CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1968 Kansas

9–⁠2 (6–⁠1 Big Eight), coached by Pepper Rodgers, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Kansas in 1968, game by game: won at Illinois 47–7; won vs. No. 13 Indiana 38–20; won vs. New Mexico 68–7; won at No. 9 Nebraska 23–13; won vs. Oklahoma State 49–14; won at Iowa State 46–25; won vs. Colorado 27–14; lost vs. Oklahoma 23–27; won at Kansas State 38–29; won at No. 13 Missouri 21–19; lost vs. No. 3 Penn State 14–15+61−4Won 47–7 at Illinois+40IllinoisWon 38–20 vs. No. 13 Indiana+18No. 13 IndianaWon 68–7 vs. New Mexico+61New MexicoWon 23–13 at No. 9 Nebraska+10No. 9 NebraskaWon 49–14 vs. Oklahoma State+35Oklahoma StateWon 46–25 at Iowa State+21Iowa StateWon 27–14 vs. Colorado+13ColoradoLost 23–27 vs. Oklahoma-4OklahomaWon 38–29 at Kansas State+9Kansas StateWon 21–19 at No. 13 Missouri+2No. 13 MissouriLost 14–15 vs. No. 3 Penn State-1No. 3 Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 21atIllinoisW 47–⁠745%
Sep 28vs13IndianaW 38–⁠2057%
Oct 5vsNew MexicoW 68–⁠787%
Oct 12at9NebraskaW 23–⁠1336%
Oct 19vsOklahoma StateW 49–⁠1475%
Oct 26atIowa StateW 46–⁠2568%
Nov 2vsColoradoW 27–⁠1459%
Nov 9vsOklahomaL 23–⁠2764%
Nov 16atKansas StateW 38–⁠2972%
Nov 23at13MissouriW 21–⁠1944%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs3Penn StateOrange BowlL 14–⁠1536%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Penn State 15–⁠14 in the Orange Bowl; No. 7 in the final AP poll; Big Eight champions.

In program history: The 4th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 131 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 12
  2. Wk 4: 8
  3. Wk 5: 6
  4. Wk 6: 4
  5. Wk 7: 3
  6. Wk 8: 3
  7. Wk 9: 3
  8. Wk 10: 7
  9. Wk 11: 7
  10. Wk 12: 5
  11. Wk 13: 6
  12. Final: 7

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1968.

Big Eight champions6–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Oklahoma

Consensus All-AmericanJohn Zook, DE

Record
9–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠1 shared first in Big Eight
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 3
Points
394–⁠190
Coach
Pepper Rodgers
Elo
1652 +161 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
22.7 No. 6 of 119 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
John Zook

Drafted in 1969

The 1969 draft
Rd 2Bobby Douglass QBChicago Bears
Rd 3Vernon Vanoy DENew York Giants
Rd 4John Zook DELos Angeles Rams
Rd 5Keith Christensen OTNew Orleans Saints

All-Big Eight

6 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Ken WertzbergerOGAP-2
  • Dale EvansCAP-2
  • Donnie ShanklinBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1968 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1968 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Kansas6–⁠19–⁠27
Oklahoma6–⁠17–⁠411
Missouri5–⁠28–⁠39
Nebraska3–⁠46–⁠4
Colorado3–⁠44–⁠6
Kansas State2–⁠54–⁠6
Oklahoma State2–⁠53–⁠7
Iowa State1–⁠63–⁠7

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.