# 1967 Big Ten Conference football season

The 1967 Big Ten Conference football season was the 72nd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1967 NCAA University Division football season.
The season resulted in a three-way tie for the conference championship, as Indiana, Purdue, and Minnesota each finished with a conference record of 6–1. Each team was 1–1 against the others; as Indiana defeated Purdue, Purdue defeated Minnesota, and Minnesota defeated Indiana. As of 2022, this was the last conference championship for both Indiana and Minnesota. Purdue has won one conference title since then, in 2000.
The 1967 Indiana Hoosiers football team, under head coach John Pont, was ranked No. 4 in the final AP Poll. The Hoosiers lost to USC in the 1968 Rose Bowl. Quarterback Harry Gonso was selected as the team's most valuable player.
The 1967 Purdue Boilermakers football team, under head coach Jack Mollenkopf, was ranked No. 9 in the final AP Poll. Purdue running back Leroy Keyes led the conference with 114 points scored, was a consensus first-team All-American, won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the conference, and finished third in the voting for the 1968 Heisman Trophy.
The 1967 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, under head coach Murray Warmath, was unranked in the final AP Poll (which ranked only ten teams at the time), but was 14th in the final Coaches Poll. Offensive tackle John Williams was the first Big Ten player selected in the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft with the 23rd overall pick.
Due to Big Ten's "no-repeat" policy barring teams from making consecutive Rose Bowl appearances, Purdue was ineligible. The next tiebreaker was the team which had gone the longest since last playing in Pasadena. Since Indiana had never been, and Minnesota appeared following the 1960 and '61 seasons, the Hoosiers got the nod despite their loss to the Gophers.

## Season overview
### Results and team statistics

| Conf. Rank | Team | Head coach | AP final | AP high | Overall record | Conf. record | PPG | PAG | MVP |
| 1 (tie) | Indiana | John Pont | #4 | #4 | 9–2 | 6–1 | 17.9 | 14.5 | Harry Gonso |
| 1 (tie) | Minnesota | Murray Warmath | NR | NR | 8–2 | 6–1 | 16.3 | 10.6 | Tom Sakal |
| 1 (tie) | Purdue | Jack Mollenkopf | #9 | #2 | 8–2 | 6–1 | 29.1 | 15.4 | Leroy Keyes |
| 4 | Ohio State | Woody Hayes | NR | NR | 6–3 | 5–2 | 16.1 | 13.3 | Dick Worden |
| 5 (tie) | Illinois | Jim Valek | NR | NR | 4–6 | 3–4 | 14.3 | 21.3 | John Wright |
| 5 (tie) | Michigan | Bump Elliott | NR | NR | 4–6 | 3–4 | 14.4 | 17.9 | Ron Johnson |
| 5 (tie) | Michigan State | Duffy Daugherty | NR | #3 | 3–7 | 3–4 | 17.3 | 19.3 | Dwight Lee |
| 8 | Northwestern | Alex Agase | NR | NR | 3–7 | 2–5 | 14.9 | 21.3 | Bruce Gunstra |
| 9 (tie) | Iowa | Ray Nagel | NR | NR | 1–8–1 | 0–6–1 | 16.1 | 27.7 | Silas McKinnie |
| 9 (tie) | Wisconsin | John Coatta | NR | NR | 0–9–1 | 0–6–1 | 12.0 | 22.4 | Tom Domres |
Key AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1967 season AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1967 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 Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy; trophy winner in bold

### Post-season developments
## Statistical leaders

The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders for the 1967 season include the following:

### Passing yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Mike Phipps | Purdue | 1,800 |
| 2 | Bill Melzer | Northwestern | 1,146 |
| 3 | Ed Podolak | Iowa | 1,014 |
| 4 | Dean Volkman | Illinois | 1,005 |
| 5 | John Boyajian | Wisconsin | 966 |

### Rushing yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Ron Johnson | Michigan | 1,005 |
| 2 | Leroy Keyes | Purdue | 986 |
| 3 | Rich Johnson | Illinois | 768 |
| 4 | Perry Williams | Purdue | 746 |
| 5 | Silas McKinnie | Iowa | 588 |

### Receiving yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Leroy Keyes | Purdue | 758 |
| 2 | Al Bream | Iowa | 703 |
| 3 | John Wright | Illinois | 698 |
| 4 | Jim Beirne | Purdue | 643 |
| 5 | Jim Berline | Michigan | 624 |

### Total yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Mike Phipps | Purdue | 2,020 |
| 2 | Harry Gonso | Indiana | 1,443 |
| 3 | Ed Podolak | Iowa | 1,337 |
| 4 | Dennis Brown | Michigan | 1,286 |
| 5 | Bill Melzer | Northwestern | 1,205 |

### Scoring

| Rank | Name | Team | Points |
| 1 | Leroy Keyes | Purdue | 114 |
| 2 | Perry Williams | Purdue | 66 |
| 3 | Jade Butcher | Indiana | 60 |
| 4 | Curt Wilson | Minnesota | 48 |
| 5 | Ron Johnson | Michigan | 42 |
| 5 | Chico Kurzawski | Northwestern | 42 |

## Awards and honors
### All-Big Ten honors

The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1967 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
Offense
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Quarterback | Mike Phipps | Purdue | AP |
| Quarterback | Harry Gonso | Indiana | UPI |
| Running back | Leroy Keyes | Purdue | AP, UPI |
| Running back | Ron Johnson | Michigan | AP, UPI |
| Running back | Perry Williams | Purdue | AP, UPI [fullback] |
| Offensive end | Jim Beirne | Purdue | AP, UPI |
| Offensive end | John Wright | Illinois | AP |
| Offensive end | Billy Anders | Ohio State | UPI |
| Offensive tackle | John Williams | Minnesota | AP, UPI |
| Offensive tackle | Dick Himes | Ohio State | AP, UPI |
| Offensive guard | Bruce Gunstra | Northwestern | AP, UPI |
| Offensive guard | Gary Cassells | Indiana | AP, UPI |
| Center | Joe Dayton | Michigan | AP, UPI |
Defense
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Defensive end | Bob Stein | Minnesota | AP, UPI |
| Defensive end | George Olion | Purdue | UPI |
| Defensive end | George Chatlos | Michigan State | AP |
| Defensive tackle | McKinley Boston | Minnesota | AP, UPI |
| Defensive tackle | Lance Olssen | Purdue | UPI |
| Defensive tackle | Tom Domres | Wisconsin | AP |
| Middle guard | Chuck Kyle | Purdue | AP, UPI |
| Linebacker | Ken Criter | Wisconsin | AP, UPI |
| Linebacker | Dick Marvel | Purdue | UPI |
| Linebacker | Ken Kaczmarek | Indiana | AP |
| Linebacker | Jim Sniadecki | Indiana | AP |
| Linebacker | Tom Stincic | Michigan | UPI |
| Defensive back | Ron Bess | Illinois | AP, UPI |
| Defensive back | Tom Garretson | Northwestern | AP, UPI [safety] |
| Defensive back | Tom Sakal | Minnesota | AP, UPI |

### All-American honors

At the end of the 1967 season, only one Big Ten player secured consensus first-team honors on the 1967 College Football All-America Team. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans was:
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Running back | Leroy Keyes | Purdue | AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, WC, Time, TSN |
Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Offensive tackle | John Williams | Minnesota | Time |
| Offensive guard | Gary Cassells | Indiana | AP, FWAA, WCFF |
| Defensive end | Bob Stein | Minnesota | FWAA, NEA, WC |

### Other awards

The 1967 Heisman Trophy was awarded to Gary Beban of UCLA. Purdue running back Leroy Keyes finished third in the voting.

## 1968 NFL/AFL Draft

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft:
| Name | Position | Team | Round | Overall pick |
| John Williams | Offensive tackle | Minnesota | 1 | 23 |
| Doug Crusan | Offensive tackle | Indiana | 1 | 27 |
| Cyril Pinder | Running back | Illinois | 2 | 39 |
| John Wright | Wide receiver | Illinois | 2 | 53 |
| Lance Olssen | Tackle | Purdue | 3 | 65 |
| Charlie Sanders | Tight end | Minnesota | 3 | 74 |
| Dick Himes | Tackle | Ohio State | 3 | 81 |
| Jess Phillips | Defensive back | Michigan State | 4 | 84 |