1970 Big Ten Conference football season
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| 1970 Big Ten Conference football season | |
|---|---|
| Sport | American football |
| Teams | 10 |
| Top draft pick | John Brockington |
| Champion | Ohio State |
| Runners-up | Michigan, Northwestern |
| Season MVP | Mike Adamle |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Ohio State $ | 7 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 Michigan | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 3 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 2 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1970 Big Ten Conference football season was the 75th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1970 NCAA University Division football season.
The 1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, under head coach Woody Hayes, won the Big Ten football championship, was ranked No. 5 in the final AP Poll, and led the conference in scoring offense (29.0 points per game). The Buckeyes were undefeated in the regular season but lost to Stanford in the 1971 Rose Bowl. Defensive back Jack Tatum and middle guard Jim Stillwagon were consensus first-team All-Americans. Stillwagon also won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman in college football. Running back John Brockington led the conference with 102 points scored, received first-team All-American honors from multiple selectors, and was the first Big Ten player selected in the 1971 NFL draft with the ninth overall pick. Quarterback Rex Kern finished fifth in the voting for the 1970 Heisman Trophy.
The 1970 Michigan Wolverines football team, under head coach Bo Schembechler, was ranked No. 9 in the final AP Poll and led the conference in scoring defense (9.0 points per game). Michigan's only loss was to Ohio State. Offensive tackle Dan Dierdorf was a consensus first-team All-American. Quarterback Don Moorhead and middle guard Henry Hill were selected as the team's most valuable players.
Michigan knew its season would be ten games, regardless of record, long before the season opener. The Wolverines represented the conference in the previous year's Rose Bowl, and Big Ten rules at the time (a) prohibited a team from making consecutive appearances in the Rose Bowl, and (b) prohibited teams from accepting a berth to a bowl game other than the one in Pasadena. The no-repeat rule was repealed for the 1972 season, but the ban on other bowls was not lifted until 1975; the latter rule kept the Wolverines out of the postseason in 1972, '73 and '74 despite compiling a 30-2-1 record over those seasons.
The 1970 Northwestern Wildcats football team, under head coach Alex Agase, tied with Michigan for second place in the Big Ten and was ranked Running back Mike Adamle of Northwestern led the conference with 1,255 rushing yards and received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the conference's most valuable player.[1]
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 | #5 | #1 | 9–1 | 7–0 | 29.0 | 12.0 | Jim Stillwagon |
| 2 (tie) | Michigan | Bo Schembechler | #9 | #4 | 9–1 | 6–1 | 28.8 | 9.0 | Don Moorhead Henry Hill |
| 2 (tie) | Northwestern | Alex Agase | NR | #18 | 6-4 | 6-1 | 23.3 | 16.1 | Mike Adamle |
| 4 | Iowa | Ray Nagel | NR | NR | 3–6–1 | 3–3–1 | 12.9 | 25.9 | Dave Clement |
| 5 (tie) | Wisconsin | John Jardine | NR | NR | 4–5–1 | 3–4 | 19.8 | 19.5 | Chuck Winfrey |
| 5 (tie) | Michigan State | Duffy Daugherty | NR | NR | 4–6 | 3–4 | 19.0 | 21.5 | Eric Allen |
| 7 | Minnesota | Murray Warmath | NR | NR | 3–6–1 | 2–4–1 | 18.0 | 23.7 | Jeff Wright |
| 8 | Purdue | Bob DeMoss | NR | NR | 4–6 | 2–5 | 16.1 | 18.9 | Stan Brown |
| 9 (tie) | Illinois | Jim Valek | NR | NR | 3–7 | 1–6 | 16.5 | 27.9 | Doug Dieken |
| 9 (tie) | Indiana | John Pont | NR | NR | 1–9 | 1–6 | 10.2 | 30.0 | Chris Morris |
Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1970 season[2]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1970 season[2]
PPG = Average of points scored per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold[2]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold[2]
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[3]
Preseason
Regular season
Bowl games
| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1, 1971 | No. 12 Stanford | No. 2 Ohio State | Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) | L 17–27 | 103,839 | |||
| #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Standard Time. | ||||||||
Post-season developments
Statistical leaders
Passing yards
1. Mike Rasmussen, Michigan State (1,344)
2. Craig Curry, Minnesota (1,315)
3. Neil Graff, Wisconsin (1,313)
4. Maurie Daigneau, Northwestern (1,228)
5. Don Moorhead, Michigan (1,167)[2]
Rushing yards
1. Mike Adamle, Northwestern (1,255)
2. John Brockington, Ohio State (1,142)
3. Otis Armstrong, Purdue (1,009)
4. Billy Taylor, Michigan (911)
5. Levi Mitchell, Iowa (900)[2]
Receiving yards
1. Larry Mialik, Wisconsin (702)
2. Barry Pearson, Northwestern (552)
3. Doug Dieken, Illinois (537)
4. Paul Staroba, Michigan (519)
5. Gordon Bowdell, Michigan State (495)[2]
Total yards
1. Craig Curry, Minnesota (1,610)
2. Neil Graff, Wisconsin (1,561)
3. Don Moorhead, Michigan (1,535)
4. Mike Rasmussen, Michigan State (1,358)
5. Mike Adamle, Northwestern (1,255)[2]
Scoring
1. John Brockington, Ohio State (102)
2. Billy Taylor, Michigan (66)
3. Eric Allen, Michigan State (60)
3. Mike Adamle, Northwestern (60)
5. Fritz Seyferth, Michigan (48)[2]