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1968 Purdue

8–⁠2 (5–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Jack Mollenkopf, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Purdue in 1968, game by game: won vs. Virginia 44–6; won at No. 2 Notre Dame 37–22; won at Northwestern 43–6; lost at No. 4 Ohio State 0–13; won vs. Wake Forest 28–27; won vs. Iowa 44–14; won vs. Illinois 35–17; lost at Minnesota 13–27; won at Michigan State 9–0; won vs. Indiana 38–35+38−14Won 44–6 vs. Virginia+38VirginiaWon 37–22 at No. 2 Notre Dame+15No. 2 Notre DameWon 43–6 at Northwestern+37NorthwesternLost 0–13 at No. 4 Ohio State-13No. 4 Ohio StateWon 28–27 vs. Wake Forest+1Wake ForestWon 44–14 vs. Iowa+30IowaWon 35–17 vs. Illinois+18IllinoisLost 13–27 at Minnesota-14MinnesotaWon 9–0 at Michigan State+9Michigan StateWon 38–35 vs. Indiana+3Indiana
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 21vsVirginiaW 44–⁠676%
Sep 28at2Notre DameW 37–⁠2235%
Oct 5atNorthwesternW 43–⁠677%
Oct 12at4Ohio StateL 0–⁠1359%
Oct 19vsWake ForestW 28–⁠2782%
Oct 26vsIowaW 44–⁠1488%
Nov 2vsIllinoisW 35–⁠1789%
Nov 9atMinnesotaL 13–⁠2765%
Nov 16atMichigan StateW 9–⁠056%
Nov 23vsIndianaW 38–⁠3576%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Indiana 38–⁠35; No. 10 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 10th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 1
  2. Wk 2: 1
  3. Wk 3: 1
  4. Wk 4: 1
  5. Wk 5: 1
  6. Wk 6: 5
  7. Wk 7: 7
  8. Wk 8: 6
  9. Wk 9: 6
  10. Wk 10: 15
  11. Wk 11: 12
  12. Wk 12: 12
  13. Wk 13: 11
  14. Final: 10

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.

Heisman voteLeroy Keyes, second

2 consensus All-AmericansLeroy Keyes, RB; Chuck Kyle, MG

Record
8–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Big Ten
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 1
Points
291–⁠167
Coach
Jack Mollenkopf
Elo
1663 +41 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
20.2 No. 11 of 119 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Chuck Kyle and Perry Williams
Most valuable player
Leroy Keyes

Drafted in 1969

The 1969 draft
Rd 1Leroy Keyes RBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 4Perry Williams RBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 5Chuck Kyle LBDallas Cowboys

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Clanton KingOTAP-2; UPI-2
  • Bill McCoyDEUPI-2
  • Bob YunaskaLBAP-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 Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠010–⁠01
Michigan6–⁠18–⁠212
Purdue5–⁠28–⁠210
Minnesota5–⁠26–⁠4
Indiana4–⁠36–⁠4
Iowa4–⁠35–⁠5
Michigan State2–⁠55–⁠5
Northwestern1–⁠61–⁠9
Illinois1–⁠61–⁠9
Wisconsin0–⁠70–⁠10

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