1968 Wisconsin Badgers football team

1968 Wisconsin Badgers football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record0–10 (0–7 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPKen Criter
CaptainWally Schoessow
Home stadiumCamp Randall Stadium
1968 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Ohio State $ 7 – 0 – 0 10 – 0 – 0
No. 12 Michigan 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
No. 10 Purdue 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Minnesota 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Indiana 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Iowa 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Michigan State 2 – 5 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Illinois 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
Northwestern 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
0 – 7 – 0 0 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1968 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 1968 Big Ten season. In their second year under head coach John Coatta, the Badgers compiled a 0–10 record (0–7 in conference games), finished in last place in the Big Ten, and were outscored by a total of 310 to 86.[1][2]

The Badgers gained an average of 112.8 passing yards and 126.2 rushing yards per game. On defense, they gave up an average of 142.3 passing yards and 259.0 rushing yards per game.[3] The team's individual statistical leaders included: quarterback John Ryan (855 passing yards); running back Wayne Todd (364 rushing yards); and wide receiver Mel Reddick (34 receptions for 375 yards).[3]

Wally Schoessow was the team captain.[4] Linebacker Ken Criter was selected as the team's most valuable player.[5] Criter also won first-team All-Big Ten honors from the Associated Press and United Press International.[6][7]

The Badgers played their home games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. This was the first season of artificial turf at Camp Randall Stadium;[8][9] the Tartan Turf home opener was against Washington of the Pacific-8 Conference,[10] who had just installed AstroTurf at their Husky Stadium in Seattle.[11] Outside of these two, the only other University Division venues with synthetic turf in 1968 were the Astrodome (Houston) and Neyland Stadium (Tennessee).

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 21at Arizona State*
L 7–5543,317[12]
September 28Washington*
L 17–2142,965[13]
October 5No. 19 Michigan State
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI
L 0–3949,067
October 12Utah State*
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI
L 0–2037,469
October 19at Iowa
L 0–4145,651
October 26at Northwestern
L 10–1333,133
November 2Indiana
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI
L 20–2151,666
November 9No. 2 Ohio State
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI
L 8–4340,972
November 16at No. 4 Michigan
L 9–3451,117
November 23Minnesota
  • Camp Randall Stadium
  • Madison, WI (rivalry)
L 15–2339,214
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1968 Wisconsin Badgers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 36 Joe Dawkins Jr
OT 70 Mike McClish
WR 18 Tom McCauley Sr
QB 15 John Ryan Sr
TE 40 Stu Voigt Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 33 Ken Criter Sr
DT 73 Jim DeLisle So
DT 76 Bill Gregory So
DT 57 Jim Novak Sr
LB 35 Chuck Winfrey So
DB 30 George McGarrett
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

NFL/AFL draft selections

Two Wisconsin Badgers were selected in the 1969 NFL/AFL draft, which lasted 17 rounds with 442 selections.

Player Position Round Overall Franchise
Lynn Buss Linebacker 9th 218 Philadelphia Eagles
Tom McCauley Wide receiver 10th 253 Minnesota Vikings

[14]

References

  1. ^ "1968 Wisconsin Badgers Schedule and Results". SR/College Footbal. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  2. ^ "Wisconsin Football 2020 Fact Book". University of Wisconsin. p. 184. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  3. ^ a b "1968 Wisconsin Badgers Stats". SR/College Footbal. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  4. ^ Wisconsin Football 2020 Fact Book, p. 145.
  5. ^ Wisconsin Football 2020 Fact Book, p. 140.
  6. ^ "Podolak and Meskimen Named All-Big 10" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 27, 1968. p. 3.
  7. ^ "Big Ten All-Conference Team". Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Michigan. November 30, 1968. p. 13.
  8. ^ "Synthetic grass at UW passes 1st test". Milwaukee Sentinel. September 10, 1968. p. 1, part 2.
  9. ^ "Badgers try ersatz turf". Milwaukee Sentinel. September 10, 1968. p. 13, part 2.
  10. ^ Kuechele, Oliver (September 27, 1968). "UW plays Huskies; no relief is in sight". Milwaukee Journal. p. 19, part 2.
  11. ^ Bochat, Rel (September 28, 1968). "Huskies test UW, new rug today". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 2.
  12. ^ "Sun Devils scorch Badgers, 55–7". Wisconsin State Journal. September 22, 1968. Retrieved September 15, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Washington turns back Wisconsin's rally 21–17". The La Crosse Tribune. September 29, 1968. Retrieved September 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "1969 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.
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