The 1963 Big Ten Conference football season was the 68th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1963 NCAA University Division football season.
The 1963 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, under head coach Pete Elliott, won the Big Ten football championship with a record of 8–1–1, defeated Washington in the 1964 Rose Bowl, and was ranked No. 3 in the final AP Poll. Illinois center Dick Butkus received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football award as the most valuable player in the conference and was a consensus first-team All-American.
The 1963 Michigan State Spartans football team, under head coach Duffy Daugherty, compiled a 6–2–1 record, finished in second place in the conference, led the conference in scoring defense (7.0 points allowed per game), and was ranked No. 10 in the final AP Poll. Halfback Sherman Lewis was a consensus first-team All-American and finished third in the voting of the 1963 Heisman Trophy.
The Big Ten's statistical leaders included Tom Myers of Northwestern with 1,398 passing yards, Tom Nowatzke of Indiana with 756 rushing yards, and Paul Krause of Iowa with 442 receiving yards. Carl Eller of Minnesota was the first Big Ten player selected in the 1964 NFL draft with the sixth overall pick.
Season overview
Results and team statistics
Conf. RankTeamHead coachAP finalAP highOverall recordConf. recordPPGPAGMVP1IllinoisPete Elliott#3#28–1–15–1–117.09.6Dick Butkus2 (tie)Michigan StateDuffy Daugherty#9#46–2–14–1–116.47.0Sherman Lewis2 (tie)Ohio StateWoody HayesNR#45–3–14–1–112.211.3Matt Snell4PurdueJack MollenkopfNRNR5–44–313.216.6Ron DiGravio5 (tie)NorthwesternAra ParseghianNR#45–43–418.013.8Bill Swingle5 (tie)WisconsinMilt BruhnNR#25–43–416.713.8Jim Purnell7MichiganBump ElliottNRNR3–4–22–3–214.614.1Tom Keating8IowaJerry BurnsNRNR3–3–22–3–115.814.0Mike Reilly9MinnesotaMurray WarmathNRNR3–62–510.613.0Carl Eller10IndianaPhil DickensNRNR3–61–516.820.9Tom Nowatzke Key AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1963 season AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1963 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 1962 and 1963 seasons.
Regular season
Bowl games
On January 1, 1964, Illinois defeated Washington, 17–7.
Post-season developments On December 14, 1963, Ara Parseghian resigned as Northwestern's head football coach to accept the same position at Notre Dame.
Statistical leaders
The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders for the 1963 season include the following:
Passing yards RankNameTeamYards1Tom MyersNorthwestern1,3982Ron DiGravioPurdue1,1083Hal BrandtWisconsin1,0064Richie BadarIndiana6795Gary SnookIowa667
Rushing yards RankNameTeamYards1Tom NowatzkeIndiana7562Jim GrabowskiIllinois6163Roger LopesMichigan State6014Sherman LewisMichigan State5775Lou HollandWisconsin511
Receiving yards RankNameTeamYards1Paul KrauseIowa4422Cloyd WebbIowa4243Gary CrumNorthwestern4174Bob HadrickPurdue3885Rick ReichardtWisconsin383
Total yards RankNameTeamYards1Tom MyersNorthwestern1,2922Ron DiGravioPurdue1,1543Hal BrandtWisconsin1,0764Bob TimberlakeMichigan8215Richie BadarIndiana794
Scoring RankNameTeamPoints1Sherman LewisMichigan State542Roger LopesMichigan State422Jim GrabowskiIllinois422Lou HollandWisconsin425Steve MurphyNorthwestern365Paul KrauseIowa36
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 1963 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
PositionNameTeamSelectorsQuarterbackRon DiGravioPurdueAP, UPIHalfbackSherman LewisMichigan StateAP, UPIHalfbackLou HollandWisconsinAPHalfbackPaul WarfieldOhio StateUPIFullbackTom NowatzkeIndianaAP, UPIEndChuck LoganNorthwesternAP, UPIEndDan UnderwoodMichigan StateAPEndBob HadrickPurdueUPITackleCarl EllerMinnesota AP, UPITackleTom KeatingMichiganUPITackleArchie SuttonIllinoisAP
All-American honors
At the end of the 1963 season, Big Ten players secured three of the consensus first-team picks for the 1963 College Football All-America Team. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:
PositionNameTeamSelectorsCenterDick ButkusIllinoisAFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI, Time, WCFFTackleCarl EllerMinnesotaAFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, UPI, Time, WCFFHalfbackSherman LewisMichigan StateAP, CP, UPI, WCFF
Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:
PositionNameTeamSelectorsGuardMike ReillyIowaFWAABackPaul WarfieldOhio StateTime
Other awards
The Heisman Trophy was awarded to Roger Staubach of Navy. Two Big Ten players finished among the top 10 in the voting for the trophy. They were: Michigan State running back Sherman Lewis (third); and Illinois center/linebacker Dick Butkus (sixth).
1964 NFL draft The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1964 NFL draft:
NamePositionTeamRoundOverall pickCarl EllerDefensive endMinnesota16Marv WoodsonHalfbackIndiana18Paul WarfieldHalfbackOhio State111Paul KrauseSafetyIowa218Matt SnortonEndMichigan State220Roger PillathTackleWisconsin339Joe O'DonnellGuardMichigan340James SandsLinebackerIowa447Wally HilgenbergGuardIowa448Matt SnellRunning backOhio State449Tom KeatingDefensive tackleMichigan453Ed LothamerTackleMichigan State564Herman JohnsonHalfbackMichigan State677Jimmy JonesEndWisconsin684Chuck LoganEndNorthwestern798
References