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)14–0
Pittsburgh – Shy 3 run (Lusteg kick)21–0
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 9 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)28–0
Pittsburgh – Gros 1 run (kick blocked)34–0
Atlanta – Ogden 29 pass from Berry (Etter kick)34–7* Atlanta – Harris 55 pass from Berry (Etter kick)34–14
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 38 pass from Nix (Lusteg kick)41–14
Atlanta – Long 24 pass from Berry (Etter kick)41–21

at Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 45,432
Referee: Norm Schachter
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – Hoak 30 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)7–0
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 80 punt return (Lusteg kick)14–0
Pittsburgh – Gros 21 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)21–0
St. Louis – Williams 71 pass from Hart (Bakken kick)21–7
St. Louis – Williams 11 pass from Hart (Bakken kick)21–14
St. Louis – Conrad 80 pass from Hart (Bakken kick)21–21
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 52 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)28–21
St. Louis – Roland 1 run (Bakken kick)28–28

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 41,572
Referee: Fred Swearingen
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Cleveland – Kelly 7 run (Cockroft kick)0–7
Pittsburgh – Wilburn 10 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)7–7
Cleveland – Green 62 pass from Nelsen (Cockroft kick)7–14
Pittsburgh – FG Lusteg 13 10–14
Cleveland – Green 11 pass from Nelsen (Cockroft kick)10–21
Cleveland – FG Cockroft 27 10–24
Cleveland – Morin 2 pass from Nelsen (Cockroft kick)17–24
Pittsburgh – May 27 interception (Lusteg kick)24–24
Cleveland – Warfield 36 pass from Ryan (Cockroft kick)24–31
Pittsburgh – Wilburn 19 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)31–31
Cleveland – Harraway 33 pass from Ryan (Cockroft kick)31–38

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 21,408
Referee: Tommy Bell
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

San Francisco – Willard 1 run (Davis kick)0–7
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 10 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)7–7
San Francisco – Willard 3 run (Davis kick)7–14
San Francisco – Crow 54 pass from Brodie (Davis kick)7–21
Pittsburgh – Kotite 20 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)14–21
San Francisco – Lewis 16 pass from Brodie (Davis kick)14–28
San Francisco – Alexander 66 interception return (Davis kick)14–35
San Francisco – FG Davis 15 14–38
Pittsburgh – Kotite 4 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)21–38
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 5 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)28–38
San Francisco – Belk 6 interception return (Davis kick)28–45

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 22,682
Referee: Bernie Ulman
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Pittsburgh – Hoak 1 run (Lusteg kick)7–0
St. Louis – FG Bakken 22 7–3
Pittsburgh – FG Lusteg 24 10–3
St. Louis – Smith 34 run (Bakken kick) 10–10
St. Louis – FG Bakken 16 10–13
St. Louis – Edwards 1 run (Bakken kick)10–20

at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

Game time:
Game weather:
Game attendance: 55,069
Referee: Bud Brubaker
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

Dallas – Baynham 5 pass from Meredith (Clark kick)0–7
Dallas – Hayes 90 punt return (Clark kick)0–14
Dallas – Hayes 53 pass from Meredith (Clark kick)0–21
Pittsburgh – Hilton 37 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)7–21
Dallas – Rentzel 65 pass from Meredith (Clark kick)7–28

at Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana

Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
Game weather: Sunny, 37 degrees
Game attendance: 66,131
Referee:
TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

New Orleans – Lorick 22 pass from Kilmer (Durkee kick)0–7
Pittsburgh – Jefferson 55 pass from Shiner (Lusteg kick)7–7
New Orleans – McCall 25 pass from Kilmer (Durkee kick)7–14
New Orleans – Brown 53 punt return (Durkee kick)7–21
New Orleans – FG Durkee 31 7–24
Pittsburgh – Wilburn 17 pass from Nix (Lusteg kick)14–24

Standings

External links

1968 Pittsburgh Steelers season at Profootballreference.com
1968 Pittsburgh Steelers season statistics at jt-sw.com

Notes and References

Web site: Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos.