The 1963 Big Ten Conference football season was the 68th season of

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

played by the member schools of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and was a part of the

1963 NCAA University Division football season The 1963 NCAA University Division football season was played by American football teams representing 120 colleges and universities recognized the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as major programs. The remaining 299 colleges and un ...

. The 1963 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, under head coach

Pete Elliott Peter R. Elliott (September 29, 1926 – January 4, 2013) was an American football player and coach. Elliott served as the head football coach at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (1956), the University of California, Berkeley (1957–1959), ...

, won the Big Ten football championship with a record of 8–1–1, defeated Washington in the 1964 Rose Bowl, and was ranked No. 3 in the final AP Poll. Illinois center

Dick Butkus Richard Marvin Butkus (born December 9, 1942) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, and actor. He played football as a middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1965 to ...

received the

Chicago Tribune Silver Football The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the ''Chicago Tribune'' to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinois wa ...

award as the most valuable player in the conference and was a consensus first-team All-American. The

1963 Michigan State Spartans football team The 1963 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1963 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 10th season under head coach Duffy Daugherty, the Spartans compiled a 6–2–1 overall record 4–1– ...

, under head coach

Duffy Daugherty Hugh Duffy Daugherty (September 8, 1915 – September 25, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Michigan State University from 1954 to 1972, compiling a record of 109–69–5. His 1965 and 1966 teams won ...

, compiled a 6–2–1 record, finished in second place in the conference, led the conference in scoring defense (7.0 points allowed per game), and was ranked No. 10 in the final AP Poll. Halfback

Sherman Lewis Sherman Lewis (born June 29, 1942) is a former American football coach and player. He spent thirty-four years as a coach, but had been out of football since the end of the 2004 season before joining the Washington Redskins mid-way into the 2009 ...

was a consensus first-team All-American and finished third in the voting of the 1963

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

. The Big Ten's statistical leaders included Tom Myers of Northwestern with 1,398 passing yards,

Tom Nowatzke Thomas Matthew Nowatzke (born September 30, 1942) is a former National Football League running back of Polish descent from 1965 through 1972. He scored a touchdown for the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V Super Bowl V was an American football ...

of Indiana with 756 rushing yards, and

Paul Krause Paul James Krause (born February 19, 1942) is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL). Gifted with a great frame, speed and range, Krause established himself as a defensive force against opposing wide ...

of Iowa with 442 receiving yards.

Carl Eller Carl Eller (born January 25, 1942) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 through 1979. He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and played college football ...

of Minnesota was the first Big Ten player selected in the

1964 NFL Draft The 1964 National Football League draft was held in Chicago, Illinois, at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers on Monday, December 2, 1963. The first overall pick was Dave Parks, an end from Texas Tech, selected by the San Francisco 49ers. The AFL dra ...

with the sixth overall pick.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

of the 1963 season
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1963 season
PPG = Average of points scored per game
PAG = Average of points allowed per game
MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the

trophy; trophy winner in bold

Preseason

There were no changes in the conference's head football coaches between the 1962 and 1963 seasons.

Regular season

Bowl games

On January 1, 1964, Illinois defeated Washington, 17–7.

Post-season developments

On December 14, 1963,

Ara Parseghian Ara Raoul Parseghian (; hy, Արա Ռաուլ Պարսեղյան; May 21, 1923 – August 2, 2017) was an American football player and coach who guided the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for bri ...

resigned as Northwestern's head football coach to accept the same position at Notre Dame.

Statistical leaders

The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders for the 1963 season include the following:

Passing yards

Rushing yards

Receiving yards

Total yards

Scoring

Awards and honors

All-Big Ten honors

The following players were picked by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

(AP) and/or the

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

(UPI) as first-team players on the 1963 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

All-American honors

At the end of the 1963 season, Big Ten players secured three of the consensus first-team picks for the

1963 College Football All-America Team The 1963 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1963. The seven selectors recognized by the ...

. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were: Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:

Other awards

The

was awarded to

Roger Staubach Roger Thomas Staubach (, -; , -; born February 5, 1942), nicknamed "Roger the Dodger", "Captain America", and "Captain Comeback", is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for ...

of Navy. Two Big Ten players finished among the top 10 in the voting for the trophy. They were: Michigan State running back

(third); and Illinois center/linebacker

(sixth).

1964 NFL Draft

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the

References

{{Big Ten Conference football navbox