1969 college football season The 1969 college football season was celebrated as the 100th anniversary of college football . ( the first season being the one in 1869 ) During the 20th Century , the NCAA had no playoff for the college football teams that would later be described as " Division I - A " . The NCAA Football Guide , however , did note an " unofficial national champion " based on the top ranked teams in the " wire service " ( AP and UPI ) polls . The " writers ' poll " by Associated Press ( AP ) was the most popular , followed by the " coaches ' poll " by United Press International ) ( UPI ) . In 1969 , the UPI issued its final poll before the bowls , but the AP Trophy was withheld until the postseason was completed . The AP poll in 1969 consisted of the votes of as many as 45 sportswriters , though not all of them voted in every poll . Those who cast votes would give their opinion of the ten best teams . Under a point system of 20 points for first place , 19 for second , etc . , the " overall " ranking was determined . In 1969 , there were four regular season games that matched " Top Five " teams . September . In the preseason poll released on September 15 , 1969 , the defending champion # 1 Ohio State Buckeyes were picked # 1 with 26 of the 33 first place votes . Arkansas was second , followed by Penn State , Texas and USC . September 20 # 1 Ohio State had not yet started its season . # 2 Arkansas beat Oklahoma State 39 - 0 at Little Rock . # 3 Penn State beat Navy at Annapolis , 45 - 22 . # 4 Texas won at California 17 - 0 . # 5 USC won at Nebraska 31 - 21 Poll : 1 . Ohio State 2 . Penn State 3 . Arkansas 4 . Texas 5 . USC September 27 # 1 Ohio State opened its season with a 62 - 0 dismantling of Texas Christian ( TCU ) . # 2 Penn State beat Colorado 27 - 3 at home . # 3 Arkansas hosted Tulsa and won 55 - 0 . # 4 Texas won at home , 49 - 7 , over Texas Tech . # 5 USC beat Northwestern at home 48 - 6 . The first seven spots in the poll remained unchanged : 1 . Ohio State 2 . Penn State 3 . Arkansas 4 . Texas 5 . USC On September 27 , 1969 , Rutgers hosted Princeton , just as it had on November 6 , 1869 in the first college football game . In 1869 , Rutgers had 6 goals to Princeton ' s four . A century later , Rutgers won 29 - 0 . October . October 4 # 1 Ohio State beat Washington at Seattle , 41 - 14 . Penn State narrowly won at Kansas State 17 - 14 , and fell to fifth in the poll Arkansas beat TCU at Little Rock , 24 - 6 . # 4 Texas , which beat Navy 56 - 17 at home , rose to second , and USC , which won at Oregon State 31 - 7 , was fourth . Poll : 1 . Ohio State 2 . Texas 3 . Arkansas 4 . USC 5 . Penn State October 11 , the top teams played ranked opponents . # 1 Ohio State beat # 19 Michigan State 54 - 21 at home . In Dallas # 2 Texas defeated # 8 Oklahoma 27 - 17 . # 3 Arkansas was idle # 4 USC got past # 16 Stanford 26 - 24 # 5 Penn State beat # 17 West Virginia 20 - 0 at home . Poll : 1 . Ohio State 2 . Texas 3 . USC 4 . Arkansas 5 . Penn State October 18 # 1 Ohio State won at Minnesota 34 - 7 . # 2 Texas was idle . # 3 USC tied with # 11 Notre Dame 14 - 14 at South Bend , and dropped to 7th , while Notre Dame fell to 12th . # 4 Arkansas won 21 - 7 at Baylor . # 5 Penn State narrowly stayed unbeaten at Syracuse , winning 15 - 14 , and fell to 8th . # 7 Tennessee , which had beaten # 20 Alabama 41 - 14 in Birmingham for its fifth win , rose to third , while unbeaten # 6 Missouri Tigers reached fifth after its 31 - 21 win over Oklahoma State Poll : 1 . Ohio State 2 . Texas 3 . Tennessee 4 . Arkansas 5 . Missouri October 25 # 1 Ohio State beat Illinois 41 - 0 . # 2 Texas defeated Rice 31 - 0 in Austin . # 3 Tennessee was idle . # 4 Arkansas beat Wichita State 52 - 14 in Little Rock . # 8 Penn State defeated Ohio University 42 - 3 and returned to the Top 5 . # 6 Missouri Tigers lost to unranked Colorado at Boulder , 31 - 24 . # 6 USC beat Georgia Tech 29 - 18 Poll : 1 . Ohio State 2 . Texas 3 . Tennessee 4 . Arkansas 5 . Penn State November . November 1 # 1 Ohio State won at Northwestern 35 - 6 . # 2 Texas beat SMU at Dallas 45 - 14 . # 3 Tennessee won at # 11 Georgia 17 - 3 # 4 Arkansas beat Texas A & M at home , 35 - 13 . # 5 Penn State beat Boston College 38 - 16 . The poll remained unchanged : 1 . Ohio State 2 . Texas 3 . Tennessee and 4 . Arkansas were all at 6 - 0 - 0 , 5 . Penn State was 7 - 0 , and 6 . USC and 7 . UCLA stayed unbeaten at 6 - 0 - 1 and 7 - 0 - 1 , respectively . November 8 # 1 Ohio State beat Wisconsin 62 - 7 at home . # 2 Texas beat Baylor at home 56 - 14 . # 3 Tennessee beat South Carolina 29 - 14 , # 4 Arkansas defeated Rice in Houston , 30 - 6 , and # 5 Penn State was idle . The poll remained unchanged : 1 . Ohio State 2 . Texas 3 . Tennessee and 4 . Arkansas and 5 . Penn State were all 7 - 0 , and 6 . USC and 7 . UCLA were both at 7 - 0 - 1 , respectively . November 15 # 1 Ohio State hosted # 10 Purdue and won 42 - 14 . By this time , Woody Hayes ' s Buckeyes had outscored their opposition 371 to 69 and had an 8 - 0 - 0 record with one game left . # 2 Texas beat TCU 69 - 7 at home to stay unbeaten . But in Jackson , # 3 Tennessee lost to # 18 Mississippi 38 - 0 . # 4 Arkansas beat SMU 28 - 15 in Dallas , and # 5 Penn State beat Maryland 48 - 0 at home . # 6 USC , which had beaten Washington at Seattle 16 - 7 , rose to five . In the next poll , OSU and Texas stayed at # 1 and # 2 , while 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , and 9 ( Arkansas , Penn State , USC , UCLA , Missouri and Notre Dame ) each moved up a notch . November 22 After averaging 46 points a game in its first eight , # 1 Ohio State could only manage 12 points against # 12 Michigan in Ann Arbor , and lost 24 - 12 . The Wolverines won the Big Ten championship and a spot in the Rose Bowl . # 5 USC , aided by a pass interference penalty and controversial late touchdown , closed with a 14 - 12 win over # 6 UCLA in a matchup of unbeatens ( both 8 - 0 - 1 ) that decided the Pac 8 championship and the other spot in the Rose Bowl . # 4 Penn State won at Pittsburgh 27 - 7 . In the next poll , Texas took the top spot : 1 . Texas 2 . Arkansas 3 . Penn State 4 . Ohio State 5 . USC . On Thanksgiving Day , in Southwest Conference play , # 1 Texas won at Texas A & M , 49 - 12 while # 2 Arkansas beat Texas Tech 33 - 0 in Little Rock . November 29 # 3 Penn State which won at North Carolina State 33 - 8 , had been considered for the Cotton Bowl Classic , where the Southwestern Conference champ ( Texas or Arkansas ) would go . Before Ohio State ' s loss , however , the players had voted to accept a bid to the Orange Bowl , because they preferred going to Miami instead of Dallas , even though the Nittany Lions went to the Orange Bowl the previous season and defeated Kansas 15 - 14 . Certain to move up to # 2 regardless of how the Texas - Arkansas game came out , Penn State unexpectedly had passed up a chance to go up against the # 1 team in the nation . December . December 6 # 1 and # 2 would not meet in a bowl , but faced off at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville , Arkansas , for the final regular season game for both teams . Both unbeaten at 9 - 0 - 0 , the # 1 Texas Longhorns met the # 2 Arkansas Razorbacks for a game that would determine the unofficial title . Among the 44 , 000 spectators that day was President Richard Nixon , who had with him a plaque to award to the " national champion " , while an estimated 50 million viewers watched the game on ABC . After three quarters , Arkansas had a 14 - 0 lead . In the fourth quarter , Longhorns ' quarterback James Street couldn ' t find a receiver and ran 42 yards for a touchdown , then carried over the ball for two to make the score 14 - 8 . Then , with 4 : 47 to play , the Longhorns were on their own 43 on fourth down . Street threw long to Randy Peschel open downfield . Peschel caught the ball and fell out of bounds on the 13 . After Ted Koy ' s 11 yard run , Jim Bertelsen went over to tie the score . The extra point by Happy Feller gave Texas the 15 - 14 win . Because both teams had been unbeaten in Southwest Conference play , the game also determined the SWC championship , with Texas getting the bid for the Cotton Bowl Classic . President Nixon presented the plaque to Texas coach Darrell Royal after the game . In the final regular season poll , it was 1 . Texas 2 . Penn State 3 . Arkansas 4 . Ohio State and 5 . USC . Conference standings . The following is an incomplete list of conference standings : Bowl Games . East Tennessee State went undefeated and beat Louisiana Tech , led by Terry Bradshaw , in the Grantland Rice Bowl in Baton Rouge , LA . At the Cotton Bowl in Dallas , the # 1 Texas Longhorns were facing the end of their unbeaten streak before a crowd of 73 , 000 . Trailing 17 - 14 with 2 : 26 left in the game , Texas was 10 yards from goal , but it was 4th down , and going for a tie was out of the question . Failing to convert would give Notre Dame the ball and the chance to run out the clock . Texas QB James Street managed to fire a pass over the head of the equally determined Notre Dame linebacker , Bob Olson . Cotton Speyrer came down with the ball on the 2 yard line , just before the ball hit the ground . The officials paused before ruling that the pass was indeed complete , giving Texas the first down , and two plays later , Billy Dale took the ball in for the winning points and , ultimately , the title . In the final poll , the Texas Longhorns were the top choice for 36 of the 45 writers voting , and won the AP Trophy as the final # 1 . The Final Top 20 was : 1 . Texas 2 . Penn State 3 . USC 4 . Ohio State 5 . Notre Dame 6 . Missouri 7 . Arkansas 8 . Mississippi 9 . Michigan 10 . UCLA 11 . Nebraska 12 . Houston 13 . LSU 14 . Florida 15 . Tennessee 16 . Colorado 17 . West Virginia 18 . Purdue 19 . Stanford and 20 . Auburn . Other bowls : Other champions . The schools that are now in the NCAA ' s " Division I - AA " were ranked in the " small college poll " , taken by both the UPI ( coaches ) and AP ( a panel of writers ) . In 1969 , both services ranked the 9 - 0 - 0 North Dakota State Bison # 1 and the 8 - 0 - 0 Montana Grizzlies # 2 . The teams met in the Camellia Bowl in Sacramento ( one of four postseason games for college division teams ) . North Dakota State won , 30 - 3 . In the NAIA championship game , the Texas A & I Javelinas hosted the Concordia College Cobbers , winning 48 - 7 Special helmet design . Many schools , at the behest of the NCAA , commemorated the 1969 season by wearing a special decal on their football helmets . The decal consisted of the numeral " 100 " inside a football shaped outline . The decal was designed to commemorate the 1869 game between Rutgers and Princeton , often cited as the first college football game . Decals varied greatly from one team to another . Some teams placed the decals unobtrusively on the front or back of the helmet . Other teams placed them prominently on the side , either in addition to or in place of their regular team logo . Colors and design of the decals also varied greatly between teams ; with different numeral styles and color schemes in use . One notable exception was Harvard , which abstained from the 1969 commemoration , and had its own special helmet decal made for the 1974 season , which commemorates an 1874 game that Harvard played against McGill that Harvard claims was the " real " first football game . Heisman Trophy . Steve Owens of Oklahoma had rushed for 3 , 867 yards and scored 56 touchdowns in three seasons with the Sooners . In 1969 , he had 29 touchdowns and scored 138 points , and rushed for 248 yards against Iowa State . He later played for the Detroit Lions . Second in the voting was Mike Phipps , quarterback for Purdue .