American college football season
The 1961 college football season was the 93rd season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Two teams have a claim to the 1961 major college national championship:
Pittsburg State (11β0) was declared small college national champion by the AP and UPI and also won the NAIA national championship. Florida A&M (10β0) was the black college national champion. Washington and Lee (9β0) won Timmie Trophy as the outstanding small college football team in the country.
Syracuse halfback Ernie Davis won the Heisman Trophy. Wisconsin quarterback Ron Miller won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, and Utah State tackle Merlin Olsen won the Outland Trophy. Individual statistical leaders in major college football for 1961 included Iowa State halfback Dave Hoppmann with 1,638 yards of total offense, San Jose State quarterback Chon Gallegos with 117 pass completions and 14 touchdown passes, Washington State end Hugh Campbell with 53 pass receptions, and New Mexico State halfback Preacher Pilot with 1,278 rushing yards and 138 points scored.
Conference and program changes
Season chronology
September
In the preseason poll released on September 18, Iowa was ranked No. 1, and Ohio State No. 2. SEC teams Alabama and LSU were third and fifth, and Texas was fourth. Rounding out the top ten were No. 6 Michigan State, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Kansas, No. 9 Mississippi, and No. 10 Syracuse.
As the regular season progressed, new polls were issued on the Monday following the weekend's games. The Big Ten schools would not kick off until September 30. On September 23, No. 3 Alabama won, 32β6, at Georgia, and No. 4 Texas won at California, 28β3. In Houston, No. 5 LSU lost to Rice, 16β3. No. 9 Mississippi, which had shut out Arkansas 16β0, and No. 10 Syracuse, which had beaten Oregon State 19β8 in Portland, rose into the top five. In the poll that followed, Iowa remained No. 1, followed by No. 2 Mississippi, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 5 Syracuse. Texas dropped to sixth place.
September 30 California played a top-ranked team for the second straight week, losing at No. 1 Iowa 28β7. No. 2 Mississippi won 20β6 at Kentucky. Texas Christian University (TCU) tied No. 3 Ohio State 7β7 at Columbus. In a game at Mobile, No. 4 Alabama beat Tulane 9β0. No. 5 Syracuse defeated visiting West Virginia 29β14, but fell to seventh in the next ratings. No. 6 Texas, which beat Texas Tech at home, 42β14, returned to the Top Five, along with previously unranked Georgia Tech, which shut out Rice 24β0. In the poll that followed, Iowa remained No. 1, followed by No. 2 Mississippi, No. 3 Georgia Tech, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 5 Texas.
October
October 7
No. 1 Iowa won 35β34 at USC. No. 2 Mississippi won 33β0 against Florida State. No. 3 Georgia Tech lost to LSU 10β0. No. 4 Alabama won 35β6 at Vanderbilt. No. 5 Texas routed Washington State 41β8. No. 6 Michigan State defeated Stanford 31β3. In the poll that followed, Mississippi took over first place from Iowa, which dropped to second. These were followed by No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Texas, and No. 5 Michigan State.
October 14 No. 1 Mississippi met the Houston Cougars at Memphis and won 47β7. No. 2 Iowa beat Indiana 27β8 at home. No. 3 Alabama beat North Carolina State 26β7 at Birmingham, and
No. 4 Texas played its annual game against Oklahoma at Dallas, winning 28β7. No. 5 Michigan State won at No. 6 Michigan, shutting out the Wolverines 28β0. On the next poll, Michigan State took the No. 1 spot from Ole Miss by a margin of only two points (431 to 429), though the Rebels had more first place votes than the Spartans (21 vs. 16). They were followed by No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Iowa, and No. 5 Alabama.
On October 21, No. 1 Michigan State got by No. 6 Notre Dame 17β7 at home, and No. 2 Mississippi shut out Tulane in a game at Jackson, 41β0. No. 3 Texas won at No. 10 Arkansas, 33β7, No. 4 Iowa hosted Wisconsin, winning 47β15, and No. 5 Alabama defeated Tennessee at Birmingham, 34β3. The top three (Michigan State, Ole Miss and Texas) were unchanged, while Alabama and Iowa traded places at 4th and 5th.
October 28 In a week of shutouts, No. 1 Michigan State beat Indiana 35β0, and No. 2 Mississippi had an even bigger blowout, 47β0, against Vanderbilt. No. 3 Texas beat the visiting Rice Owls, 34β7, while No. 4 Alabama won at Houston over the Cougars, 17β0. No. 5 Iowa was on the wrong side of a shutout, losing 9β0 at Purdue. The top 4 stayed the same, while No. 6 Ohio State, which had won at Wisconsin 30β21, took fifth place from Iowa, whom they would play the following Saturday.
November
November 4 No. 1 Michigan State fell to unranked Minnesota, 13β0. At the same time, No. 2 Mississippi lost to No. 6 LSU 10β7 at Baton Rouge. The No. 3 Texas Longhorns beat the SMU Mustangs at Dallas, 27β0. No. 4 Alabama shut out Mississippi State 24β0. At Columbus, No. 5 Ohio State beat No. 9 Iowa 29β13. Texas, Alabama and Ohio State moved up to 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and giant-killers LSU and Minnesota were 4th and 5th. Michigan State and Ole Miss fell to 6th and 7th.
November 11 No. 1 Texas beat Baylor, 33β7. No. 2 Alabama crushed the visiting Richmond Spiders (which would be I-AA later) 66β0 at home. No. 3 Ohio State won 16β7 at Indiana, No. 4 LSU won 30β0 at North Carolina, and No. 5 Minnesota handed Iowa its third straight loss, 16β9. The Hawkeyes, ranked first in the preseason poll, would finish just 5β4. No. 6 Michigan State, too, lost its second straight, falling 7β6 at Purdue. The Top Five remained unchanged.
November 18 Texas Christian University had earlier tied Ohio State 6β6 in Columbus, and bested that with a win over No. 1 Texas in Austin, 6β0. After his team's loss, legendary Texas coach Darrell Royal uttered his immortal description of TCU: "They're like a bunch of cockroaches. It's not what they eat and tote off, it's what they fall into and mess up that hurts."
No. 2 Alabama beat Georgia Tech in Birmingham, 10β0. No. 3 Ohio State defeated visiting Oregon, 22β12, and No. 4 LSU hosted Mississippi State and won 14β6. No. 5 Minnesota defeated No. 7 Purdue, 10β7, at home. Alabama (9β0) rose to No. 1, with Ohio State (7β0β1) at No. 2. Minnesota (7β1) rose to No. 3, LSU (8β1) stayed at No. 4 and Texas (8β1) fell from No. 1 to No. 5.
Post-Thanksgiving (November 25) No. 1 Alabama was idle. No. 2 Ohio State won at Michigan, 50β20. No. 3 Minnesota narrowly lost to Wisconsin 23β21. No. 4 LSU crushed visiting Tulane, 62β0. No. 5 Texas won 25β0 over Texas A&M, wrapping up the SWC title and a berth in the Cotton Bowl. Ole Miss, which was idle, returned to the Top Five: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Texas, and No. 5 Mississippi.
December
December 2, No. 1 Alabama won its annual Birmingham game against the Auburn Tigers, 34β0, to close the season with a 10β0β0 record, an SEC championship, and a berth in the Sugar Bowl against No. 9 Arkansas. No. 5 Mississippi closed its season at 9β1β0 with a 37β7 win against Mississippi State and prepared to meet Texas in the Cotton Bowl. For the third year in a row, Ole Miss was undefeated and untied against all opponents other than LSU, which had beaten them in 1959 and 1961 and tied them in 1960. The Bayou Bengals would meet the Big 8 champion, No. 7 Colorado, in the Orange Bowl.
With 26 of the 48 first place votes, Alabama was awarded the AP trophy, ahead of Ohio State (by a margin of 26 votes to 20). The point total was even closer, with 16 points separating Alabama and Ohio State (452 to 436). Unbeaten and tied only once, Ohio State University qualified for the Rose Bowl. In a move that stunned the sports world, however, the university's faculty council voted, 28β25, on November 28 not to accept the invitation, declaring that the school's emphasis on sports over academics was excessive. The wire service commented that "A team of 57 Ohio State University faculty members handed the second ranked Buckeyes their only defeat of the season.". Minnesota took the Buckeyes' place in the Rose Bowl, where they would play UCLA.
Conference standings
Major colleges
Small colleges
Independents
Rankings
Major college polls
Tracking No. 1 spot
Week
|
No. 1 Team
|
Event
|
Preseason
|
Iowa
|
|
1 (Sep 23)
|
IOWA
|
Did not play
|
2 (Sep 30)
|
Iowa
|
Iowa 28, California 7
|
3 (Oct 7)
|
Iowa
|
Iowa 35, USC 34
|
4 (Oct 14)
|
Ole Miss
|
Ole Miss 47, Houston 7
|
5 (Oct 21)
|
Michigan State
|
MSU 17, Notre Dame 7
|
6 (Oct 28)
|
Michigan State
|
MSU 35, Indiana 0
|
7 (Nov 4)
|
Michigan State
|
Minnesota 13, MSU 0
|
8 (Nov 11)
|
Texas
|
Texas 33, Baylor 7
|
9 (Nov 18)
|
Texas
|
TCU 6, Texas 0
|
10 (Nov 25)
|
Alabama
|
(Idle)
|
11 (Dec 2)
|
Alabama
|
Alabama 34, Auburn 0
|
Final polls
|
UPI coaches poll
Rank
|
Team
|
1st
|
Points
|
1
|
Alabama
|
18
|
318
|
2
|
Ohio State
|
15
|
311
|
3
|
LSU
|
|
239
|
4
|
Texas
|
|
237
|
5
|
Ole Miss
|
|
219
|
6
|
Minnesota
|
|
163
|
7
|
Colorado
|
1
|
124
|
8
|
Arkansas
|
|
91
|
9
|
Michigan State
|
|
76
|
10
|
Utah State
|
|
28
|
11
|
Purdue (6β3)
|
|
11
|
11
|
Missouri (7β2β1)
|
|
11
|
13
|
Georgia Tech (7β4)
|
|
16
|
14
|
Duke (7β3)
|
|
11
|
15
|
Kansas (7β3β1)
|
|
10
|
16
|
Syracuse (8β3)
|
|
8
|
17
|
Wyoming (6β1β2)
|
|
7
|
18
|
Wisconsin (6β3)
|
|
6
|
19
|
Miami (FL) (7β4)
|
|
4
|
19
|
Penn State (8β3)
|
|
4
|
|
Small college polls
In 1961, both United Press International (UPI) and the Associated Press (AP) conducted "small college" polls. The number one selection of both wire services was the Pittsburg State Gorillas, who compiled a regular season record of 9β0 while outscoring opponents 299β25 and registering seven shutouts. The Gorillas went on to win two NAIA postseason games and finished 11β0 for the season.
United Press International (coaches) final poll
Published on November 22
β BaldwinβWallace was 9β0 when the poll was taken.
|
Associated Press (writers) final poll
Published on November 22
|
Postseason
Major bowls
Monday, January 1, 1962
Other bowls
Bowl
|
Location
|
Date
|
Winner
|
Score
|
Loser
|
Sun
|
El Paso, TX
|
December 30
|
Villanova
|
17β9
|
Wichita State
|
Gator
|
Jacksonville, FL
|
December 30
|
No. 17 Penn State
|
30β15
|
No. 13 Georgia Tech
|
Tangerine
|
Orlando, FL
|
December 29
|
Lamar Tech
|
21β14
|
Middle Tennessee
|
Bluebonnet
|
Houston, TX
|
December 16
|
Kansas
|
33β7
|
No. 17 Rice
|
Liberty
|
Philadelphia, PA
|
December 16
|
No. 14 Syracuse
|
15β14
|
Miami (FL)
|
Aviation
|
Dayton, OH
|
December 9
|
New Mexico
|
28β12
|
Western Michigan
|
Gotham
|
New York, NY
|
December 9
|
Baylor
|
24β9
|
No. 10 Utah State
|
Mercy
|
Los Angeles, CA
|
November 23
|
Fresno State
|
36β6
|
Bowling Green
|
Mineral Water
|
Excelsior Springs, MO
|
November 25
|
Kirksville State
|
22β8
|
Parsons
|
All-Sports
|
Oklahoma City, OK
|
December 9
|
Panhandle A&M
|
28β14
|
Langston
|
West Virginia
|
|
|
West Virginia Wesleyan
|
12β0
|
Salem
|
Missile
|
Orlando, FL
|
December 9
|
Fort Eustis
|
25β24
|
Quantico Marines
|
Orange Blossom
|
Miami, FL
|
December 9
|
Florida A&M
|
14β8
|
Jackson State
|
- Prior to the 1975 season, the Big Ten and AAWU (later Pac-8) conferences allowed only one postseason participant each, for the Rose Bowl.
NAIA postseason
The 1961 NAIA season culminated in the sixth annual NAIA Football National Championship, played at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California. During its three years in Sacramento, the game was called the Camellia Bowl (separate from the present day bowl game with the same name in Montgomery, Alabama).
Pittsburg State defeated Linfield in the championship game, 12β7, to win their second NAIA national title and first since 1957.
Award season
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
Source:
All-Americans
For the year 1961, the NCAA recognizes six published All-American teams as "official" designations for purposes of its consensus determinations. The following chart identifies the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans and displays which first-team designations they received.
Name
|
Position
|
School
|
Number
|
Official
|
Other
|
Roy Winston |
Guard |
LSU |
6/6 |
AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI |
CP, Time, WC
|
Ernie Davis |
Halfback |
Syracuse |
6/6 |
AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI |
CP, Time, WC
|
Bob Ferguson |
Fullback |
Ohio State |
6/6 |
AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI |
CP, Time, WC
|
Billy Neighbors |
Tackle |
Alabama |
6/6 |
AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI |
CP, WC
|
Jimmy Saxton |
Halfback |
Texas |
6/6 |
AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI |
CP, WC
|
Gary Collins |
End |
Maryland |
5/6 |
AFCA, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI |
CP, Time, WC
|
Joe Romig |
Guard |
Colorado |
5/6 |
AFCA, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI |
WC
|
Alex Kroll |
Center |
Rutgers |
5/6 |
AFCA, AP, FWAA, NEA, UPI |
WC
|
Sandy Stephens |
Quarterback |
Minnesota |
5/6 |
AP, FWAA, NEA, SN, UPI |
WC
|
Bill Miller |
End |
Miami (Fla.) |
4/6 |
AP, FWAA, NEA, SN |
Time, WC
|
Merlin Olsen |
Tackle |
Utah State |
4/6 |
AP, FWAA, NEA, UPI |
Time, WC
|
Other awards
Statistical leaders
Individual
Total offense
The following players were the individual leaders in total offense during the 1961 season:
Major college
Small college
Rank
|
Player
|
Team
|
Games
|
Plays
|
Total Yds
|
1 |
Denny Spurlock |
Whitworth |
10 |
224 |
1760
|
2 |
Jan Lloyd |
Occidental |
9 |
264 |
1750
|
3 |
Tom Gryzwinski |
Defiance |
8 |
314 |
1749
|
4 |
Roy Curry |
Jackson State |
10 |
258 |
1511
|
5 |
Doug Olsen |
Southern Oregon |
9 |
259 |
1464
|
6 |
Halsey |
Carthage |
9 |
181 |
1379
|
7 |
Cavalli |
Wagner |
9 |
229 |
1354
|
8 |
Giles |
Louisville |
9 |
208 |
1346
|
9 |
Nunes |
Slippery Rock |
9 |
221 |
1345
|
10 |
Connors |
Salem (WV) |
9 |
163 |
1333
|
Passing
The following players were the individual leaders in pass completions during the 1961 season:
Major college
Rank
|
Player
|
Team
|
Games
|
Compl.
|
Att.
|
Pct. Compl.
|
Yds.
|
Int.
|
TDs
|
1 |
Chon Gallegos |
San Jose State |
10 |
117 |
197 |
.594 |
1480 |
13 |
14
|
2 |
Ron Miller |
Wisconsin |
9 |
104 |
198 |
.525 |
1487 |
11 |
11
|
3 |
Roman Gabriel |
NC State |
10 |
99 |
186 |
.532 |
987 |
6 |
8
|
4 |
Ron Klemick |
Navy |
10 |
86 |
183 |
.470 |
1045 |
13 |
6
|
5 |
Bill Canty |
Furman |
10 |
84 |
168 |
.500 |
884 |
12 |
8
|
6 |
John Furman |
Texas Western |
10 |
84 |
180 |
.467 |
1026 |
10 |
10
|
7 |
Matt Szykowny |
Iowa |
9 |
79 |
139 |
.568 |
1078 |
15 |
7
|
8 |
Eddie Wilson |
Arizona |
10 |
79 |
154 |
.513 |
1294 |
7 |
10
|
9 |
Pat McCarthy |
Holy Cross |
10 |
76 |
165 |
.461 |
1081 |
11 |
11
|
10 |
Pat Trammell |
Alabama |
10 |
75 |
133 |
.564 |
1035 |
2 |
8
|
Small college
Rank
|
Player
|
Team
|
Games
|
Compl.
|
Att.
|
Pct. Compl.
|
Yds.
|
Int.
|
TDs
|
1 |
Tom Gryzwinski |
Defiance |
8 |
127 |
258 |
.492 |
1684 |
17 |
14
|
2 |
Jan Lloyd |
Occidental |
9 |
122 |
234 |
.521 |
1748 |
8 |
11
|
3 |
Denny Spurlock |
Whitworth |
10 |
115 |
189 |
.608 |
1708 |
16 |
26
|
4 |
Bill Thorp |
Cornell (IA) |
9 |
108 |
199 |
.543 |
1231 |
10 |
15
|
5 |
Doug McClary |
Pacific Lutheran |
105 |
208 |
.505 |
966 |
19 |
4
|
6 |
Hermann |
Bradley |
10 |
104 |
201 |
.517 |
1372 |
12 |
15
|
7 |
Doug Olsen |
Southern Oregon |
9 |
103 |
195 |
.528 |
1379 |
16 |
10
|
8 |
Jim Kuplic |
Beloit |
8 |
95 |
178 |
.534 |
827 |
8 |
6
|
9 |
Norm McKinley |
Los Angeles Pacific |
9 |
93 |
156 |
.596 |
1220 |
4 |
11
|
10 |
Earl Little |
Gettysburg |
9 |
90 |
172 |
.523 |
797 |
10 |
4
|
Rushing
The following players were the individual leaders in rushing yards during the 1961 season:
Major college
Rank
|
Player
|
Team
|
Games
|
Yds
|
Rushes
|
Avg
|
1 |
Preacher Pilot |
New Mexico State |
10 |
191 |
1278 |
6.69
|
2 |
Pete Pedro |
West Texas State |
10 |
137 |
976 |
7.12
|
3 |
Bob Ferguson |
Ohio State |
9 |
202 |
938 |
4.64
|
4 |
Dave Hoppmann |
Iowa State |
10 |
229 |
920 |
4.02
|
5 |
Jimmy Saxton |
Texas |
10 |
107 |
846 |
7.91
|
6 |
Ernie Davis |
Syracuse |
10 |
150 |
823 |
5.49
|
7 |
Tommy Larscheid |
Utah State |
10 |
121 |
773 |
6.39
|
8 |
Tom Campbell |
Furman |
10 |
157 |
767 |
4.89
|
9 |
Bobby Lee Thompson |
Arizona |
10 |
103 |
752 |
7.30
|
10 |
Earl Stoudt |
Richmond |
10 |
162 |
704 |
4.35
|
Small college
Rank
|
Player
|
Team
|
Games
|
Yds
|
Rushes
|
Avg
|
1 |
Bob Lisa |
St. Mary's (KS) |
9 |
156 |
1082 |
6.94
|
2 |
Nelson Guthrie |
Winston-Salem |
9 |
194 |
1077 |
5.55
|
3 |
Joe Iacone |
West Chester |
9 |
170 |
1059 |
6.23
|
4 |
Steve Beguin |
Linfield |
9 |
163 |
1058 |
6.49
|
5 |
Bob Roma |
Wofford |
11 |
130 |
1054 |
8.11
|
6 |
Dan Boals |
Iowa State College |
9 |
162 |
1003
|
7 |
John Knight |
Valparaiso |
9 |
158 |
998
|
8 |
Grill |
Lewis & Clark |
9 |
162 |
960
|
9 |
Thorne |
South Dakota State |
10 |
174 |
958
|
10 |
Hauser |
Westminster (UT) |
9 |
139 |
943
|
Receiving
The following players were the individual leaders in receptions during the 1961 season:
Major college
Rank
|
Player
|
Team
|
Games
|
Receptions
|
Receiving Yards
|
Touchdowns
|
1 |
Hugh Campbell |
Washington State |
10 |
53 |
723 |
5
|
2 |
Pat Richter |
Wisconsin |
9 |
47 |
817 |
8
|
3 |
Bill Miller |
Miami (FL) |
10 |
43 |
640 |
2
|
4 |
Al Snyder |
Holy Cross |
10 |
38 |
558 |
5
|
5 |
Oscar Donahue |
San Jose State |
10 |
35 |
527 |
5
|
6 |
Larry Vargo |
Detroit |
9 |
32 |
601 |
8
|
7 |
Tom Hutchinson |
Kentucky |
10 |
32 |
543 |
4
|
8 |
Buddy Iles |
TCU |
10 |
479 |
2
|
9 |
Gary Collins |
Maryland |
10 |
30 |
428 |
4
|
10 |
Royce Cassell |
New Mexico State |
10 |
29 |
519 |
7
|
10 |
Joe Borich |
Utah |
10 |
29 |
486 |
5
|
Small college
Rank
|
Player
|
Team
|
Games
|
Receptions
|
Receiving Yards
|
Touchdowns
|
1 |
Martin Baumhower |
Defiance |
8 |
57 |
708 |
4
|
2 |
Howard Hartman |
Southern Oregon |
9 |
51 |
611 |
6
|
3 |
Ken Fisher |
Cornell (IA) |
8 |
46 |
402 |
6
|
4 |
John Murio |
Whitworth |
10 |
45 |
811 |
13
|
5 |
Jerry Griffin |
Louisiana Tech |
9 |
45 |
435 |
3
|
6 |
Dean Mack |
Beloit |
8 |
44 |
311 |
2
|
7 |
Dave Bottemiller |
Pacific Lutheran |
9 |
43 |
381 |
2
|
8 |
Karl Finch |
Cal Poly Pomona |
9 |
41 |
767 |
8
|
9 |
Davis |
Bethune-Cookman |
8 |
40 |
670 |
9
|
9 |
Houtz |
Pepperdine |
10 |
40 |
590 |
4
|
9 |
Ed Burton |
Chico State |
10 |
40 |
566 |
5
|
Scoring
The following players were the individual leaders in scoring during the 1961 season:
Major college
Rank
|
Player
|
Team
|
Pts
|
TD
|
PAT
|
FG
|
1 |
Preacher Pilot |
New Mexico State |
138 |
21 |
12 |
0
|
2 |
Pete Pedro |
West Texas State |
132 |
22 |
0 |
0
|
3 |
Tom Larscheid |
Utah State |
96 |
15 |
6 |
0
|
4 |
Ernie Davis |
Syracuse |
94 |
15 |
4 |
0
|
4 |
Wendell Harris |
LSU |
94 |
8 |
28 |
6
|
6 |
Bobby Smith |
UCLA |
85 |
10 |
16 |
3
|
7 |
Bobby Thompson |
Arizona |
82 |
13 |
4 |
0
|
8 |
Nolan Jones |
Arizona State |
77 |
8 |
20 |
3
|
9 |
Butch Blume |
Rice |
74 |
6 |
20 |
6
|
10 |
Sam Mudie |
Rutgers |
70 |
10 |
10 |
0
|
11 |
Bob Ferguson |
Ohio State |
68 |
11 |
2 |
0
|
12 |
Earl Stoudt |
Richmond |
67 |
9 |
10 |
1
|
13 |
Carter |
Memphis State |
65 |
4 |
38 |
1
|
14 |
Tom Haggerty |
Columbia |
62 |
10 |
2 |
0
|
15 |
Greg Mather |
Navy |
61 |
1 |
22 |
11
|
16 |
Billy Ray Adams |
Ole Miss |
60 |
10 |
0 |
0
|
17 |
Paul Allen |
BYU |
58 |
9 |
4 |
0
|
17 |
Jim Turner |
Utah State |
58 |
3 |
34 |
2
|
Small college
Rank
|
Player
|
Team
|
Pts
|
TD
|
PAT
|
FG
|
1 |
John Murlo |
Whitworth |
129 |
15 |
33 |
2
|
2 |
Jerry Domescik |
Millikin |
120 |
20 |
0 |
0
|
3 |
John Nachtsheim |
Minnesota Duluth |
112 |
17 |
10 |
0
|
4 |
Steve Beguin |
Linfield |
108 |
18 |
0 |
0
|
5 |
Bobby Lisa |
St. Mary's (KS) |
98 |
15 |
8 |
|
6 |
Frank Melos |
Wagner |
96 |
14 |
12 |
0
|
7 |
Fred Fugazzi |
Missouri Valley |
92 |
15 |
2 |
0
|
7 |
Bill Winter |
St. Olaf |
92 |
14 |
8 |
0
|
9 |
Jim Pribula |
West Chester |
91 |
8 |
28 |
5
|
10 |
Toby Barkman |
East Stroudsburg |
90 |
15 |
0 |
0
|
10 |
Dave Arends |
Cornell (IA) |
90 |
15 |
0 |
0
|
Team
Total offense
The following teams were the leaders in total offense during the 1961 season:
Major college
Small college
Rank
|
Team
|
Games played
|
Total plays
|
Yards gained
|
Yards per game
|
1 |
Florida A&M |
9 |
531 |
3722 |
413.6
|
2 |
Whitworth |
10 |
659 |
4078 |
407.8
|
3 |
South Dakota State |
10 |
676 |
4061 |
406.1
|
4 |
Wittenberg |
9 |
669 |
3608 |
400.9
|
5 |
Linfield |
9 |
607 |
3549 |
394.3
|
6 |
Cal Poly Pomona |
9 |
562 |
3528 |
392.0
|
7 |
St. Mary's (KS) |
9 |
572 |
3504 |
389.3
|
8 |
Lewis & Clark |
9 |
640 |
3484 |
387.1
|
9 |
Carthage |
9 |
501 |
3482 |
386.9
|
10 |
West Chester |
9 |
572 |
3409 |
378.8
|
Scoring offense
The following teams were the leaders in scoring offense during the 1961 season:
Major college
Rushing offense
The following teams were the leaders in rushing offense during the 1961 season:
Major college
Small college
Rank
|
Team
|
Yards per game
|
1 |
Huron |
313.1
|
2 |
Lewis & Clark |
287.9
|
3 |
St. Mary's (KS) |
282.4
|
4 |
Central State (OH) |
280.7
|
5 |
Carthage |
278.4
|
Passing offense
The following teams were the leaders in passing offense during the 1961 season:
Major college
Small college
Rank
|
Team
|
Yards per game
|
1 |
Cal Poly Pomona |
244.1
|
2 |
Defiance |
227.9
|
3 |
Occidental |
202.9
|
4 |
Bethune-Cookman |
185.0
|
5 |
Whitworth |
174.2
|
Total defense
The following teams were the leaders in total defense during the 1961 season:
Major college
Small college
Rank
|
Team
|
Games played
|
Total plays
|
Yards gained
|
Yards per game
|
1 |
Florida A&M |
9 |
429 |
768 |
85.3
|
2 |
East Stroudsburg |
8 |
405 |
863 |
107.9
|
3 |
John Carroll |
7 |
342 |
766 |
109.4
|
4 |
Washington & Lee |
8 |
428 |
927 |
115.9
|
5 |
Wittenberg |
9 |
479 |
1065 |
118.3
|
6 |
Edward Waters |
9 |
438 |
1117 |
124.1
|
7 |
Delta State |
10 |
514 |
1282 |
128.2
|
8 |
J.C. Smith |
9 |
536 |
1157 |
128.6
|
9 |
Washington & Lee |
9 |
482 |
1163 |
129.2
|
10 |
Winona State |
8 |
405 |
1086 |
135.8
|
Scoring defense
The following teams were the leaders in scoring defense during the 1961 season:
Major college
Rushing defense
The following teams were the leaders in rushing defense during the 196q season:
Major college
Small college
Passing defense
The following teams were the leaders in passing defense during the 1961 season:
Major college
Small college
Rank
|
Team
|
Yards per game
|
1 |
Westminster |
24.8
|
2 |
Principia |
31.8
|
3 |
Ursinus |
37.6
|
4 |
Western Maryland |
40.3
|
5 |
Middlebury |
43.3
|
References
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Faculty Nips Ohio State Roses In Bud," The Fresno Bee-Republican November 29, 1961, pD-1
- "1961 Atlantic Coast Conference Year Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
- "The Parade". Pittsburgh Courier (p. 43). December 2, 1961.
- "Bryant's Tide Realizes Goal; Wildcats 18th". Tucson Daily Citizen. December 5, 1961. p. 29 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Ohio State Second In Final UPI Grid Poll". Troy Daily News. December 5, 1961. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Kansas Team Ranked First," Holland Evening Sentinel, November 24, 1961, p13
- "Pittsburg Best in AP Poll, Too" The Lima News, Nov. 22, 1961, p15
- "Welcome cfbdatawarehouse.com - BlueHost.com". Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
- UPI (November 22, 1961). "Butler 9th Best Small College". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved February 27, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
- AP (November 19, 1961). "Go, You Baldwin". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved February 27, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
- AP (November 22, 1961). "Pittsburg 1st in Final AP Small College Poll". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Corpus Christi, Texas. Retrieved February 27, 2017 – via newspapers.com.
- "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4β11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
- "1961 NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
- "Ernie Davis wins Heisman football poll". Chicago Tribune. UPI. November 29, 1961. p. 2, sec. 4.
- "Ernie Davis". Heisman Trophy. 1961. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
- "Ferguson Gets Maxwell Award". The Pittsburgh Press. December 12, 1961. p. 40 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Aggies' Olsen Wins Outland Award". The Salt Lake Tribune. December 5, 1961. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
- Points-for-which-responsible is player's total of points scored and points passed for
- ^ Offficial Collegiate Football Record Book. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 1962. p. 88.
- ^ Offficial Collegiate Football Record Book. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 1962. p. 89.
1961β62 NCAA University Division championships |
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University Division only | |
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Single Championship | |
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