CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1968 Texas

9–⁠1–⁠1 (6–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Darrell Royal, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Texas in 1968, game by game: tied vs. No. 11 Houston 20–20; lost at Texas Tech 22–31; won vs. Oklahoma State 31–3; won vs. Oklahoma 26–20; won vs. No. 9 Arkansas 39–29; won at Rice 38–14; won vs. No. 13 SMU 38–7; won at Baylor 47–26; won at TCU 47–21; won vs. Texas A&M 35–14; won vs. No. 8 Tennessee 36–13+31−9Tied 20–20 vs. No. 11 Houston0No. 11 HoustonLost 22–31 at Texas Tech-9Texas TechWon 31–3 vs. Oklahoma State+28Oklahoma StateWon 26–20 vs. Oklahoma+6OklahomaWon 39–29 vs. No. 9 Arkansas+10No. 9 ArkansasWon 38–14 at Rice+24RiceWon 38–7 vs. No. 13 SMU+31No. 13 SMUWon 47–26 at Baylor+21BaylorWon 47–21 at TCU+26TCUWon 35–14 vs. Texas A&M+21Texas A&MWon 36–13 vs. No. 8 Tennessee+23No. 8 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 21vs11HoustonT 20–⁠2052%
Sep 28atTexas TechL 22–⁠3151%
Oct 5vsOklahoma StateW 31–⁠370%
Oct 12vsOklahomaW 26–⁠2040%
Oct 19vs9ArkansasW 39–⁠2954%
Oct 26atRiceW 38–⁠1472%
Nov 2vs13SMUW 38–⁠763%
Nov 9atBaylorW 47–⁠2679%
Nov 16atTCUW 47–⁠2175%
Nov 28vsTexas A&MW 35–⁠1476%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs8TennesseeCotton BowlW 36–⁠1346%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Tennessee 36–⁠13 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 25th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 126 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 5
  2. Wk 2: 4
  3. Wk 3: 6
  4. Wk 6: 17
  5. Wk 7: 13
  6. Wk 8: 11
  7. Wk 9: 10
  8. Wk 10: 8
  9. Wk 11: 6
  10. Wk 12: 6
  11. Wk 13: 5
  12. Final: 3

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.

Southwest Conference champions6–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Arkansas

Consensus All-AmericanChris Gilbert, RB

Record
9–⁠1–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠1 shared first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 3
Points
379–⁠198
Coach
Darrell Royal
Elo
1727 +157 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
28.1 No. 1 of 119 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Emory Bellard
Defensive coordinator
Mike Campbell
Offense
I-formation (first two games) Wishbone (last nine games)
Defense
4–⁠4

Drafted in 1969

The 1969 draft
Rd 3Bill Bradley DBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 5Chris Gilbert RBNew York Jets

All-Southwest Conference

5 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Danny AbbottOGAP-2
  • Corby RobertsonDEAP-2
  • Glen HalsellLBAP-2
  • Ronnie EhrigDBAP-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 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arkansas6–⁠110–⁠16
Texas6–⁠19–⁠1–⁠13
SMU5–⁠28–⁠314
Texas Tech4–⁠35–⁠3–⁠2
Baylor3–⁠43–⁠7
Texas A&M2–⁠53–⁠7
TCU2–⁠53–⁠7
Rice0–⁠70–⁠9–⁠1

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