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1956 Big Ten Conference Year Summary

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Record: 48-33-10, .582 W-L% (1st of 12) (Schedule and Results)

SRS: 12.49 (1st of 12) ▪ SOS: 9.61 (1st of 12)

Conference Champion: Iowa

Ranked in Preseason AP Poll: 4 (Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State)
Ranked in Final AP Poll: 5 (Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Ohio State)

Standings

Overall Conference Pts/G SRS
School W L T Pct W L T Pct Own Opp SRS SOS Notes
Iowa 9 1 0 .900 5 1 0 .833 21.9 8.4 19.50 7.90
Michigan 7 2 0 .778 5 2 0 .714 25.9 13.7 22.71 11.71
Minnesota 6 1 2 .778 4 1 2 .714 14.1 9.7 19.07 13.07
Michigan State 7 2 0 .778 4 2 0 .667 26.6 9.7 18.97 6.86
Ohio State 6 3 0 .667 4 2 0 .667 17.8 9.0 16.64 8.64
Northwestern 4 4 1 .500 3 3 1 .500 11.9 12.4 8.57 8.24
Purdue 3 4 2 .444 1 4 2 .286 15.4 13.6 9.52 8.74
Illinois 2 5 2 .333 1 4 2 .286 13.8 17.1 8.43 12.87
Wisconsin 1 5 3 .278 0 4 3 .214 10.3 14.3 5.30 10.30
Indiana 3 6 0 .333 1 5 0 .167 14.3 29.2 -3.76 7.80

AP Poll Summary

School Pre 9/24 10/1 10/8 10/15 10/22 10/29 11/5 11/12 11/19 11/26 Final
Iowa     20   12 12 7 15 7 3 3 3
Michigan 8 13 5 12 8 5 17 10 10 9 7 7
Michigan State 2 3 2 2 2 1 4 4 3 10 9 9
Minnesota       17     8 6 17 7 10 12
Ohio State 5 8 4 5 5 9 6 7 6 12 20 15
Illinois 20   13                  
Purdue         17              

1 Bowl Game

Date Bowl Winner/Tie Pts Loser/Tie Pts Notes
1957-01-01 Rose Bowl Iowa 35 Oregon State 19 Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA)

Conference Leaders

Read more about our data coverage. ▪ An asterisk (*) after a player's name indicates bowl stats are included.
Pass Completions
1. Len Dawson (PUR) 69
2. Ken Ploen* (IA) 33
3. Steve Filipowski (IN) 32
4. Hiles Stout (IL) 20
  Gene Cichowski (IN) 20
  Pat Wilson (MIST) 20
7. Jim Maddock (MI) 19
  Jack Ellis (NWEST) 19
9. Bob Cox (MN) 18
10. Randy Duncan* (IA) 17
  Dick Larson (MN) 17
  Tom McDonald (IN) 17
Pass Attempts
1. Len Dawson (PUR) 130
2. Ken Ploen* (IA) 64
3. Steve Filipowski (IN) 63
4. Bob Cox (MN) 53
5. Jack Ellis (NWEST) 44
6. Dale Pienta (NWEST) 43
7. Jim Maddock (MI) 42
8. Randy Duncan* (IA) 41
9. Pat Wilson (MIST) 39
  Hiles Stout (IL) 39
Pass Completion Percentage
1. Len Dawson (PUR) 53.1
Passing Yards
1. Len Dawson (PUR) 856
2. Pat Wilson (MIST) 414
3. Steve Filipowski (IN) 391
4. Ken Ploen* (IA) 386
5. Hiles Stout (IL) 278
6. Bill Offenbecher (IL) 258
7. Jack Ellis (NWEST) 248
8. Bob Ptacek (MI) 245
9. Bob Cox (MN) 240
10. Jim Ninowski (MIST) 237
Passing Yards Per Attempt
1. Len Dawson (PUR) 6.6
Adjusted Passing Yards Per Attempt
1. Len Dawson (PUR) 4.2
Passing Touchdowns
1. Len Dawson (PUR) 7
2. Ken Ploen* (IA) 5
3. Frank Ellwood (OHST) 4
  Jim Ninowski (MIST) 4
5. Bob Ptacek (MI) 3
  Bob Cox (MN) 3
  Tom McDonald (IN) 3
  Bill Offenbecher (IL) 3
9. Randy Duncan* (IA) 2
  Terry Barr (MI) 2
  Steve Filipowski (IN) 2
  Dick Larson (MN) 2
  Hiles Stout (IL) 2
  Richard Simonson (WI) 2
  Mike Panitch (MIST) 2
Passing Interceptions
1. Len Dawson (PUR) 10
2. Steve Filipowski (IN) 8
3. Bob Cox (MN) 7
4. Hiles Stout (IL) 5
  Jack Ellis (NWEST) 5
  Ron Carlson (WI) 5
7. Gil Blackmun (WI) 4
  Randy Duncan* (IA) 4
9. Dick Larson (MN) 3
  Frank Ellwood (OHST) 3
  Jim Maddock (MI) 3
  Jim Ninowski (MIST) 3
  Ted Krzeczowski (PUR) 3
  Dale Pienta (NWEST) 3
  Ken Ploen* (IA) 3
Passing Efficiency Rating
1. Len Dawson (PUR) 110.8
Rush Attempts
1. Melvin Dillard (PUR) 193
2. James Roseboro (OHST) 152
3. Don Clark (OHST) 139
4. Bob Fee (IN) 134
5. Bob Cox (MN) 130
6. John Herrnstein (MI) 123
7. Bob McKeiver (NWEST) 115
8. Abe Woodson (IL) 110
9. Jim Pace (MI) 103
  Bill Happel* (IA) 103
Rushing Yards
1. Melvin Dillard (PUR) 873
2. Don Clark (OHST) 797
3. James Roseboro (OHST) 712
4. Bob Fee (IN) 621
5. Abe Woodson (IL) 599
6. Bob McKeiver (NWEST) 592
7. Danny Lewis (WI) 554
8. Bob Cox (MN) 553
9. Dale Smith (IL) 509
10. Jim Pace (MI) 498
Rushing Yards Per Attempt
1. Galen Cisco (OHST) 6.8
2. Terry Barr (MI) 6.1
3. Dennis Mendyk (MIST) 5.8
4. Don Clark (OHST) 5.7
5. Ken Ploen* (IA) 5.7
6. Dale Smith (IL) 5.7
7. Danny Lewis (WI) 5.5
8. Abe Woodson (IL) 5.4
9. Bob McKeiver (NWEST) 5.1
10. Don Dobrino* (IA) 5.0
Rushing Touchdowns
1. John Herrnstein (MI) 7
  Don Clark (OHST) 7
3. Terry Barr (MI) 6
  Frank Ellwood (OHST) 6
  Ken Ploen* (IA) 6
  Dennis Mendyk (MIST) 6
7. Don Gilbert (MIST) 5
  James Roseboro (OHST) 5
9. Clarence Peaks (MIST) 4
  Collins Hagler* (IA) 4
  Pat Wilson (MIST) 4
  Bill Happel* (IA) 4
Receptions
1. Brad Bomba (IN) 31
2. Ron Kramer (MI) 18
3. Jim Gibbons* (IA) 17
4. Dave Howard (WI) 16
5. Lamar Lundy (PUR) 15
6. Bob McKeiver (NWEST) 14
7. Erich Barnes (PUR) 12
  Abe Woodson (IL) 12
  Dave Lindblom (MN) 12
10. Melvin Dillard (PUR) 10
  Rod Hanson (IL) 10
Receiving Yards
1. Brad Bomba (IN) 407
2. Ron Kramer (MI) 353
3. Abe Woodson (IL) 257
4. Jim Gibbons* (IA) 255
5. Lamar Lundy (PUR) 248
6. Dave Howard (WI) 247
7. Tony Kolodziej (MIST) 221
8. Bob McKeiver (NWEST) 171
9. Norm Craft (IN) 157
10. Dave Lindblom (MN) 156
Receiving Yards Per Reception
1. Ron Kramer (MI) 19.6
2. Brad Bomba (IN) 13.1
Receiving Touchdowns
1. Jim Gibbons* (IA) 4
  Lamar Lundy (PUR) 4
3. Harold Dukes (MIST) 3
4. Erich Barnes (PUR) 2
  Dave Whitsell (IN) 2
  Abe Woodson (IL) 2
  Dave Howard (WI) 2
  Ron Kramer (MI) 2
  Larry Harding (MIST) 2
  James Roseboro (OHST) 2
  Dave Lindblom (MN) 2
  Clifford Peart (NWEST) 2
  Leo Brown (OHST) 2
Plays From Scrimmage
1. Melvin Dillard (PUR) 203
2. James Roseboro (OHST) 156
3. Bob Fee (IN) 141
4. Don Clark (OHST) 139
5. Bob Cox (MN) 130
6. Bob McKeiver (NWEST) 129
7. John Herrnstein (MI) 123
8. Abe Woodson (IL) 122
9. Jim Pace (MI) 110
10. Bill Happel* (IA) 103
  Danny Lewis (WI) 103
Yards From Scrimmage
1. Melvin Dillard (PUR) 972
2. Abe Woodson (IL) 856
3. Don Clark (OHST) 797
4. James Roseboro (OHST) 794
5. Bob McKeiver (NWEST) 763
6. Bob Fee (IN) 695
7. Jim Pace (MI) 653
8. Danny Lewis (WI) 606
9. Bob Cox (MN) 553
10. Dennis Mendyk (MIST) 548
Touchdowns From Scrimmage
1. John Herrnstein (MI) 7
  Don Clark (OHST) 7
  James Roseboro (OHST) 7
  Terry Barr (MI) 7
  Dennis Mendyk (MIST) 7
6. Frank Ellwood (OHST) 6
  Ken Ploen* (IA) 6
8. Don Gilbert (MIST) 5
9. Fred Harris* (IA) 4
  Jim Gibbons* (IA) 4
  Lamar Lundy (PUR) 4
  Clarence Peaks (MIST) 4
  Collins Hagler* (IA) 4
  Pat Wilson (MIST) 4
  Bill Happel* (IA) 4
Total Plays
1. Melvin Dillard (PUR) 195
2. Bob Cox (MN) 183
3. Len Dawson (PUR) 174
4. James Roseboro (OHST) 163
5. Ken Ploen* (IA) 150
6. Don Clark (OHST) 146
7. Bob Fee (IN) 134
8. John Herrnstein (MI) 124
9. Bob McKeiver (NWEST) 118
10. Jim Pace (MI) 115
Total Yards
1. Melvin Dillard (PUR) 902
2. Don Clark (OHST) 885
3. Len Dawson (PUR) 879
4. Ken Ploen* (IA) 873
5. Bob Cox (MN) 793
6. James Roseboro (OHST) 757
7. Bob Fee (IN) 621
8. Abe Woodson (IL) 599
9. Jim Pace (MI) 595
10. Bob McKeiver (NWEST) 592
Total Touchdowns
1. Ken Ploen* (IA) 11
2. Frank Ellwood (OHST) 10
3. Don Clark (OHST) 8
  Terry Barr (MI) 8
5. Len Dawson (PUR) 7
  John Herrnstein (MI) 7
7. Dennis Mendyk (MIST) 6
  Don Gilbert (MIST) 6
9. Clarence Peaks (MIST) 5
  James Roseboro (OHST) 5
  Pat Wilson (MIST) 5