1961 Kansas Jayhawks football team

1961 Kansas Jayhawks football
Bluebonnet Bowl champion
Bluebonnet Bowl, W 33–7 vs. Rice
ConferenceBig Eight Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 15
Record7–3–1 (5–2 Big 8)
Head coach
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1960
1962 →
1961 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Colorado $ 7 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
No. 11 Missouri 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 1
Kansas 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 1
Oklahoma 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Iowa State 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Oklahoma State 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Nebraska 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 1
Kansas State 0 – 7 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1961 Kansas Jayhawks football team was an American football team represented the University of Kansas as a member of the Big Eight Conference (Big 8) during the 1961 college football season. In their fourth year under head coach Jack Mitchell, the Jayhawks compiled a 6–3–1 record (5–2 in conference games), finished in second place in the Big 8, and outscored opponents by a total of 269 to 88. They were ranked No. 15 in the final AP writers poll and UPI coaches poll.

After starting the season 0–2–1, the Jayhawks won six consecutive games. Highlights of the season included a 10–0 victory over Oklahoma (the Jayhawks' first victory over the Sooners since 1946), a 34–0 victory over in-state rival Kansas State, a 53–7 road victory over California, and a 33–7 postseason victory over Rice in the 1961 Bluebonnet Bowl.

Senior quarterback John Hadl led the team with 958 yards of total offense in the regular season and was selected by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) as a first-team All-American. He also received 33 first-place votes for the Heisman Trophy and was seventh in the balloting.

Kansas played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 23at TCU*No. 8
L 16–1727,000[1]
September 30Wyoming*
T 6–633,000[2]
October 7at Colorado
L 19–2042,700[3]
October 14Iowa State
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Lawrence, KS
W 21–732,176–33,500[4]
October 21at Oklahoma
W 10–054,794–57,000[5]
October 28Oklahoma State
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Lawrence, KS
W 42–825,000[6]
November 4at Nebraska
W 28–632,450–33,000[7]
November 11Kansas Statedagger
  • Memorial Stadium
  • Lawrence, KS (rivalry)
W 34–034,000[8]
November 18at California*
W 53–730,000[9]
November 25MissouriNo. 10
L 7–1040,500[10][11]
December 17vs. Rice*
CBSW 33–752,000[12][13]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Statistics

The team gained an average of 254.0 rushing yards and 75.1 passing yards per game during the regular season. On defense, Kansas gave up an average of 126.6 rushing yards and 112.4 passing yards per game.[14]

Quarterback John Hadl led the team with 958 yards of total offense. He completed 44 of 93 passes (47.3%) for 665 yards with seven touchdowns, six interceptions, and a 119.3 quarterback rating. He also had 293 rushing yards.[14]

Halfback Curtis McClinton was the team's leading scorer (60 points), leading receiver (nine receptions for 151 yards), and ranked second in rushing (516 yards, 122 carries, 4.2-yards average).[14]

Ken Coleman led the team in rushing yards (549 yards, 110 carries, 5.0-yard average), and Tony Leiker led the team in rushing yards per carry (27 carries for 248 yards, 9.2 yards per carry).[14]

Awards and honors

Quarterback John Hadl was selected a first-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).[15] He was named to the second team by the United Press International (UPI) and the third team by the Associated Press (AP). He also received 33 first-place votes and finished seventh in Heisman Trophy voting.[16]

Four Kansas players were recognized by the AP or UPI on the 1961 All-Big Eight Conference football team: Hadl (AP-1, UPI-1); halfback Curtis McClinton (AP-1, UPI-1); guard Elvin Basham (AP-2, UPI-2); and center Kent Staub (AP-1, UPI-2).[17][18]

1962 NFL draft

Player Round Pick Position Club
John Hadl 1 10 Quarterback Detroit Lions
Bert Coan 7 85 Running back Washington Redskins
Roger McFarland 20 274 Back San Francisco 49ers

[19]

References

  1. ^ Flem Hall (September 24, 1961). "17-16! Frogs Rally To Jolt Kansas: Spearman 3-Pointr Beats KU". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. pp. 1, 4 (section 4) – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Almost Too Much For K.U." The Manhattan Mercury. October 1, 1961. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Frank Pittman (October 8, 1961). "Colorado Stages Tremendous Rally To Turn Back Jayhawkers 20-19". The Daily Sentinel. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Bert McGrane (October 15, 1961). "Iowa State Falls, 21-7: 7-7 Until Kansas Strikes in Last Quarter". The Des Moines Register. pp. 1, 5 (sports) – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Nick Seitz (October 22, 1961). "Jayhawks Upend Sooners, 10-0, To End Big Drought: Kansans' Win Over Oklahoma 1st in 15 Years". The Norman Transcript. pp. 1, 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Jayhawks Rip Oklahoma State In Stron Offensive Showing: Superb Show By Hadl". The Manhattan Mercury. October 29, 1961. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Don Bryant (November 5, 1961). "Hadl Handles NU, 28-6". Lincoln Journal and Star. pp. 1D, 2D – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ John Eidson (November 12, 1961). "Kansas' Hadl Sparks Win". The Manhattan Mercury. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Curley Grieve (November 19, 1961). "Cal, Stanford Routed: Hapless Bears Hit By 53-7". The San Francisco Examiner. pp. 1, 3 (sports) – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ William E. Richardson (November 26, 1961). "Missouri Line Puts Clamps on K.U." The Kansas City Star. pp. 1B, 2B – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Morey, Earl (November 27, 1961). "MU defense great in big win over KU". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). p. 8.
  12. ^ Jim Trinkle (December 17, 1961). "Jayhawks Submerge Rice, 33-7". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 1 (section 4) – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Mayer, Bill (December 18, 1961). "Dedicated, jubilant Hawks throw off bad effects and end season on strong note". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). p. 16.
  14. ^ a b c d "1961 Kansas Jayhawks Stats". SR College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  15. ^ Ted Gangi (ed.). "FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  16. ^ "1961 Heisman Trophy Voting". SR College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  17. ^ "Bowl Bound Colorado Buffaloes Land 3 On All-Big Eight Team". The Bee: Danville, Virginia. November 28, 1961. p. 3D.
  18. ^ "Colorado Dominates All-Big Eight Team". Warren County Observer. December 6, 1961. p. 23.
  19. ^ "Reference at www.pro-football-reference.com".