1968 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

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1968 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 18
Record6–4 (5–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPWayne King
CaptainNoel Jenke
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1967
1969 →
1968 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Ohio State $ 7 0 0 10 0 0
No. 12 Michigan 6 1 0 8 2 0
No. 10 Purdue 5 2 0 8 2 0
Minnesota 5 2 0 6 4 0
Indiana 4 3 0 6 4 0
Iowa 4 3 0 5 5 0
Michigan State 2 5 0 5 5 0
Illinois 1 6 0 1 9 0
Northwestern 1 6 0 1 9 0
Wisconsin 0 7 0 0 10 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1968 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1968 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 15th year under head coach Murray Warmath, the Golden Gophers compiled a 6–4 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 207 to 190.[1]

Linebacker Wayne King received the team's Most Valuable Player award. End Bob Stein was named an All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, Associated Press, United Press International and Football Writers Association of America. Stein, guard Dick Enderle and guard Noel Jenke were named All-Big Ten first team. Tackle Ezell Jones, defensive tackle Ron Kamzelski, tight end Ray Parson and safety Doug Roalstad were named All-Big Ten second team. Stein was named an Academic All-American. Stein, linebacker Noel Jenke, linebacker Wayne King and halfback Barry Mayer were named Academic All-Big Ten.[2]

Total attendance at six home games was 312,806, an average of 52,134 per game. The largest crowd was against USC.[3]

Schedule[edit]

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 21No. 2 USC*No. 16L 20–2960,820
September 28No. 9 Nebraska*No. 17
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)
L 14–1755,362
October 5Wake Forest*
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN
W 24–1939,277[4]
October 12Illinoisdagger
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN
W 17–1049,864
October 19at Michigan StateW 14–1374,321
October 26at No. 12 MichiganL 20–3369,384
November 2Iowa
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)
L 28–3557,703
November 9No. 6 Purdue
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Minneapolis, MN
W 27–1349,780
November 16at No. 19 IndianaW 20–649,234
November 23at WisconsinW 23–1539,214
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster[edit]

1968 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
FB 34 Jim Carter Jr
G 67 Dick Enderle Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 27 Jeff Wright So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries[edit]

Michigan[edit]

Week 6: Minnesota at Michigan
1 234Total
Minnesota 0 0020 20
Michigan 12 1830 33

On October 26, 1968, Minnesota lost to Michigan by a 33 to 20 score before a homecoming crowd of 69,384.[5] The game was the 59th meeting in the Little Brown Jug rivalry. Michigan lost the 1967 game by a 20–15 score.[6]

For Michigan, Dennis Brown completed 11 of 20 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns, and Ron Johnson carried the ball 33 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Michigan led 30–0 at halftime and 33–0 at the start of the fourth quarter, but Minnesota mounted a comeback with 20 points in the fourth quarter with Michigan's reserves in the game. Michigan gained 252 rushing yards and 201 passing yards in the game. Minnesota gained 149 rushing yards and 200 passing yards.[5][7]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1968 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  2. ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), pp. 179–182[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Minnesota withstands late charges by Wake Forest". The Sacramento Bee. October 6, 1968. Retrieved January 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b Robert Markus (October 27, 1968). "Michigan Romps: Wolverines Keep Big 10 Slate Clean; Destroy Gophers Defense, 33-20". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1.
  6. ^ "Michigan vs. Minnesota". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  7. ^ "untitled". The New York Times. October 27, 1968. p. S7.