# 1966 Big Ten Conference football season

The 1966 Big Ten Conference football season was the 71st season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1966 NCAA University Division football season.
The 1966 Michigan State Spartans football team, under head coach Duffy Daugherty, won the Big Ten football championship, compiled a 9–0–1 record, and was ranked No. 2 in the final AP Poll. Four Spartans' players were among the first eight selections in the 1967 NFL/AFL Draft: defensive tackle Bubba Smith (first); running back Clinton Jones (second); linebacker George Webster (fifth); and flanker Gene Washington (eighth).
The 1966 Purdue Boilermakers football team, under head coach Jack Mollenkopf, finished in second place with a 9–2 record and was ranked No. 7 in the final AP Poll. The Boilermakers received the conference's berth to play in the 1967 Rose Bowl because of the Big Ten's "no-repeat" rule and defeated USC, 14–13. Purdue quarterback Bob Griese led the conference in passing yards and total yards and won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten's most valuable player and the Sammy Baugh Trophy as the nation's top collegiate passer. Griese also finished second behind Steve Spurrier in the voting for the 1966 Heisman Trophy.

## 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 | 9–0–1 | 7–0 | 29.3 | 9.9 | George Webster |
| 2 | Purdue | Jack Mollenkopf | #7 | #7 | 9–2 | 6–1 | 27.0 | 14.0 | Bob Griese |
| 3 (tie) | Michigan | Bump Elliott | NR | #8 | 6–4 | 4–3 | 23.6 | 13.8 | Jack Clancy |
| 3 (tie) | Illinois | Pete Elliott | NR | NR | 4–6 | 4–3 | 17.3 | 19.3 | Ron Guenther |
| 5 | Minnesota | Murray Warmath | NR | NR | 4–5–1 | 3–3–1 | 12.4 | 16.0 | Tim Wheeler |
| 6 | Ohio State | Woody Hayes | NR | NR | 4–5 | 3–4 | 12.0 | 13.7 | Ray Pryor |
| 7 (tie) | Northwestern | Alex Agase | NR | NR | 3–6–1 | 2–4–1 | 13.7 | 21.3 | Roger Murphy |
| 7 (tie) | Wisconsin | Milt Bruhn | NR | NR | 3–6–1 | 2–4–1 | 8.7 | 21.2 | Bob Richter |
| 9 | Indiana | John Pont | NR | NR | 1–8–1 | 1–5–1 | 10.4 | 22.9 | Frank Stavroff |
| 10 | Iowa | Ray Nagel | NR | NR | 2–8 | 1–6 | 8.6 | 25.3 | Dick Gibbs |
Key AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1966 season AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1966 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 1966 season include the following:

### Passing yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Bob Griese | Purdue | 1,749 |
| 2 | Dick Vidmer | Michigan | 1,609 |
| 3 | Frank Stavroff | Indiana | 1,406 |
| 4 | William Long | Ohio State | 1,180 |
| 5 | Bill Melzer | Northwestern | 1,171 |

### Rushing yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Clinton Jones | Michigan State | 784 |
| 2 | Perry Williams | Purdue | 689 |
| 3 | Mike Krivoshia | Indiana | 675 |
| 4 | Dave Fisher | Michigan | 672 |
| 5 | Curt Wilson | Minnesota | 546 |

### Receiving yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Jack Clancy | Michigan | 1,077 |
| 2 | John Wright | Illinois | 831 |
| 3 | Roger Murphy | Northwestern | 777 |
| 4 | Jim Beirne | Purdue | 768 |
| 5 | Tom McCauley | Wisconsin | 689 |

### Total yards

| Rank | Name | Team | Yards |
| 1 | Bob Griese | Purdue | 1,964 |
| 2 | Dick Vidmer | Michigan | 1,639 |
| 3 | Jimmy Raye | Michigan State | 1,596 |
| 4 | Ed Podolak | Iowa | 1,491 |
| 5 | Frank Stavroff | Indiana | 1,328 |

### Scoring

| Rank | Name | Team | Points |
| 1 | Jim Detwiler | Michigan | 60 |
| 2 | Perry Williams | Purdue | 54 |
| 2 | Bob Apisa | Michigan State | 54 |
| 4 | Carl Ward | Michigan | 48 |
| 4 | Jim Beirne | Purdue | 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 1966 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
Offense
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Quarterback | Bob Griese | Purdue | AP, UPI |
| Running back | Clinton Jones | Michigan State | AP, UPI [halfback] |
| Running back | Jim Detwiler | Michigan | AP, UPI [halfback] |
| Running back | Dave Fisher | Michigan | UPI [fullback] |
| Running back | Bob Apisa | Michigan State | AP |
| End | Gene Washington | Michigan State | AP, UPI |
| End | Jack Clancy | Michigan | AP, UPI |
| Tackle | Jack Calcaterra | Purdue | AP, UPI |
| Tackle | Jerry West | Michigan State | AP, UPI |
| Guard | Chuck Erlenbaugh | Purdue | AP |
| Guard | Tom Schuette | Indiana | AP |
| Guard | Donald Bailey | Michigan | UPI |
| Guard | Anthony Conti | Michigan State | UPI |
| Center | Ray Pryor | Ohio State | AP, UPI |
Defense
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Defensive end | Bubba Smith | Michigan State | AP, UPI |
| Defensive end | Ken Kmiec | Illinois | AP |
| Defensive end | George Olion | Purdue | UPI |
| Defensive tackle | Lance Olssen | Purdue | AP, UPI |
| Defensive tackle | Nick Jordan | Michigan State | AP |
| Defensive tackle | Richard Himes | Ohio State | UPI |
| Defensive guard | Chuck Kyle | Purdue | UPI |
| Linebacker | Frank Nunley | Michigan | AP, UPI |
| Linebacker | Chuck Thornhill | Michigan State | AP, UPI |
| Linebacker | George Webster | Michigan State | AP [def. back], UPI |
| Linebacker | Bob Richter | Wisconsin | AP |
| Defensive back | Bruce Sullivan | Illinois | AP, UPI |
| Defensive back | Rich Volk | Michigan | AP, UPI |
| Defensive back | Phil Clark | Northwestern | AP |
| Defensive back | Jess Philips | Michigan State | UPI [safety] |

### All-American honors

At the end of the 1966 season, four Big Ten players secured consensus first-team honors on the 1966 College Football All-America Team. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Offensive end | Jack Clancy | Michigan | AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA [split end], UPI, Time, TSN, WCFF |
| Running back | Clinton Jones | Michigan State | AP, CP, NEA, Time, TSN, WCFF |
| Defensive end | Bubba Smith | Michigan State | AFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, Time, TSN, WCFF |
| Defensive back | George Webster | Michigan State | AFCA, AP, CP [linebacker], FWAA, NEA [linebacker], UPI, Time, TSN, 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 | AFCA, UPI, Time, TSN |
| Offensive end | Jim Beirne | Purdue | CP |
| Offensive tackle | Jerry West | Michigan State | NEA |
| Center | Ray Pryor | Ohio State | FWAA |
| Quarterback | Bob Griese | Purdue | AFCA [tie] |
| Defensive back | Rick Volk | Michigan | Time, TSN |
| Defensive back | John Charles | Purdue | Time, TSN |

### Other awards

Purdue quarterback Bob Griese received the Sammy Baugh Trophy as the nation's top collegiate passer. He also finished second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.

## 1967 NFL/AFL Draft

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1967 NFL/AFL Draft:
| Name | Position | Team | Round | Overall pick |
| Bubba Smith | Defensive tackle | Michigan State | 1 | 1 |
| Clinton Jones | Running back | Michigan State | 1 | 2 |
| Bob Griese | Quarterback | Purdue | 1 | 4 |
| George Webster | Linebacker | Michigan State | 1 | 5 |
| Gene Washington | Flanker | Michigan State | 1 | 8 |
| Cas Banaszek | Tight end | Northwestern | 1 | 11 |
| Jim Detwiler | Running back | Michigan | 1 | 20 |
| John Charles | Defensive back | Purdue | 1 | 21 |
| Rick Volk | Defensive back | Michigan | 2 | 45 |
| Mike Current | Tackle | Ohio State | 3 | 58 |
| Frank Nunley | Linebacker | Michigan | 3 | 62 |
| Phil Clark | Defensive back | Northwestern | 3 | 76 |
| John Rowser | Defensive back | Michigan | 3 | 78 |
| Carl Ward | Running back | Michigan | 4 | 83 |