# 1962 Big Ten Conference football season

The 1962 Big Ten Conference football season was the 67th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1962 NCAA University Division football season.
The 1962 Wisconsin Badgers football team, under head coach Milt Bruhn, compiled an 8–2 record, won the Big Ten championship, led the conference in scoring offense (32.2 points per game), and was ranked No. 2 in the final AP Poll. After losing only one game in the regular season, the Badgers lost to USC in the 1963 Rose Bowl. Quarterback Ron Vander Kelen led the Big Ten with 1,582 passing yards and 1,839 total yards and won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the conference's most valuable player. End Pat Richter led the conference with 694 receiving yards and was a consensus first-team All-American.
The 1962 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, under head coach Murray Warmath, compiled a 6–2–1 record, led the conference in scoring defense (6.8 points allowed per game), finished in second place in the Big Ten, and was ranked No. 10 in the final AP Poll. Tackle Bobby Bell was a consensus first-team All-American, won the Outland Trophy as college football's best interior lineman, and finished third in the voting for the 1962 Heisman Trophy.
The 1962 Northwestern Wildcats football team, under head coach Ara Parseghian, compiled a 7–2 record and finished in third place in the conference. The Wildcats were ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll before losing consecutive games late in the season. They remained ranked No. 16 in the final Coaches' Poll. Quarterback Tom Myers totaled 1,537 passing yards, and center Jack Cvercko was a consensus first-team All-American.
The conference's other statistical leaders included Michigan State fullback George Saimes with 642 rushing yards and Wisconsin's Lou Holland with 72 points scored.

## Season overview
### Results and team statistics

| Conf. Rank | Team | Head coach | AP final | AP high | Overall record | Conf. record | PPG | PAG | MVP |
| 1 | Wisconsin | Milt Bruhn | #2 | #2 | 8–2 | 6–1 | 32.2 | 13.0 | Ron Vander Kelen |
| 2 | Minnesota | Murray Warmath | #10 | #5 | 6–2–1 | 5–2 | 14.6 | 6.8 | Bobby Bell |
| 3 (tie) | Northwestern | Ara Parseghian | NR | #1 | 7–2 | 4–2 | 26.3 | 17.6 | George Thomas |
| 3 (tie) | Ohio State | Woody Hayes | NR | #1 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 22.8 | 10.9 | Bill Armstrong |
| 5 (tie) | Michigan State | Duffy Daugherty | NR | #4 | 5–4 | 3–3 | 21.0 | 10.7 | George Saimes |
| 5 (tie) | Purdue | Jack Mollenkopf | NR | #7 | 4–4–1 | 3–3 | 15.7 | 7.6 | Roy Walker |
| 5 (tie) | Iowa | Jerry Burns | NR | NR | 4–5 | 3–3 | 14.1 | 18.4 | Larry Ferguson |
| 8 | Illinois | Pete Elliott | NR | NR | 2–7 | 2–5 | 8.3 | 26.0 | Ken Zimmerman |
| 9 | Indiana | Phil Dickens | NR | NR | 3–6 | 1–5 | 14.0 | 15.6 | Woody Moore |
| 10 | Michigan | Bump Elliott | NR | NR | 2–7 | 1–6 | 7.8 | 23.8 | Dave Raimey |
Key AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1962 season AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1962 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

### Preseason

There were no changes in the conference's head football coaches between the 1961 and 1962 seasons.

### Bowl games

On January 1, 1963, USC (ranked No. 1) defeated Wisconsin (ranked No. 2), 42–37, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. This was the first No. 1 versus No. 2 match-up to occur in a bowl game. Ron Vander Kelen, the Wisconsin quarterback and Pete Beathard, the USC quarterback, were both named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game. Down 42–14 in the fourth quarter, Vander Kelen put together a number of drives to score 23 unanswered points and put the Badgers in position to win the game.

### Post-season developments

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

## Statistical leaders

The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders for the 1962 season include the following:

### Passing yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Ron Vander Kelen | Wisconsin | 1,582 |
| 2 | Tom Myers | Northwestern | 1,537 |
| 3 | Mike Taliaferro | Illinois | 1,139 |
| 4 | Duane Blaska | Minnesota | 862 |
| 5 | Woody Moore | Indiana | 770 |

### Rushing yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | George Saimes | Michigan State | 642 |
| 2 | David Francis | Ohio State | 624 |
| 3 | Sherman Lewis | Michigan State | 590 |
| 4 | Larry Ferguson | Iowa | 547 |
| 5 | Marv Woodson | Indiana | 540 |

### Receiving yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Pat Richter | Wisconsin | 694 |
| 2 | Paul Flatley | Northwestern | 626 |
| 3 | Thurman Walker | Illinois | 240 |
| 4 | Jim Warren | Illinois | 230 |
| 5 | Harvey Chapman | Michigan | 223 |

### Total yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Ron Vander Kelen | Wisconsin | 1,839 |
| 2 | Tom Myers | Northwestern | 1,435 |
| 3 | Mike Taliaferro | Illinois | 1,265 |
| 4 | Duane Blaska | Minnesota | 965 |
| 5 | Woody Moore | Indiana | 756 |

### Scoring

| Rank | Name | Team | Points |
| 1 | Lou Holland | Wisconsin | 72 |
| 2 | Sherman Lewis | Michigan State | 54 |
| 2 | Steve Murphy | Northwestern | 54 |
| 2 | George Saimes | Michigan State | 54 |
| 5 | Ron Smith | Wisconsin | 42 |
| 5 | David Francis | Ohio State | 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 1962 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Quarterback | Ron Vander Kelen | Wisconsin | AP, UPI |
| Halfback | George Saimes | Michigan State | AP, UPI [fullback] |
| Halfback | Paul Warfield | Ohio State | AP, UPI |
| Back | Marvin Woodson | Indiana | AP |
| Halfback | Larry Ferguson | Iowa | UPI |
| End | Pat Richter | Wisconsin | AP, UPI |
| End | John Campbell | Minnesota | AP, UPI |
| Tackle | Bobby Bell | Minnesota | AP, UPI |
| Tackle | Don Brumm | Purdue | AP, UPI |
| Guard | Jack Cvercko | Northwestern | AP, UPI |
| Guard | Julian Hook | Minnesota | AP, UPI |
| Center | Dave Behrman | Michigan State | AP |
| Center | Bill Armstrong | Ohio State | UPI |

### All-American honors

At the end of the 1962 season, Big Ten players secured four of the 11 consensus first-team picks for the 1962 College Football All-America Team. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Tackle | Bobby Bell | Minnesota | AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, TSN, UPI, Time, WCFF |
| End | Pat Richter | Wisconsin | AFCA, AP, FWAA, TSN, UPI, Time, WCFF |
| Fullback | George Saimes | Michigan State | AFCA, AP, FWAA, TSN, UPI, WCFF |
| Guard | Andy Cvercko | Northwestern | TSN, UPI, Time, WCFF |
Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Tackle | Don Brumm | Purdue | AP, FWAA |
| Guard | Ed Budde | Michigan State | Time |

### Other awards

Bobby Bell of Minnesota won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in college football. He also finished third in the voting of the Heisman Trophy.

## 1963 NFL Draft

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1963 NFL draft:
| Name | Position | Team | Round | Overall pick |
| Ed Budde | Offensive tackle | Michigan State | 1 | 4 |
| Bob Vogel | Offensive tackle | Ohio State | 1 | 5 |
| Pat Richter | End | Wisconsin | 1 | 7 |
| Dave Behrman | Center | Michigan State | 1 | 11 |
| Daryl Sanders | Offensive Tackle | Ohio State | 1 | 12 |
| Don Brumm | Defensive end | Purdue | 1 | 13 |
| Bobby Bell | Tackle | Minnesota | 2 | 16 |
| Lonnie Sanders | Cornerback | Michigan State | 2 | 22 |
| Jim Kanicki | Tackle | Michigan State | 2 | 23 |
| Paul Flatley | End | Northwestern | 4 | 44 |
| Bill Munsey | Back | Minnesota | 4 | 51 |
| Jack Cverko | Guard | Northwestern | 5 | 63 |
| Gary Moeller | Guard | Ohio State | 5 | 66 |
| George Saimes | Safety | Michigan State | 6 | 71 |
| Tom Bloom | Back | Purdue | 6 | 74 |
| John Johnson | Tackle | Indiana | 6 | 80 |
| Bill Zorn | Tackle | Michigan State | 7 | 85 |
| Dave Francis | Back | Ohio State | 7 | 91 |
| Gary Kroner | Back | Wisconsin | 7 | 93 |
| Burt Petkus | Guard | Northwestern | 7 | 97 |