1969 NCAA University Division football season

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The 1969 NCAA University Division football season was celebrated as the centennial of college football (the first season being the one in 1869).

During the 20th century, the

"writers' poll" by Associated Press (AP) was the most popular, followed by the "coaches' poll" by United Press International
(UPI). In 1969, the UPI issued its final poll before the bowls, but the AP Trophy was withheld until the postseason was completed.

The AP poll in 1969 consisted of the votes of as many as 45 sportswriters, though not all of them voted in every poll. Those who cast votes would give their opinion of the twenty best teams. Under a point system of 20 points for first place, 19 for second, etc., the "overall" ranking was determined. In 1969, there were four regular season games that matched "Top Five" teams.

This was the last season in which teams were limited to ten games during the regular season; the NCAA allowed eleven starting in 1970.[2]

Rule changes

  • Cleat lengths are limited to 34 inch (19 mm).
  • Batting a lateral pass forward is illegal.
  • The definition of "roughing the kicker" is clarified.

Conference and program changes

  • The Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA, now Big West Conference) began its first season of play in 1969 with seven teams from the state of California.
School 1968 Conference 1969 Conference
Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles CCAA
PCAA
Fresno State Bulldogs CCAA
PCAA
Long Beach State 49ers CCAA
PCAA
Marshall Thundering Herd MAC Independent
Pacific Tigers Independent
PCAA
San Jose State Spartans Independent
PCAA
San Diego State Aztecs CCAA
PCAA
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Independent
PCAA

Prior to the season, the University Division expanded from 114 to 118 teams. The four elevated from the College Division for 1969 were Northern Illinois, San Diego State, Idaho, and Pacific;[3][4] the latter two were dropped down in 1967.[5]

September

In the preseason poll released on September 15, the defending champion Ohio State Buckeyes were at the top with 26 of the 33 first place votes. Arkansas was second, followed by Penn State, Texas, and USC.

September 20: No. 1 Ohio State had not yet started its season, and No. 2 Arkansas beat Oklahoma State 39–0 at Little Rock. No. 3 Penn State won 45–22 at Navy, No. 4 Texas won 17–0 at California, and No. 5 USC won 31–21 at Nebraska. The next poll was No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 Texas, and No. 5 USC.

September 27: No. 1 Ohio State opened its season with a 62–0 dismantling of

first college football game. In 1869, Rutgers had 6 goals to Princeton's four, and a century later, Rutgers won 29–0.[6]
[7] The top five remained unchanged in the next poll.

October

October 4: No. 1 Ohio State beat Washington 41–14 at Seattle. No. 2 Penn State narrowly won 17–14 at Kansas State, causing them to drop in the next poll. No. 3 Arkansas beat TCU 24–6 at Little Rock, No. 4 Texas beat Navy 56–17, and No. 5 USC won 31–7 at Oregon State. The next poll was No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 USC, and No, 5 Penn State.

October 11: Several of the top teams played ranked opponents. No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 19

rivalry game and No. 3 Arkansas was idle. No. 4 USC got past No. 16 Stanford 26–24, and No. 5 Penn State beat No. 17 West Virginia
20–0 at home. The next poll was No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Arkansas, and No. 5 Penn State.

October 18: No. 1 Ohio State won 34–7 at Minnesota, and No. 2 Texas was idle. No. 3 USC tied No. 11 Notre Dame 14–14 at South Bend. No. 4 Arkansas won 21–7 at Baylor, and No. 5 Penn State narrowly stayed unbeaten at Syracuse, winning 15–14. Two new teams moved ahead of USC and Penn State: No. 6 Missouri won 31–21 over Oklahoma State, and No. 7 Tennessee beat No. 20 Alabama 41–14 in Birmingham. The next poll was No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Arkansas, and No. 5 Missouri.

October 25: No. 1 Ohio State shut out Illinois 41–0 and No. 2 Texas blanked Rice 31–0 in Austin. No. 3 Tennessee was idle. No. 4 Arkansas beat Wichita State 52–14 in Little Rock. No. 5 Missouri lost at unranked Colorado 31–24, while No. 8 Penn State defeated Ohio University 42–3 and returned to the Top Five. The next poll was No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Arkansas, and No. 5 Penn State

November

November 1: No. 1 Ohio State won at Northwestern 35–6, and No. 2 Texas beat SMU 45–14 at Dallas. No. 3 Tennessee won 17–3 at No. 11 Georgia, No. 4 Arkansas beat Texas A&M 35–13, and No. 5 Penn State beat Boston College 38–16. The top five remained unchanged.

November 8: No. 1 Ohio State beat Wisconsin 62–7, and No. 2 Texas beat Baylor 56–14. No. 3 Tennessee beat South Carolina 29–14, No. 4 Arkansas defeated Rice in Houston 30–6, and No. 5 Penn State was idle. The top five (all of whom had 7−0 records) again remained the same.

November 15: No. 1 Ohio State hosted No. 10 Purdue and won 42–14. By this time, coach Woody Hayes' Buckeyes had outscored their opposition 371–69 and had an 8–0 record with one game left. No. 2 Texas was comparably dominant, having outscored its opponents 360–76 after beating TCU 69–7 at home to go 8–0. However, No. 3 Tennessee was shut out 38–0 by No. 18 Ole Miss in Jackson. No. 4 Arkansas beat SMU 28–15 in Dallas, No. 5 Penn State blanked Maryland 48–0, and No. 6 USC beat Washington 16–7 at Seattle. In the next poll, Ohio State and Texas stayed at No. 1 and No. 2 for the 7th straight week, each with a 62-point win over their common opponent (TCU, otherwise a 4–4 team). The remainder of the top five was No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 Penn State, and No. 5 USC.

November 22: After averaging 46 points in its first eight games, No. 1 Ohio State could only manage twelve points at No. 12

lost 24–12, ending its 22-game winning streak.[9] In the opening salvo of "The Ten Year War", new coach Bo Schembechler led the Wolverines to the Big Ten championship and a spot in the Rose Bowl. No. 5 USC, aided by a pass interference penalty on fourth down that led to the late game-winning touchdown,[10] closed with a 14–12 win over city rival No. 6 UCLA in a matchup of unbeatens (both 8–0–1) that decided the Pac-8 championship and the other Rose Bowl berth.[11] For the second straight year, the Trojans finished the regular season 9−0−1 with the only blemish being a tie against Notre Dame. No. 2 Texas and No. 3 Arkansas were idle this week, while No. 4 Penn State won 27–7 at Pittsburgh
. In the next poll, Texas took the top spot: No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 USC.

November 27−29: In Southwest Conference play on Thanksgiving Day, No. 1 Texas won at Texas A&M 49–12, while No. 2 Arkansas beat Texas Tech 33–0 in Little Rock. Two days later, No. 3 Penn State won 33–8 at North Carolina State and was considered for the Cotton Bowl, where the Southwestern Conference champ (Texas or Arkansas) would go. Before Ohio State's loss, however, the players had voted to accept a bid to the Orange Bowl,[12] because they preferred going to Miami instead of Dallas.[13] Certain to move up to No. 2 regardless of how the Texas-Arkansas game came out, Penn State unexpectedly had passed up a chance to go up against the No. 1 team in the nation.[14] Instead, they would face off against No. 6 Missouri, which tied for the Big 8 championship with Nebraska and got the Orange Bowl bid by virtue of a 17−7 victory over the Cornhuskers in October. With No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 USC having finished their seasons, the top five remained the same going into December.

December

December 6: No. 1 and No. 2 would not meet in a bowl, but faced off at

ABC television. After three quarters, Arkansas led 14–0. In the fourth quarter, Longhorns' quarterback James Street couldn't find a receiver and ran 42 yards for a touchdown, then carried over the ball for two to cut the lead to six at 14–8. With 4:47 to play, the Longhorns were on their own 43 on fourth down with three yards to go. Street threw long to Randy Peschel open downfield, who made the catch and fell out of bounds on the 13-yard line. After Ted Koy ran for eleven yards, Jim Bertelsen went over to tie the score, and the extra point kick by Happy Feller gave Texas a 15–14 lead with just under four minutes remaining. A late interception stopped the Hogs and Texas remained undefeated.[15][16] President Nixon presented the plaque to Texas head coach Darrell Royal after the game.[17] Because both teams had been unbeaten in Southwest Conference play, the game also determined the SWC championship, with Texas getting the bid for the Cotton Bowl
. The final regular season poll was No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 USC.

Texas' and Arkansas' bowl opponents were decided under strange circumstances. Arkansas accepted an invitation to the Sugar Bowl, where they would normally have faced either No. 8 LSU or No. 11 Tennessee, the co-champions of the SEC. However, LSU tried instead to arrange a matchup against Texas in the Cotton Bowl, which the school officials viewed as an opportunity to play for the national championship. The negotiations fell through when No. 9 Notre Dame unexpectedly became available. Needing money for scholarships, the Fighting Irish decided to repeal their longstanding policy against appearing in bowl games and offered to become Texas' Cotton Bowl opponent.[18] Meanwhile, the Sugar Bowl organizers spurned LSU and Tennessee in favor of No. 13 Ole Miss, which held just a 7−3 record but had dealt both the Tigers and the Volunteers their only loss of the regular season. Tennessee was relegated to the Gator Bowl, while LSU stayed home entirely.

Conference standings

1969 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
South Carolina $ 6 0 0 7 4 0
NC State 3 2 1 3 6 1
North Carolina 3 3 0 5 5 0
Clemson 3 3 0 4 6 0
Duke 3 3 1 3 6 1
Maryland 3 3 0 3 7 0
Wake Forest 2 5 0 3 7 0
Virginia 1 5 0 3 7 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll[19]
1969 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 6 Missouri + 6 1 0 9 2 0
No. 11 Nebraska + 6 1 0 9 2 0
No. 16 Colorado 5 2 0 8 3 0
Oklahoma 4 3 0 6 4 0
Kansas State 3 4 0 5 5 0
Oklahoma State 3 4 0 5 5 0
Iowa State 1 6 0 3 7 0
Kansas 0 7 0 1 9 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from
AP Poll
1969 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Ohio State + 6 1 0 8 1 0
No. 9 Michigan + 6 1 0 8 3 0
No. 18 Purdue 5 2 0 8 2 0
Minnesota 4 3 0 4 5 1
Iowa 3 4 0 5 5 0
Indiana 3 4 0 4 6 0
Northwestern 3 4 0 3 7 0
Wisconsin 3 4 0 3 7 0
Michigan State 2 5 0 4 6 0
Illinois 0 7 0 0 10 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from
AP Poll
1969 Ivy League football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Dartmouth + 6 1 0 8 1 0
Yale + 6 1 0 7 2 0
Princeton + 6 1 0 6 3 0
Cornell 4 3 0 4 5 0
Penn 2 5 0 4 5 0
Harvard 2 5 0 3 6 0
Brown 1 6 0 2 7 0
Columbia 1 6 0 1 8 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1969 Mid-American Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Toledo $ 5 0 0 11 0 0
Bowling Green 4 1 0 6 4 0
Miami (OH) 2 3 0 7 3 0
Ohio 2 3 0 5 4 1
Kent State 1 4 0 5 5 0
Western Michigan 1 4 0 4 6 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1969 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Memphis State $ 4 0 0 8 2 0
North Texas State 4 1 0 7 3 0
Louisville 2 3 0 5 4 1
Cincinnati 2 3 0 4 6 0
Wichita State 1 3 0 2 8 0
Tulsa 1 4 0 1 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1969 Pacific Coast Athletic Association football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 18 San Diego State $ 6 0 0 11 0 0
Long Beach State 3 1 0 8 3 0
Pacific (CA) 2 2 0 7 3 0
San Jose State 1 1 0 2 8 0
UC Santa Barbara 1 3 0 6 4 0
Fresno State 1 3 0 6 4 0
Cal State Los Angeles 0 4 0 0 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from Coaches Poll
1969 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 USC $ 6 0 0 10 0 1
No. 13 UCLA 5 1 1 8 1 1
No. 19 Stanford 5 1 1 7 2 1
Oregon State 4 3 0 6 4 0
Oregon 2 3 0 5 5 1
California 2 4 0 5 5 0
Washington 1 6 0 1 9 0
Washington State 0 7 0 1 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1969 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 15 Tennessee $ 5 1 0 9 2 0
No. 10 LSU 4 1 0 9 1 0
No. 20 Auburn 5 2 0 8 3 0
No. 14 Florida 3 1 1 9 1 1
No. 8 Ole Miss 4 2 0 8 3 0
Georgia 2 3 1 5 5 1
Vanderbilt 2 3 0 4 6 0
Alabama 2 4 0 6 5 0
Kentucky 1 6 0 2 8 0
Mississippi State 0 5 0 3 7 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from
AP Poll
1969 Southern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Davidson + 5 1 0 7 4 0
Richmond + 5 1 0 6 4 0
The Citadel 4 2 0 7 3 0
William & Mary 2 2 0 3 7 0
East Carolina 1 3 0 2 7 0
Furman 0 4 0 1 8 1
VMI 0 4 0 0 10 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1969 Southwest Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Texas $ 7 0 0 11 0 0
No. 7 Arkansas 6 1 0 9 2 0
Texas Tech 4 3 0 5 5 0
TCU 4 3 0 4 6 0
SMU 3 4 0 3 7 0
Rice 2 5 0 3 7 0
Texas A&M 2 5 0 3 7 0
Baylor 0 7 0 0 10 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from
AP Poll
1969 Western Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Arizona State $ 6 1 0 8 2 0
Utah 5 1 0 8 2 0
BYU 4 3 0 6 4 0
Wyoming 4 3 0 6 4 0
Arizona 3 3 0 3 7 0
UTEP 2 5 0 4 6 0
New Mexico 1 5 0 4 6 0
Colorado State 0 4 0 4 6 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1969 NCAA University Division independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Penn State     11 0 0
No. 17 West Virginia     10 1 0
No. 12 Houston     9 2 0
No. 5 Notre Dame     8 2 1
Buffalo     6 3 0
Rutgers     6 3 0
Villanova     6 3 0
Florida State     6 3 1
Colgate     5 3 1
Air Force     6 4 0
West Texas State
    6 4 0
Boston College     5 4 0
New Mexico State     5 5 0
Southern Miss     5 5 0
Syracuse     5 5 0
Army     4 5 1
VPI     4 5 1
Georgia Tech     4 6 0
Miami (FL)     4 6 0
Pittsburgh     4 6 0
Dayton     3 7 0
Marshall     3 7 0
Northern Illinois     3 7 0
Tulane     3 7 0
Utah State     3 7 0
Idaho     2 8 0
Navy     1 9 0
Xavier     1 9 0
Rankings from
AP Poll

Rankings

Bowl games

Major bowls

Thursday, January 1, 1970

Bowl Winning team Losing team
Cotton No. 1 Texas Longhorns 21 No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 17
Sugar No. 13 Ole Miss Rebels 27 No. 3 Arkansas Razorbacks 22
Rose No. 5 USC Trojans 10 No. 7 Michigan Wolverines 3
Orange No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions 10 No. 6 Missouri Tigers 3

At the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns were facing the end of their unbeaten streak before a crowd of 73,000 against No. 9 Notre Dame, playing in its first bowl game in 45 years, since the 1925 Rose Bowl.[21] Trailing 17–14 with 2:26 left in the game, Texas faced a fourth-and-two situation on the Irish ten-yard line. Settling for a tying field goal was out of the question, but a failure to convert would give Notre Dame the ball and the chance to run out the clock. Texas QB James Street managed to fire a pass over the head of the equally determined linebacker Bob Olson. Cotton Speyrer came down with the ball on the two-yard line, just before the ball hit the ground. The officials paused before ruling that the pass was indeed complete; on third down from the one, Billy Dale took the ball in for the winning points and, ultimately, the title.[21][22][23]

In the final poll after the bowls, the Texas Longhorns were the top choice for 36 of the 45 writers voting, and won the AP Trophy. The final AP top 20 was: 1.Texas 2.Penn State 3.USC 4.Ohio State 5.Notre Dame 6.Missouri 7.Arkansas 8.Ole Miss 9.Michigan 10.UCLA 11.Nebraska 12.Houston 13.LSU 14.Florida 15.Tennessee 16.Colorado 17. West Virginia 18.Purdue 19.Stanford and 20.Auburn.

Other bowls

Bowl City State Date Winner Score Runner-up
Sun El Paso Texas December 20 No. 14 Nebraska 45–6 Georgia
Gator Jacksonville Florida December 27 No. 15 Florida 14–13 No. 11 Tennessee
Tangerine Orlando Florida December 26 No. 20 Toledo 56–33 Davidson
Astro-Bluebonnet Houston Texas December 31 No. 17 Houston 36–7 No. 12 Auburn
Liberty Memphis Tennessee December 13 Colorado 47–33 Alabama
Peach Atlanta Georgia December 30 No. 19 West Virginia 14–3 South Carolina
Pasadena Pasadena California December 6 San Diego State 28–7 Boston University

With its bowl win, No. 11 Nebraska (9–2) ended 1969 on a seven-game winning streak. The Huskers were undefeated in the next two seasons to win consecutive national championships, with an unbeaten streak of 32 games.

Special helmet design

Many schools, at the behest of the NCAA, commemorated the 1969 season by wearing a special decal on their football helmets. The decal consisted of the numeral "100" inside a football shaped outline. The decal was designed to commemorate the

1869 game between Rutgers and Princeton, often cited as the first college football game. Decals varied greatly from one team to another. Some teams placed the decals unobtrusively on the front or back of the helmet. Other teams placed them prominently on the side, either in addition to or in place of their regular team logo. Colors and design of the decals also varied greatly between teams; with different numeral styles and color schemes in use.[24] One notable exception was Harvard, which abstained from the 1969 commemoration, and had its own special helmet decal made for the 1974 season, which commemorates an 1874 game that Harvard played against McGill that Harvard claims was the "real" first football game.[25]

Awards and honors

Heisman Trophy

Steve Owens of Oklahoma had rushed for 3,867 yards and scored 56 touchdowns in three seasons with the Sooners. In 1969, he had 29 touchdowns and scored 138 points, and rushed for 248 yards against Iowa State. Owens was the 19th selection in the 1970 NFL draft and played for the Detroit Lions. Following him in the Heisman voting were three quarterbacks: Mike Phipps of Purdue, Rex Kern of Ohio State, and Archie Manning of Mississippi. Defensive tackle Mike Reid of Penn State, the Outland Trophy winner, was fifth.[26][27]

Player School Position 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Steve Owens Oklahoma RB 294 218 170 1,488
Mike Phipps Purdue QB 226 230 196 1,334
Rex Kern Ohio State QB 154 134 126 856
Archie Manning Ole Miss QB 120 76 70 582
Mike Reid Penn State DT 61 39 36 297
Mike McCoy Notre Dame DT 31 65 67 290
Jim Otis Ohio State RB 12 27 31 121
Jim Plunkett Stanford QB 21 16 25 120
Steve Kiner Tennessee LB 14 20 21 109
Jack Tatum Ohio State S 13 22 22 105

Source: [26][27][28]

All-Americans

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Grid squads get 11 games". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 15, 1970. p. 14.
  3. Newspapers.com
    .
  4. ^ "NCAA ups 4 colleges". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. July 2, 1969. p. 22.
  5. ^ "Ostyn says Pacific cost major status". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. August 9, 1967. p. 15.
  6. ^ "Rutgers does it again". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. September 28, 1969. p. 57.
  7. ^ "Princeton blanked". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 28, 1969. p. 5B.
  8. ^ "The Black 14". The Daily Universe. Provo, UT. September 9, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  9. ^ "Wolverines cry 'We're No. 1' after surprising Buckeyes". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 23, 1969. p. 1B.
  10. ^ "McKay cites 'SC linemen". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 23, 1969. p. 2B.
  11. ^ "Jimmy Jones gives Trojans big Jan. 1 date". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. November 23, 1969. p. 67.
  12. ^ Yake, D. Byron (November 17, 1969). "State gridders pick Orange Bowl". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. p. 22.
  13. ^ "Looking back 1969: Lions make the wrong choice, attend Orange and finish 2nd again", The Daily Collegian (State College, Pennsylvania), November 18, 1989
  14. ^ "Nittany Lions Prefer Orange", THE POST-STANDARD (Syracuse), November 17, 1969, p19
  15. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (December 15, 1969). "Texas by an eyelash". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.
  16. ^ a b "Longhorns defeat Arkansas 15–14 with long bomb on fourth down". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 7, 1969. p. 1, sports.
  17. ^ "Wild Texas Gamble Clips Arkansas", Oakland Tribune, December 7, 1969, p52
  18. ^ "LSU's 1969 team was among its best ever, but it got 'screwed' out of a national title game".
  19. ^ "1969 Atlantic Coast Conference Year Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
  20. ^ https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/mvc/1969.html
  21. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (January 12, 1970). "Texas hangs on to its No. 1". Sports Illustrated. p. 26.
  22. ^ "Texans edge Irish on big fourth downs". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 2, 1970. p. 30.
  23. ^ "Longhorns Gamble Pays Off", Amarillo Globe-Times, January 2, 1970, p19
  24. ^ Arey, Charles. "The College Football Centennial Logo". The Helmet Project. NationalChamps.net. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  25. ^ Arey, Charles. "Ivy League football helmets". The Helmet Project. NationalChamps.net. Archived from the original on March 24, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
  26. ^ a b "Steve Owens is Heisman winner". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. (South Carolina). Associated Press. November 26, 1969. p. 14.
  27. ^ a b "Heisman Trophy goes to Owens". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). UPI. November 25, 1969. p. 8.
  28. ^ "Steve Owens". Heisman Trophy. 1969. Retrieved January 23, 2017.