# 1965 Big Ten Conference football season

The 1965 Big Ten Conference football season was the 70th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1965 NCAA University Division football season.
This was the first year Big Ten teams were allowed to play 10 regular season games. Ohio State was the lone school not to play a 10th game, sticking with nine-game regular seasons through 1970.

## Season overview
### Results and team statistics

| Conf. Rank | Team | Head coach | AP final | AP high | Overall record | Conf. record | PPG | PAG | MVP |
| 1 | Michigan State | Duffy Daugherty | #2 | #1 | 10–1 | 7–0 | 23.9 | 6.9 | Steve Juday |
| 2 | Ohio State | Woody Hayes | NR | #10 | 7–2 | 6–1 | 17.3 | 13.1 | Doug Van Horn |
| 3 (tie) | Purdue | Jack Mollenkopf | NR | #2 | 7–2–1 | 5–2 | 22.7 | 12.7 | Bob Griese |
| 3 (tie) | Minnesota | Murray Warmath | NR | NR | 5–4–1 | 5–2 | 18.8 | 16.0 | John Hankinson |
| 5 | Illinois | Pete Elliott | NR | NR | 6–4 | 4–3 | 23.5 | 11.8 | Jim Grabowski |
| 6 | Northwestern | Alex Agase | NR | NR | 4–6 | 3–4 | 14.1 | 20.8 | Jim Burns |
| 7 (tie) | Michigan | Bump Elliott | NR | #4 | 4–6 | 2–5 | 18.5 | 16.1 | Bill Yearby |
| 7 (tie) | Wisconsin | Milt Bruhn | NR | NR | 2–7–1 | 2–5 | 8.1 | 29.1 | Tom Brigham |
| 9 | Indiana | John Pont | NR | NR | 2–8 | 1–6 | 13.4 | 22.5 | Bill Malinchak |
| 10 | Iowa | Jerry Burns | NR | NR | 1–9 | 0–7 | 9.4 | 19.2 | Dave Long |
Key AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1965 season AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1965 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 1965 season include the following:

### Passing yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Bob Griese | Purdue | 1,719 |
| 2 | John Hankinson | Minnesota | 1,483 |
| 3 | Steve Juday | Michigan State | 1,253 |
| 4 | Charles Burt | Wisconsin | 1,143 |
| 5 | Fred Custardo | Illinois | 1,124 |

### Rushing yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Jim Grabowski | Illinois | 1,258 |
| 2 | Clinton Jones | Michigan State | 900 |
| 3 | Bob Apisa | Michigan State | 715 |
| 4 | Carl Ward | Michigan | 639 |
| 5 | Bob McKelvey | Northwestern | 587 |

### Receiving yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Jack Clancy | Michigan | 762 |
| 2 | John Wright | Illinois | 755 |
| 3 | Gene Washington | Michigan State | 719 |
| 4 | Bill Malinchak | Indiana | 699 |
| 5 | Bob Hadrick | Purdue | 562 |

### Total yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Bob Griese | Purdue | 1,784 |
| 2 | John Hankinson | Minnesota | 1,623 |
| 3 | Steve Juday | Michigan State | 1,380 |
| 4 | Jim Grabowski | Illinois | 1,258 |
| 5 | Fred Custardo | Illinois | 1,244 |

### Scoring

| Rank | Name | Team | Points |
| 1 | Clinton Jones | Michigan State | 72 |
| 2 | Bob Apisa | Michigan State | 60 |
| 3 | John Kuzniewski | Purdue | 48 |
| 3 | Bob McKelvey | Northwestern | 48 |
| 3 | Willard Sander | Ohio State | 48 |

## 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 1965 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
Offense
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Quarterback | Steve Juday | Michigan State | AP |
| Quarterback | Bob Griese | Purdue | UPI |
| Running back | Jim Grabowski | Illinois | AP, UPI [fb] |
| Running back | Clinton Jones | Michigan State | AP, UPI [hb] |
| Running back | Carl Ward | Michigan | AP, UPI [hb] |
| End | Gene Washington | Michigan State | AP, UPI |
| End | Bob Hadrick | Purdue | AP |
| Tackle | Tom Mack | Michigan | AP, UPI |
| Tackle | Karl Singer | Purdue | AP, UPI |
| Guard | John Niland | Iowa | AP, UPI |
| Guard | Doug Van Horn | Ohio State | AP, UPI |
| Center | Larry Kaminski | Purdue | AP |
| Center | Ray Pryor | Ohio State | UPI |
Defense
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Defensive end | Aaron Brown | Minnesota | AP, UPI [offense] |
| Defensive end | Bubba Smith | Michigan State | AP, UPI |
| Defensive end | David Long | Iowa | UPI |
| Defensive tackle | Bill Yearby | Michigan | AP, UPI |
| Defensive tackle | Jerry Shay | Purdue | AP, UPI |
| Defensive guard | Harold Lucas | Michigan State | UPI |
| Linebacker | Dwight Kelly | Ohio State | AP, UPI |
| Linebacker | Don Hansen | Illinois | AP, UPI |
| Linebacker | Ron Goovert | Michigan State | AP |
| Defensive back | Rich Volk | Michigan | AP, UPI [s] |
| Defensive back | George Webster | Michigan State | AP, UPI [lb] |
| Defensive back | Ron Acks | Illinois | AP |
| Defensive back | John Fill | Ohio State | AP |
| Defensive back | Don Japinga | Michigan State | UPI [hb] |
| Defensive back | Charles King | Purdue | UPI [hb] |

### All-American honors

At the end of the 1965 season, six Big Ten players secured consensus first-team honors on the 1965 College Football All-America Team. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Running back | Jim Grabowski | Illinois | AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, FN, Time, TSN, WCFF |
| Defensive end | Aaron Brown | Minnesota | AP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, FN, Time, TSN, WCFF |
| Quarterback | Bob Griese | Purdue | AFCA, CP, NEA, UPI, FN, WCFF |
| Defensive back | George Webster | Michigan State | AFCA, AP, NEA, UPI, FN, WCFF |
| Defensive tackle | Bill Yearby | Michigan | AFCA, NEA, UPI, Time, TSN, WCFF |
| Defensive end | Bubba Smith | Michigan State | AFCA, UPI, WCFF |
Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Offensive end | Gene Washington | Michigan State | CP, FN |
| Offensive tackle | Karl Singer | Purdue | AP |
| Offensive guard | Doug Van Horn | Ohio State | AFCA, UPI |
| Offensive guard | John Niland | Iowa | Time, TSN |
| Quarterback | Steve Juday | Michigan State | AP |
| Running back | Clinton Jones | Michigan State | FWAA |
| Defensive tackle | Jerry Shay | Purdue | AFCA, FN |
| Middle guard | Harold Lucas | Michigan State | NEA |
| Linebacker | Ike Kelley | Ohio State | AP, UPI, FN [center] |
| Linebacker | Ron Goovert | Michigan State | FWAA |

### Other awards

The 1965 Heisman Trophy was awarded to Mike Garrett of USC. Three Big Ten players finished among the top 10 in the voting: Illinois fullback Jim Grabowski (third); Michigan State quarterback Steve Juday (sixth); and Purdue quarterback Bob Griese (eighth).

## 1966 NFL Draft

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1966 NFL draft:
| Name | Position | Team | Round | Overall pick |
| Tom Mack | Offensive tackle | Michigan | 1 | 2 |
| Randy Beisler | Defensive end | Indiana | 1 | 4 |
| John Niland | Offensive guard | Iowa | 1 | 5 |
| Jerry Shay | Offensive tackle | Purdue | 1 | 7 |
| Jim Grabowski | Running back | Illinois | 1 | 9 |
| Gale Gillingham | Offensive tackle | Minnesota | 1 | 13 |
| Harold Lucas | Tackle | Michigan State | 2 | 23 |
| Al Randolph | Running back | Iowa | 3 | 37 |
| Tom Barrington | Running back | Ohio State | 3 | 38 |
| Bill Malinchak | Wide receiver | Indiana | 3 | 39 |
| Don Hansen | Linebacker | Illinois | 3 | 42 |
| Dave Long | Defensive end | Iowa | 3 | 43 |
| Doug Van Horn | Guard | Ohio State | 4 | 55 |
| Ron Acks | Defensive back | Illinois | 4 | 57 |
| Gary Snook | Quarterback | Iowa | 4 | 58 |
| Steve Smith | Wide receiver | Michigan | 5 | 71 |
| Jack Clancy | Wide receiver | Michigan | 5 | 73 |
| Bill Briggs | Defensive end | Iowa | 5 | 75 |