1959 Big Ten Conference football season

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1959 Big Ten Conference football season
SportAmerican football
Number of teams10
Top draft pickJim Houston
ChampionWisconsin
  Runners-upMichigan State
Season MVPBill Burrell
Seasons
← 1958
1960 →
1959 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 6 Wisconsin $ 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Michigan State 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Purdue 4 – 2 – 1 5 – 2 – 2
No. 13 Illinois 4 – 2 – 1 5 – 3 – 1
Northwestern 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Iowa 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Michigan 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Indiana 2 – 4 – 1 4 – 4 – 1
Ohio State 2 – 4 – 1 3 – 5 – 1
Minnesota 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1959 Big Ten Conference football season was the 64th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1959 NCAA University Division football season.

The 1959 Wisconsin Badgers football team, under head coach Milt Bruhn, won the Big Ten championship, was ranked No. 6 in the final AP Poll, and lost to Washington in the 1960 Rose Bowl. Tackle Dan Lanphear was a consensus first-team All-American. Quarterback Dale Hackbart led the Big Ten with 1,121 yards of total offense.

Season overview[edit]

Results and team statistics[edit]

Conf. Rank Team Head coach AP final AP high Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG MVP
1 Wisconsin Milt Bruhn #6 #5 7–3 5–2 16.5 14.9 Jerry Stalcup
2 Michigan State Duffy Daugherty NR #11 5–4 4–2 16.6 13.1 Dean Look
3 (tie) Purdue Jack Mollenkopf NR #6 5–2–2 4–2–1 12.1 9.0 Len Jardine
3 (tie) Illinois Ray Eliot #13 #12 5–3–1 4–2–1 12.3 10.3 Bill Burrell
5 Northwestern Ara Parseghian NR #2 6–3 4–3 19.3 14.9 Jim Andreotti
6 Iowa Forest Evashevski NR #5 5–4 3–3 25.9 11.1 Don Norton
7 Michigan Bump Elliott NR NR 4–5 3–4 13.6 17.9 Tony Rio
8 Indiana Phil Dickens NR NR 4–4–1 2–4–1 15.8 11.7 Ted Aucreman
9 Ohio State Woody Hayes NR #7 3–5–1 2–4–1 9.2 12.7 Jim Houston
10 Minnesota Murray Warmath NR NR 2–7 1–6 10.9 17.7 Tom Moe

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1959 season[1]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1959 season[1]
PPG = Average of points scored per game[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game[1]
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[edit]

On November 14, 1958, Bennie Oosterbaan resigned as Michigan's head football coach with two games remaining in the program's worst season since 1936. Bump Elliott, who had been Michigan's backfield coach for two years, was hired to replace him.[2]

Regular season[edit]

Bowl games[edit]

Main article: 1960 Rose Bowl

Post-season developments[edit]

Shortly before the end of the 1959 season, Illinois head coach Ray Eliot retired after 18 years in the position.[3] On December 22, 1959, Illinois hired 33-year-old Pete Elliott as its new head football coach. Elliott had played for Michigan and served as California's head coach from 1957 to 1959.[4]

Statistical leaders[edit]

The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders for the 1959 season include the following:[1]

Passing yards[edit]

Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Olen Treadway Iowa 1,014
2 Dean Look Michigan State 785
3 John Talley Northwestern 783
4 Stan Noskin Michigan 747
5 Dale Hackbart Wisconsin 734

Rushing yards[edit]

Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Bob Jeter Iowa 609
2 Bill Brown Illinois 504
3 Ted Smith Indiana 439
4 Herb Adderley Michigan State 419
5 Johnny Counts Illinois 416

Receiving yards[edit]

Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Don Norton Iowa 428
2 Tom Hall Minnesota 322
3 Johnny Counts Illinois 314
4 Allan Schoonover Wisconsin 290
5 Ray Purdin Northwestern 280

Total yards[edit]

Rank Name Team Yards[1]
1 Dale Hackbart Wisconsin 1,121
2 Olen Treadway Iowa 987
3 Dean Look Michigan State 875
4 John Talley Northwestern 777
5 Stan Noskin Michigan 718

Scoring[edit]

Rank Name Team Points[1]
1 Dale Hackbart Wisconsin 36
2 Gary Ballman Michigan State 30
2 Ron Burton Northwestern 30
2 Tom Wiesner Wisconsin 30

Awards and honors[edit]

All-Big Ten honors[edit]

For the complete All-Big Ten selections, see 1959 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1959 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

Position Name Team Selectors
Quarterback Dean Look Michigan State AP
Quarterback Dale Hackbart Wisconsin UPI
Halfback Bob Jeter Iowa AP, UPI
Halfback Ron Burton Northwestern AP, UPI
Fullback Mike Stock Northwestern AP, UPI
End Jim Houston Ohio State AP, UPI
End Don Norton Iowa AP, UPI
Tackle Dan Lanphear Wisconsin AP, UPI
Tackle Joe Rutgens Illinois AP
Tackle Gene Gossage Northwestern UPI
Guard Jerry Stalcup Wisconsin AP, UPI
Guard Bill Burrell Illinois AP, UPI
Center Jim Andreotti Northwestern AP, UPI

All-American honors[edit]

For the complete All-America selections, see 1959 College Football All-America Team.

At the end of the 1959 season, Big Ten players secured three of the 11 consensus first-team picks on the 1959 College Football All-America Team.[5] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:

Position Name Team Selectors
Tackle Dan Lanphear Wisconsin AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, TSN, UPI, CP, Time, WCFF
Halfback Ron Burton Northwestern AFCA, FWAA, NEA, TSN, UPI, CP, Time, WCFF
Guard Bill Burrell Illinois AP, FWAA, UPI, CP, WCFF

Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:

Position Name Team Selectors
End Jim Houston Ohio State CP, Time
End Don Norton Iowa FWAA
Center Jim Andreotti Northwestern FWAA
Halfback Dean Look Michigan State FWAA
Fullback Bob White Ohio State Time

Other awards[edit]

Four Big Ten players finished among the top 10 in the voting for the 1959 Heisman Trophy: offensive lineman Bill Burrell of Illinois (fourth); running back Dean Look of Michigan State (sixth); quarterback Dale Hackbart of Wisconsin (seventh); and running back Ron Burton of Wisconsin (10th).[6]

1960 NFL Draft[edit]

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1960 NFL Draft:[7]

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
Jim Houston Defensive end Ohio State 1 8
Ron Burton Halfback Northwestern 1 9
Bob Jeter Halfback Iowa 2 17
Curt Merz End Iowa 3 31
Ross Fichtner Defensive back Purdue 3 33
Jim Andreotti Center Northwestern 4 39
Billy Martin Back Minnesota 4 43
Jim Marshall Tackle Ohio State 4 44
Bill Burrell Linebacker Illinois 5 50
Dale Hackbart Back Wisconsin 5 51
Bob Jarus Running back Purdue 5 53
Don Norton End Iowa 5 56
Jerry Stalcup Guard Wisconsin 6 62
Mike Wright Tackle Minnesota 6 65
Leonard Wilson Back Purdue 7 76
Jerry Beabout Tackle Purdue 7 82
Dan Lanphear Tackle Wisconsin 8 90
Bob White Back Ohio State 8 91
Dewitt Hoopes Tackle Northwestern 9 98

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "1959 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  2. ^ Jerry Green (November 15, 1958). "Bump Elliott Gets Job of Rebuilding Sagging Michigan". The Terre Haute Star. p. 7.
  3. ^ "Colorful Ray Eliot Bowing Out as Illini Football Coach". Galesburg Register-Mail. November 18, 1959. p. 18.
  4. ^ "Illinois Appoints Pete Elliott, 33, To Football Post". Wilmington Morning News. December 23, 1959. p. 28.
  5. ^ "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. pp. 5–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  6. ^ "1959 Heisman Trophy Voting". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  7. ^ "1960 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
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