1966 Big Ten Conference football season

The 1966 Big Ten Conference football season was the 71st season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1966 NCAA University Division football season.

1966 Big Ten Conference football season
SportAmerican football
Number of teams10
Top draft pickBubba Smith
ChampionMichigan State
  Runners-upPurdue
Season MVPBob Griese
Seasons
← 1965
1967 →
1966 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Michigan State $ 7 0 0 9 0 1
No. 7 Purdue 6 1 0 9 2 0
Michigan 4 3 0 6 4 0
Illinois 4 3 0 4 6 0
Minnesota 3 3 1 4 5 1
Ohio State 3 4 0 4 5 0
Northwestern 2 4 1 3 6 1
Wisconsin 2 4 1 3 6 1
Indiana 1 5 1 1 8 1
Iowa 1 6 0 2 8 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1966 Michigan State Spartans football team, under head coach Duffy Daugherty, won the Big Ten football championship, compiled a 9–0–1 record, and was ranked No. 2 in the final AP Poll. Four Spartans' players were among the first eight selections in the 1967 NFL/AFL Draft: defensive tackle Bubba Smith (first); running back Clinton Jones (second); linebacker George Webster (fifth); and flanker Gene Washington (eighth).

The 1966 Purdue Boilermakers football team, under head coach Jack Mollenkopf, finished in second place with a 9–2 record and was ranked No. 7 in the final AP Poll. The Boilermakers received the conference's berth to play in the 1967 Rose Bowl because of the Big Ten's "no-repeat" rule and defeated USC, 14–13. Purdue quarterback Bob Griese led the conference in passing yards and total yards and won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten's most valuable player and the Sammy Baugh Trophy as the nation's top collegiate passer. Griese also finished second behind Steve Spurrier in the voting for the 1966 Heisman Trophy.

Season overview

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Results and team statistics

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Conf. Rank Team Head coach AP final AP high Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG MVP
1 Michigan State Duffy Daugherty #2 #1 9–0–1 7–0 29.3 9.9 George Webster
2 Purdue Jack Mollenkopf #7 #7 9–2 6–1 27.0 14.0 Bob Griese
3 (tie) Michigan Bump Elliott NR #8 6–4 4–3 23.6 13.8 Jack Clancy
3 (tie) Illinois Pete Elliott NR NR 4–6 4–3 17.3 19.3 Ron Guenther
5 Minnesota Murray Warmath NR NR 4–5–1 3–3–1 12.4 16.0 Tim Wheeler
6 Ohio State Woody Hayes NR NR 4–5 3–4 12.0 13.7 Ray Pryor
7 (tie) Northwestern Alex Agase NR NR 3–6–1 2–4–1 13.7 21.3 Roger Murphy
7 (tie) Wisconsin Milt Bruhn NR NR 3–6–1 2–4–1 8.7 21.2 Bob Richter
9 Indiana John Pont NR NR 1–8–1 1–5–1 10.4 22.9 Frank Stavroff
10 Iowa Ray Nagel NR NR 2–8 1–6 8.6 25.3 Dick Gibbs

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1966 season[1]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1966 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

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Regular season

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Bowl games

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Post-season developments

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Statistical leaders

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The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders for the 1966 season include the following:[1]

Passing yards

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Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Bob Griese Purdue 1,749
2 Dick Vidmer Michigan 1,609
3 Frank Stavroff Indiana 1,406
4 William Long Ohio State 1,180
5 Bill Melzer Northwestern 1,171

Rushing yards

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Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Clinton Jones Michigan State 784
2 Perry Williams Purdue 689
3 Mike Krivoshia Indiana 675
4 Dave Fisher Michigan 672
5 Curt Wilson Minnesota 546

Receiving yards

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Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Jack Clancy Michigan 1,077
2 John Wright Illinois 831
3 Roger Murphy Northwestern 777
4 Jim Beirne Purdue 768
5 Tom McCauley Wisconsin 689

Total yards

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Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Bob Griese Purdue 1,964
2 Dick Vidmer Michigan 1,639
3 Jimmy Raye Michigan State 1,596
4 Ed Podolak Iowa 1,491
5 Frank Stavroff Indiana 1,328

Scoring

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Rank Name Team Points[1]
1 Jim Detwiler Michigan 60
2 Perry Williams Purdue 54
2 Bob Apisa Michigan State 54
4 Carl Ward Michigan 48
4 Jim Beirne Purdue 48

Awards and honors

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All-Big Ten honors

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The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1966 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

Offense

Position Name Team Selectors
Quarterback Bob Griese Purdue AP, UPI
Running back Clinton Jones Michigan State AP, UPI [halfback]
Running back Jim Detwiler Michigan AP, UPI [halfback]
Running back Dave Fisher Michigan UPI [fullback]
Running back Bob Apisa Michigan State AP
End Gene Washington Michigan State AP, UPI
End Jack Clancy Michigan AP, UPI
Tackle Jack Calcaterra Purdue AP, UPI
Tackle Jerry West Michigan State AP, UPI
Guard Chuck Erlenbaugh Purdue AP
Guard Tom Schuette Indiana AP
Guard Donald Bailey Michigan UPI
Guard Anthony Conti Michigan State UPI
Center Ray Pryor Ohio State AP, UPI

Defense

Position Name Team Selectors
Defensive end Bubba Smith Michigan State AP, UPI
Defensive end Ken Kmiec Illinois AP
Defensive end George Olion Purdue UPI
Defensive tackle Lance Olssen Purdue AP, UPI
Defensive tackle Nick Jordan Michigan State AP
Defensive tackle Richard Himes Ohio State UPI
Defensive guard Chuck Kyle Purdue UPI
Linebacker Frank Nunley Michigan AP, UPI
Linebacker Chuck Thornhill Michigan State AP, UPI
Linebacker George Webster Michigan State AP [def. back], UPI
Linebacker Bob Richter Wisconsin AP
Defensive back Bruce Sullivan Illinois AP, UPI
Defensive back Rich Volk Michigan AP, UPI
Defensive back Phil Clark Northwestern AP
Defensive back Jess Philips Michigan State UPI [safety]

All-American honors

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At the end of the 1966 season, four Big Ten players secured consensus first-team honors on the 1966 College Football All-America Team.[3] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:

Position Name Team Selectors
Offensive end Jack Clancy Michigan AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA [split end], UPI, Time, TSN, WCFF
Running back Clinton Jones Michigan State AP, CP, NEA, Time, TSN, WCFF
Defensive end Bubba Smith Michigan State AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, Time, TSN, WCFF
Defensive back George Webster Michigan State AFCA, AP, CP [linebacker], FWAA, NEA [linebacker], UPI, Time, TSN, WCFF

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

Position Name Team Selectors
Offensive end Gene Washington Michigan State AFCA, UPI, Time, TSN
Offensive end Jim Beirne Purdue CP
Offensive tackle Jerry West Michigan State NEA
Center Ray Pryor Ohio State FWAA
Quarterback Bob Griese Purdue AFCA [tie]
Defensive back Rick Volk Michigan Time, TSN
Defensive back John Charles Purdue Time, TSN

Other awards

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Purdue quarterback Bob Griese received the Sammy Baugh Trophy as the nation's top collegiate passer. He also finished second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.[4]

1967 NFL/AFL Draft

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The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1967 NFL/AFL Draft:[5]

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
Bubba Smith Defensive tackle Michigan State 1 1
Clinton Jones Running back Michigan State 1 2
Bob Griese Quarterback Purdue 1 4
George Webster Linebacker Michigan State 1 5
Gene Washington Flanker Michigan State 1 8
Cas Banaszek Tight end Northwestern 1 11
Jim Detwiler Running back Michigan 1 20
John Charles Defensive back Purdue 1 21
Rick Volk Defensive back Michigan 2 45
Mike Current Tackle Ohio State 3 58
Frank Nunley Linebacker Michigan 3 62
Phil Clark Defensive back Northwestern 3 76
John Rowser Defensive back Michigan 3 78
Carl Ward Running back Michigan 4 83

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "1966 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  2. ^ "Vote Griese Big Ten's Most Valuable: 1st Boilermaker To Be Awarded Silver Football". Chicago Tribune. December 26, 1966. pp. 3–1.
  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 January 31, 2017.
  4. ^ "1966 Heisman Trophy Voting". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  5. ^ "1967 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Archived from the original on February 1, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2017.