1957 Big Ten Conference football season

1957 Big Ten Conference football season
SportAmerican football
Number of teams10
Top draft pickDan Currie
ChampionOhio State
  Runners-upMichigan State
Season MVPJim Pace
Football seasons
← 1956
1958 →
1957 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Ohio State $ 7 – 0 – 0 9 – 1 – 0
No. 3 Michigan State 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 1 – 0
No. 6 Iowa 4 – 1 – 1 7 – 1 – 1
No. 19 Wisconsin 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Purdue 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Michigan 3 – 3 – 1 5 – 3 – 1
Illinois 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Minnesota 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Indiana 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
Northwestern 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1957 Big Ten Conference football season was the 62nd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference (also known as the Western Conference) and was a part of the 1957 college football season.

The 1957 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, under head coach Woody Hayes, won the conference championship with a 7-0 conference record (9–1 record overall), was ranked No. 1 in the final Coaches' Poll, and defeated Oregon in the 1958 Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes were ranked No.2 in the final AP Poll, but were also declared national champion by the FWAA poll. Ohio State back Don Clark led the conference with 737 rushing yards. Guard Aurealius Thomas was a first-team All-American.

The 1957 Michigan State Spartans football team, under head coach Duffy Daugherty, compiled an 8–1 record and was ranked No. 3 in the final AP and UPI polls. Michigan State back Walt Kowalczyk and center Dan Currie were selected as consensus first-team All-Americans. Kowalczyk led the conference with 54 points scored, and Currie was selected as the team's most valuable player.

The 1957 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, under head coach Forest Evashevski, finished third in the Big Ten with a 7–1–1 record and was ranked No. 8 in the final AP Poll. Iowa tackle Alex Karras was a consensus first-team All-American and won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in college football. Quarterback Randy Duncan led the Big Ten with 1,124 passing yards and 1,183 total yards.

Michigan halfback Jim Pace won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the conference's most valuable player.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. Rank Team Head coach AP final AP high Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG MVP
1 Ohio State Woody Hayes #2 #2 9–1 7–0 26.7 9.2 Bill Jobko
2 Michigan State Duffy Daugherty #3 #1 8–1 5–1 29.3 8.3 Dan Currie
3 Iowa Forest Evashevski #6 #3 7–1–1 4–1–1 29.2 12.4 Bob Commings
4 (tie) Wisconsin Milt Bruhn #19 #13 6–3 4–3 26.0 13.6 Dan Lewis
4 (tie) Purdue Jack Mollenkopf NR NR 5–4 4–3 19.8 12.7 Neil Habig
6 Michigan Bennie Oosterbaan NR #6 5–3–1 3–3–1 20.8 16.3 Jim Pace
7 Illinois Ray Eliot NR #15 4–5 3–4 18.6 14.8 Ron Hansen
8 Minnesota Murray Warmath NR #3 4–5 3–5 22.3 20.9 Dick Larson
9 Indiana Bob Hicks NR NR 1–8 0–6 5.2 34.1 Tony Aloisio
10 Northwestern Ara Parseghian NR NR 0–9 0–7 6.3 30.1 Willmer Fowler

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1957 season[1]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1957 season[1]
PPG = Average of points scored per game[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game[1]
MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy; trophy winner in bold[2]

Preseason

Regular season

Bowl games

Main article: 1958 Rose Bowl

Statistical leaders

The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders include the following:[1]

Passing yards

1. Randy Duncan, Iowa (1,124)
2. Jim Ninowski, Michigan State (718)
3. Tom Haller, Illinois (675)
4. Jim Van Pelt, Michigan (629)
5. Tom McDonald, Indiana (544)

Rushing yards

1. Don Clark, Ohio State (737)
2. Jim Pace, Michigan (664)
3. Bob White, Ohio State (645)
4. Danny Lewis, Wisconsin (611)
5. Walt Kowalczyk, Michigan State (545)

Receiving yards

1. Jim Gibbons, Iowa (587)
2. Dave Whitsell, Indiana (290)
3. Dave Kaiser, Michigan State (267)
4. Sam Williams, Michigan State (236)
5. Gary Prahst, Michigan (233)

Total yards

1. Randy Duncan, Iowa (1,183)
2. Don Clark, Ohio State (788)
3. Tom Haller, Illinois (724)
4. Sidney Williams, Wisconsin (661)
5. Jim Pace, Michigan (656)

Point scored

1. Walt Kowalczyk, Michigan State (54)
1. Jim Pace, Michigan (54)
1. Don Clark, Ohio State (54)
4. Frank Kremblas, Ohio State (48)
4. Dick LeBeau, Ohio State (48)

Awards and honors

All-Big Ten honors

For the complete All-Big Ten selections, see 1957 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press (UP) as first-team players on the 1957 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

Position Name Team Selectors
Quarterback Jim Ninowski Michigan State AP, UP
Halfback Jim Pace Michigan AP, UP
Halfback Don Clark Ohio State AP, UP
Fullback Walt Kowalczyk Michigan State AP, UP
End Jim Gibbons Iowa AP, UP
End Leo Brown Ohio State AP
End Sam Williams Michigan State UP
Tackle Alex Karras Iowa AP, UP
Tackle Pat Burke Michigan State AP, UP
Guard Aurealius Thomas Ohio State AP, UP
Guard Frank Bloomquist Iowa AP
Guard Ellison Kelly Michigan State UP
Center Dan Currie Michigan State AP, UP

All-American honors

For the complete All-America selections, see 1957 College Football All-America Team.

At the end of the 1957 season, Big Ten players secured three of the consensus first-team picks for the 1957 College Football All-America Team.[3] The Big Ten's consensus All-American was:

Position Name Team Selectors
Tackle Alex Karras Iowa AAB, AP, FWAA, INS, NEA, SN, UP, Time, WCFF
Back Walt Kowalczyk Michigan State AFCA, FWAA, NEA, SN, UP, Time, WCFF
Center Dan Currie Michigan State AAB, AFCA, AP, FWAA, INS, Time, WCFF

Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:

Position Name Team Selectors
End Jim Gibbons Iowa FWAA, TSN, UP
Guard Aurealius Thomas Ohio State AAB, AFCA, AP, FWAA
Back Jim Pace Michigan AAB, AP

Other awards

Iowa tackle Alex Karras won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in college football.

The Heisman Trophy was awarded to John David Crow of Texas A&M. Three Big Ten players finished among the top 10 in the voting for the trophy. They were: defensive lineman Alex Karras of Iowa (second); running back Walt Kowalczyk of Michigan State; and offensive lineman Dan Currie of Michigan State.[4]

1958 NFL Draft

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1958 NFL draft:[5]

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
Center Dan Currie Michigan State 1 3
Fullback Walt Kowalczyk Michigan State 1 6
Halfback Jim Pace Michigan 1 8
Defensive tackle Alex Karras Iowa 1 10
Tackle Frank Youso Minnesota 2 23
Linebacker Ray Nitschke Illinois 3 36
Defensive back Erich Barnes Purdue 4 42
Tackle Frank Rigney Iowa 4 43
Quarterback Jim Ninowski Michigan State 4 49
End Bob Jewett Michigan State 5 53
Quarterback Jim Van Pelt Michigan 5 54
End Jim Gibbons Iowa 5 61
Back Jim Wulff Michigan State 6 72
Back Danny Lewis Wisconsin 6 73
End Jon Jelacic Minnesota 7 74
Guard Bill Jobko Ohio State 7 80
Halfback Bobby Mitchell Illinois 7 84
Back Don Sutherin Ohio State 8 94

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "1957 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  2. ^ "Vote Pace Most Valuable In Big Ten: Michigan's Halfback Beats Currie By 1 Point". Chicago Tribune. December 15, 1957. p. 2-1.
  3. ^ "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. pp. 5–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  4. ^ "1957 Heisman Trophy Voting". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  5. ^ "1958 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved January 4, 2017.