1962 Wisconsin Badgers football team

1962 Wisconsin Badgers football
Big Ten champion
Rose Bowl, L 37–42 vs. USC
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 2
Record8–2 (6–1 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPRon Vander Kelen
Captains
Home stadiumCamp Randall Stadium
1962 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 $ 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
No. 10 Minnesota 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 2 – 1
Northwestern 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Ohio State 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Michigan State 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Purdue 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 4 – 1
Iowa 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Illinois 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Indiana 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Michigan 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1962 Wisconsin Badgers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Wisconsin as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1962 Big Ten season. In their seventh year under head coach Milt Bruhn, the Badgers compiled an 8–2 record (6–1 in conference games), won the Big Ten championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 285 to 88.[1][2] The Badgers were ranked No. 2 in the final AP and UPI polls, both released in early December. This remains the highest season-ending ranking in program history.[3][4] Wisconsin met No. 1 USC in the 1963 Rose Bowl, the first bowl game in college football history to pair the top two ranked teams in the nation.[5][6] The Badgers played home games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin opened the season by crushing New Mexico State and then subdued Indiana 30–6. On October 13, they defeated Notre Dame 17–8, which gave them a number 10 ranking. The Badgers then defeated the Iowa 42–15, which moved them up to fifth. A 14–7 loss to Ohio State the following week dropped Wisconsin out of the polls (top ten only). On November 3, the Badgers defeated struggling Michigan on the road, 34–12. This set up following week's homecoming game versus No. 1 Northwestern at Camp Randall Stadium. Eighth-ranked Wisconsin soundly defeated Northwestern 37–6, and moved up to fourth in the next poll. A win at Illinois set up a No. 3 Wisconsin vs No. 5 Minnesota battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe. Wisconsin won 14–9, securing the Big Ten title and the berth in the Rose Bowl, as well as a season-ending No. 2 ranking. At the time, the two major polls (AP, UPI) released their final editions prior to the bowl games, so Wisconsin's runner-up rank went unchanged after the bowl loss. However, the game was still a de facto national championship game as the winner would receive the Grantland Rice Trophy.[7][8]

Quarterback Ron Vander Kelen won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the most valuable player in the Big Ten, and end Pat Richter was a consensus first-team All-American.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 29New Mexico State*
W 69–1340,495[9]
October 6Indiana
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI
W 30–641,354
October 13Notre Dame*
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI
W 17–861,098
October 20IowaNo. 10
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI (rivalry)
W 42–1460,297
October 27at Ohio StateNo. 5
L 7–1482,540
November 3at Michigan
W 34–1253,789[10]
November 10No. 1 NorthwesternNo. 8
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI
W 37–665,501
November 17at IllinoisNo. 4
W 35–636,762
November 24No. 5 MinnesotaNo. 3
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI (rivalry)
W 14–965,514
January 1, 1963vs. No. 1 USC*No. 2
L 37–4298,698
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

at Ohio State

Team 1 234Total
No. 5 Badgers 0 700 7
• Buckeyes 7 007 14
  • Date: October 27, 1962
  • Location: Ohio Stadium
    Columbus, Ohio
  • Game attendance: 82,540
  • Game weather: Cloudy, wind SSW 15 mph, 44 °F (7 °C)
Scoring summary
Q11:11OSUSparma 21 yard pass to Warfield (Van Raaphorst kick)OSU 7–0
Q25:31WISVander Kelen 47 yard pass to Scott (Kroner kick)TIED 7–7
Q47:16OSUMummey 1 yard run (Van Raaphorst kick)OSU 14–7
See also: 1962 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

No. 5 Minnesota

No. 5 Minnesota at No. 3 Wisconsin
Team 1 234Total
No. 5 Golden Gophers 0 630 9
• No. 3 Badgers 0 707 14
See also: 1962 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

[11][12]

Statistics and awards

The Badgers gained an average of 144.3 passing yards and 172.7 rushing yards per game. On defense, they gave up an average of 122.3 passing yards and 110.0 rushing yards per game.[13]

After missing the 1961 season due to injury and being declared academically ineligible in 1962, quarterback Ron Vander Kelen won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference and was also selected as Wisconsin's most valuable player.[14][15] During the 1963 season, Vander Kelen completed 91 of 168 passes (54.2%) for 1,181 yards, 12 touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a passer rating of 128.5.[13] He also finished ninth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Senior end Pat Richter tallied 38 receptions for 531 yards and five touchdowns. He was a consensus first-team pick on the 1962 All-America team and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting for 1962. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996.

Halfback Ralph Kurek led the team with 367 rushing yards.[13]

Richter and guard Steve Underwood were the team captains.[16]

Seven Wisconsin players received first-, second- or third-team honors from the Associated Press (AP) or United Press International (UPI) on the 1963 All-Big Ten Conference football team: Richter at end (AP-1, UPI-1); Vander Kelen at quarterback (AP-1, UPI-1); Roger Pillath at tackle (AP-2, UPI-3); Steve Underwood at guard (AP-2, UPI-3); Jim Schenk (AP-2, UPI-3); Lou Holland at halfback (AP-3, UPI-3); and Don Carlson at end (AP-3).[17][18][19]

Junior center Ken Bowman played ten seasons with the Green Bay Packers, winning three consecutive NFL titles under head coach Vince Lombardi.

Roster

1963 NFL draft

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Pat Richter End 1 7 Washington Redskins
Gary Kroner Back 7 93 Green Bay Packers

[20]

References

  1. ^ "1962 Wisconsin Badgers Schedule and Results". SR/College Footbal. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  2. ^ "Wisconsin Football 2020 Fact Book". University of Wisconsin. p. 184. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  3. ^ "Year-by-year Final Coaches' Polls". American Football Coaches Association. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2010.
  4. ^ "Poll Archive". Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2010.
  5. ^ Bochat, Rel (January 1, 1963). "This is it! Badgers, USC in big one". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 9, part 2. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  6. ^ Zimmermann, Paul (January 1, 1963). "Badgers bent on bowl vengeance; Wisconsin winless in two classics". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (Los Angeles Times). p. 12.
  7. ^ Wolf, Bob (March 29, 1990). "Badgering Doesn't Faze Richter: Wisconsin: One of the stars of 1963 Rose Bowl comeback returns as the school's athletic director". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  8. ^ Jenkins, Dan (September 11, 1967). "This Year The Fight Will Be In The Open". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  9. ^ "Bruhn watches 61 Badgers in 69–13 rout of Aggies". The La Crosse Tribune. September 30, 1962. Retrieved April 7, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Joe Falls (November 4, 1962). "U-M Scores, but -- Badgers Win, 34-12". Detroit Free Press. p. 1F – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Wisconsin Halts Minnesota, 14-9". The New York Times. November 25, 1962. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  12. ^ "Two Goofs Kill the Gophers". Sports Illustrated. December 3, 1962. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  13. ^ a b c "1962 Wisconsin Badgers Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  14. ^ John Underwoord (September 9, 2010). "Vander Kelen". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on September 17, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
  15. ^ Wisconsin Football 2020 Fact Book, p. 140.
  16. ^ Wisconsin Football 2020 Fact Book, p. 145.
  17. ^ "Gophers Ring the Bell". The Blade, Toledo, Ohio (AP story). November 27, 1962. p. 24.
  18. ^ Joe Mooshil (November 27, 1962). "Spartans Saimes and Behrman Get All-Big Ten Team Berths; Bell-Richter, Unanimous". The Owosso Argus-Press (AP story).
  19. ^ "Pick Big Ten All-Star Squad". Galesburg Register-Mail. November 27, 1962. p. 12.
  20. ^ "1963 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 23, 2007.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.