1969 Missouri Tigers football team

The 1969 Missouri Tigers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Missouri in the Big Eight Conference (Big 8) during the 1969 NCAA University Division football season. The team compiled a 9–2 record (6–1 against Big 8 opponents), finished in a tie for the Big 8 championship, lost to Penn State in the 1970 Orange Bowl, was ranked No. 6 in the final AP Poll, and outscored opponents by a combined total of 365 to 191. Dan Devine was the head coach for the 12th of 13 seasons.[1][2] The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri.

1969 Missouri Tigers football
Big Eight co-champion
Orange Bowl, L 3–10 vs. Penn State
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 6
1969 record	9–2 (6–1 Big 8)
Head coach	Dan Devine (12th season)
Captains	Sam Adams Jon Staggers
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

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

The team's statistical leaders included Joe Moore with 1,312 rushing yards, Terry McMillan with 1,963 passing yards and 2,157 yards of total offense, Mel Gray with 705 receiving yards, and Henry Brown with 71 points scored.[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result
September 20	Air Force*	No. 11	Memorial Stadium Columbia, Missouri		W 19–17
September 27	vs. Illinois*	No. 11	Busch Memorial Stadium St. Louis, Missouri (rivalry)		W 37–6
October 4	at No. 13 Michigan*	No. 9	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan		W 40–17
October 11	No. 20 Nebraska	No. 7	Memorial Stadium Columbia, Missouri (Victory Bell)		W 17–7
October 18	Oklahoma State	No. 6	Memorial Stadium Columbia, Missouri		W 31–21
October 25	at Colorado	No. 5	Folsom Field Boulder, Colorado		L 24–31
November 1	Kansas State	No. 14	Memorial Stadium Columbia, Missouri		W 41–38
November 8	No. 20 Oklahoma	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Columbia, Missouri (Tiger–Sooner Peace Pipe)	ABC (regional)	W 44–10
November 15	at Iowa State	No. 8	Clyde Williams Field Ames, Iowa (Telephone Trophy)		W 40–13
November 22	at Kansas	No. 7	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, Kansas (Border War)		W 69–21
January 1	vs. No. 2 Penn State*	No. 6	Miami Orange Bowl Miami (Orange Bowl)	NBC	L 3–10
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[4]

Game summaries

Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total • Missouri 0 24 0 16 40 Michigan 3 0 14 0 17 Date: October 4 Location: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Scoring summary 1 MICH Killian 40-yard field goal MICH 3-0 2 MU Brown 26-yard field goal Tied 3-3 2 MU McBride 2-yard run (Brown kick) MU 10-3 2 MU McBride 1-yard run (Brown kick) MU 17-3 2 MU MU 24-3 3 MICH Craw 1-yard run (Titas kick) MU 24-10 3 MICH Craw 1-yard run (Titas kick) MU 24-17 4 MU Brown 24-yard field goal MU 27-17 4 MU Kenemore 8-yard pass from Roper (kick failed) MU 33-17 4 8:09 MU Moore 62-yard run (Brown kick) MU 40-17

[5]

Kansas

1 2 3 4 Total • Missouri 21 7 28 13 69 Kansas 0 7 7 7 21 Date: November 22 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kansas Game attendance: 50,500

Scoring summary 1 MU Gray 19-yard run (Brown kick) MU 7-0 1 MU Gray 63-yard pass from McMillian (Brown kick) MU 14-0 1 MU Staggers 4-yard pass from McMillian (Brown kick) MU 21-0 2 MU Gray 26-yard pass from McMillian (Brown kick) MU 28-0 2 KU Basler 1-yard run (Bell kick) MU 28-7 3 MU Staggers 6-yard pass from McMillian (Brown kick) MU 35-7 3 MU Moore 53-yard run (Brown kick) MU 42-7 3 MU McMillian 6-yard run (Brown kick) MU 49-7 3 KU Brown 38-yard pass from Basler (Bell kick) MU 49-14 3 MU McMillian 1-yard run (Brown kick) MU 56-14 4 KU Jessie 79-yard pass from Basler (Bell kick) MU 56-21 4 MU Staggers 18-yard run (Brown kick) MU 63-21 4 MU Farmer 1-yard run (kick failed) MU 69-21

Terry McMillian broke the Big Eight single-season touchdown pass record of 16 and the single-game school record of Paul Christman. The victory gave Missouri a share of the Big Eight title with Nebraska and a berth in the Orange Bowl.[6]

Roster

1969 Missouri Tigers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 21 Mel Gray Jr T 71 Larron Jackson Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 22 Jon Staggers Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Dan Devine Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Awards

• All-Big Eight: E Mel Gray, OT Larron Jackson, DT Mark Kuhlmann, S Dennis Poppe
• Missouri Sports Hall of Fame – inducted as a team on January 25, 2015.[7]

[8]

References

1. "1969 Missouri Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
2. "2016 Mizzou Football Media Guide" (PDF). University of Missouri. p. 158. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
3. "2014 Mizzou Football Records Book" (PDF). University of Missouri. pp. 26–27. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
4. 2011 Missouri football information guide.
5. "Missouri Mauls Michigan, 40-17." Palm Beach Post. 1969 Oct 5.
6. "Missouri Mauls Kansas; Ties in Big Eight." Palm Beach Post. 1969 Nov 23.
7. "1969 University of Missouri Football Team - Missouri Sports Hall of Fame". Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2017-03-25.
8. 2011 Missouri football information guide.