1968 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

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]

1968 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
Record	6–4 (5–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Murray Warmath (15th season)
MVP	Wayne King
Captain	Noel Jenke
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1967 1969 →

1968 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	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

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

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 21	No. 2 USC*	No. 16	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 20–29	60,820	[4]
September 28	No. 9 Nebraska*	No. 17	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	L 14–17	55,362
October 5	Wake Forest*		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 24–19	39,277	[5]
October 12	Illinois		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 17–10	49,864
October 19	at Michigan State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 14–13	74,321
October 26	at No. 12 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (Little Brown Jug)	L 20–33	69,384
November 2	Iowa		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	L 28–35	57,703
November 9	No. 6 Purdue		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 27–13	49,780
November 16	at No. 19 Indiana		Seventeenth Street Football Stadium Bloomington, IN	W 20–6	49,234
November 23	at Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	W 23–15	39,214
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

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 Murray Warmath Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

Michigan

Week 6: Minnesota at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Minnesota 0 0 0 20 20 • Michigan 12 18 3 0 33 Date: October 26, 1968 Location: Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI Game attendance: 69,384 Referee: Jerry Markbreit

On October 26, 1968, Minnesota lost to Michigan by a 33 to 20 score before a homecoming crowd of 69,384.^[6] The game was the 59th meeting in the Little Brown Jug rivalry. Michigan lost the 1967 game by a 20–15 score.^[7]

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.^[6][8]

References

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. "O.J. dashes past Minnesota, 29–20". The Des Moines Register. September 22, 1968. Retrieved September 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Minnesota withstands late charges by Wake Forest". The Sacramento Bee. October 6, 1968. Retrieved January 21, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Robert Markus (October 27, 1968). "Michigan Romps: Wolverines Keep Big 10 Slate Clean; Destroy Gophers Defense, 33-20". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1.
7. "Michigan vs. Minnesota". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
8. "untitled". The New York Times. October 27, 1968. p. S7.