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1961 Purdue Boilermakers football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1961
team	Purdue Boilermakers
sport	football
image	Purdue's 1961 co-captains Jack Elwell and Stan Sczurek.png
image_size	180px
caption	Co-captains Jack Elwell (left, kneeling) and Stan Sczurek (right, standing)
conference	Big Ten Conference
short_conf	Big Ten
CoachRank	11
APRank	12
record	6–3
conf_record	4–2
head_coach	Jack Mollenkopf
hc_year	6th
mvp	Jack Elwell
captain	Jack Elwell
captain2	Stan Sczurek
stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium

The 1961 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University during the 1961 Big Ten Conference football season. In their sixth year under head coach Jack Mollenkopf, the Boilermakers compiled a 6–3 record (4–2 in conference games), finished fourth in the Big Ten, and outscored opponents by a total of 146 to 87. They were ranked No. 11 in the final UPI poll and No. 12 in the final AP poll.

Purdue won games against two ranked opponents (No. 5 Iowa and No. 6 Michigan State), and its three losses were to Notre Dame, Michigan and No. 5 Minnesota, each by a margin of two or three points.

End Jack Elwell and guard Stan Sczurek were the team's co-captains and the only Purdue players to receive first-team honors on the 1961 All-Big Ten Conference football team. Fullback Roy Walker led the team in both rushing (491 yards) and scoring (24 points).

The team played its home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Schedule

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Statistics

The team's passing leaders were quarterback Ron DiGravio (52-for-100 for 861 yards, six touchdowns, two interceptions, 140.1 quarterback rating) and Gary Hogan (14-for-27, 236 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions, 115.3 quarterback rating).

The leading rushers were fullback Roy Walker (491 yards on 123 carries, 4.0-yard average), and Thomas Bloom (236 yards on 38 carries, 6-2-yard average).

The leading scorers were Roy Walker (24 points) and Jack Elwell and Ron DiGravo (18 points each).

Awards

Guard and co-captain Stan "Stosh" Sczurek saw more action (380 minutes out of a possible 540) than any other player for the 1961 Boilermakers. He also won the team's award as the outstanding lineman.

Senior end Jack Elwell, who led the team in receiving, was selected by his teammates as the team's most valuable player.

The following players were selected by either the AP or UPI on the 1961 All-Big Ten Conference football team: end Jack Elwell (AP-1, UPI-2); guard Stan Sczurek (AP-1, UPI-2); tackle Don Brumm (AP-2); and quarterback Ron DiGravio (UPI-3).

Purdue dominated the 1961 All-Indiana football team selected by The Indianapolis News with six first-team honorees: quarterback Ron DiGravio; halfback Dave Miller; fullback Roy Walker; end Jack Elwell; tackle Don Brumm; and guard Stan Sczurek. Four others were named to the second team: halfback Tom Bloom; center Don Paltani; end Forest Farmer; and guard Tom Krysinski.

Personnel

Players

The following 38 players won major letters for their participation on the 1961 Purdue football team:

Edward Behana, center, junior, 6'0", 195 pounds
Tom Bloom, halfback, junior, 5'11", 183 pounds
Tom Boris, back, sophomore, 6'1", 181 pounds
Larry Bowie, tackle, senior, 6'2", 235 pounds
Don Brumm, tackle, junior, 6'3", 214 pounds
Richard E. Dauch, end, sophomore, 6'1", 211 pounds
Ron DiGravio, quarterback, sophomore, 6'0", 178 pounds
Gene Donaldson, back
Henry Dudgeon, center, sophomore, 6'1", 206 pounds
Jack Elwell, end, senior, 6'3", 204 pounds
Forest Farmer, end, junior, 6'1", 208 pounds
Wally Florence, guard, sophomore, 6'2", 194 pounds
John Greiner, end, junior, 6'2", 211 pounds
Fred Hanley
Dave Hoehnen, back, senior, 6'1", 206 pounds
Gary Hogan, quarterback, sophomore, 6'0", 195 pounds
Don Keiser, tackle, junior, 6'4", 230 pounds
Tom Kotoske
Tom Krysinski, guard, senior, 5'11", 211 pounds
James Kubinski, end, senior, 5'11", 188 pounds
Lang Marks, back, junior, 5'10", 183 pounds
John Marra
Herbert McGuire
Ron Meyer, quarterback, junior, 5'10", 172 pounds
Dave Miller, halfback, junior, 5'10", 173 pounds
Omer "Skip" Ohi, guard, junior, 5'8", 212 pounds
Don Paltani, center, junior, 6'0", 214 pounds
Frank Plaskon
Pat Russ, tackle, junior, 6'3", 237 pounds
Stan Sczurek, guard, senior, 5'11", 208 pounds
Ronald Skufca, tackle, junior, 6'3", 253 pounds
John Stafford, guard, junior, 6'0", 203 pounds
Roy Walker, fullback, junior, 5'11", 213 pounds
Steve Weil, back, junior, 6'1", 182 pounds
Harold Wells, end, sophomore, 6'2", 218 pounds
Bob Wiater, back, junior, 5'11", 191 pounds
Dennis Wierzal
John Wilson

Coaches and staff

Head coach - Jack Mollenkopf : Note: Assistant coach Bob DeMoss served as acting head coach for part of the season due to a surgery on head coach Mollenkopf.
Assistant coaches - Allen Hager, Dale Samuels, Bernie Crimmins, Bob DeMoss, Ned Maloney, and Donald E. Fuoss.
Athletic director - Guy "Red" Mackey

References

"1961 Purdue Boilermakers Schedule and Results". Sports Reference.
Gordon Graham. (September 25, 1961). "Purdue's 13-6 Win Impressive: Honor of Big Ten Defended Before 55,000 at Seattle". The Journal and Courier.
Gordon Graham. (October 9, 1961). "'New Look' Irish Topple Purdue". The Journal and Courier.
Gordon Graham. (October 16, 1961). "Purdue Depth Stifles Miami". The Journal and Courier.
Joe Falls. (October 22, 1961). "Safety First Pays Off for U-M: Purdue Beaten by 2-Pointer". Detroit Free Press.
Gordon Graham. (October 30, 1961). "Purdue Celebrating Big Win: Splatters Iowa, 9-0, In Rain and Mud". The Journal and Courier.
Maurice Shevlin. (November 5, 1961). "Purdue Beats Illini: 23 to 9 Loss 6th of Season for Illinois". Chicago Tribune.
Bob Hoerner. (November 12, 1961). "Purdue Kills Slim State Title Hope, 7-6". Lansing State Journal.
Bill Eggert. (November 19, 1961). "Purdue 10-7 Victim Before 67,081: Gophers Still Bowling Along". The Indianapolis Star.
Dick Gordon. (November 19, 1961). "Gophers Whip Purdue 10-7". Minneapolis Sunday Tribune.
Jep Cadou Jr.. (November 26, 1961). "Indiana Soft Touch For Purdue, 34-12; Hoosiers' 14th Straight Big Ten Loss". The Indianapolis Star.
. ["2022 Purdue Football Record Book"](https://purduesports.com/documents/2022/8/23/2022_Purdue_Record_Book.pdf). *Purdue University Athletics*.
. ["Indiana Football 2023 Record Book"](https://static.iuhoosiers.com/custompages/pdf/fb/2023/23-FB-Record_Book_Full.pdf). *[[Indiana University]]*.
Ted Smits. (December 8, 1961). "Sczurek Third Team: AP All-America Squad Anchored By Giant Forward Wall". The Journal and Courier.
(December 7, 1961). "UPI Names 7 Hoosiers". The Evening Republican (Columbus, IN).
(November 28, 1961). "Elwell Voted 'Most Valuable': Farmer, Paltani 1962 Co-Captains". The Journal and Courier.
Joe Mooshil. (November 28, 1961). "Sczurek and Elwell On All-Big Ten". The Journal and Courier.
(November 28, 1961). "Only Ferguson, McRae Unanimous on UPI List: Elwell, Sczurek on 2nd Squad". The Journal and Courier.
(December 12, 1961). "News All-State for 1961". The Indianapolis News.
(November 28, 1961). "Elwell 'Most Valuable' Boilermaker Footballer". The Indianapolis Star.
Gordon Graham. (October 16, 1961). "Graham Crackers". The Journal and Courier.
(1962). "1962 Debris (Purdue yearbook)".

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