1968 Michigan Wolverines football team

1968 Michigan Wolverines football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 12
1968 record	8–2 (6–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bump Elliott (10th year)
MVP	Ron Johnson
Captain	Ron Johnson
Home stadium	Michigan Stadium
Seasons ← 1967 1969 →

1968 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#1 Ohio State $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	0	–	0
#12 Michigan	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
#10 Purdue	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Minnesota	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Indiana	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Iowa	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Michigan State	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Illinois	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
Wisconsin	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Week 1: California at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total • California 14 0 0 7 21 Michigan 0 7 0 0 7 Date: September 21, 1968 Location: Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI Game attendance: 71,368 Referee: Jerry Markbreit

Week 5: Michigan at Duke

1 2 3 4 Total • Michigan 7 7 3 14 31 Duke 0 7 3 0 10 Date: September 28, 1968 Location: Wallace Wade Stadium, Durham, NC Game attendance: 25,000

Week 3: Navy at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Navy 3 0 0 6 9 • Michigan 0 19 6 7 32 Date: October 5, 1968 Location: Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI Game attendance: 56,501 Referee: Robert Van Lenges

Week 4: Michigan State at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan State 6 0 0 8 14 • Michigan 13 0 0 15 28 Date: October 12, 1968 Location: Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI Game attendance: 103,785 Referee: Eugene Calhoun

Week 5: Michigan at Indiana

1 2 3 4 Total • Michigan 7 0 13 7 27 Indiana 0 7 9 6 22 Date: October 19, 1968 Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN Game attendance: 51,951 Referee: R. E. Meyer

Week 6: Minnesota at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Minnesota 0 0 0 20 20 • Michigan 12 18 3 0 33 Date: October 26, 1968 Location: Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI Game attendance: 69,384 Referee: Jerry Markbreit

Week 7: Michigan at Northwestern

1 2 3 4 Total • Michigan 0 28 0 7 35 Northwestern 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 2, 1968 Location: Dyche Stadium, Evanston, IL Game attendance: 40,101 Referee: Eugene Calhoun

Week 8: Illinois at Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total Illinois 0 0 0 0 0 • Michigan 6 14 9 7 36 Date: November 9, 1968 Location: Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI Game attendance: 56,775 Referee: Ross Dean

The 1968 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1968 Big Ten Conference football season. In their tenth and final season under head coach Bump Elliott, the Wolverines compiled an 8-2 record, outscored opponents 277 to 155, and finished the season in second place in the Big Ten Conference and ranked #12 in the final AP Poll. After losing the season opener to California, the Wolverines won their next eight games by a combined score of 256 to 84. The team rose to #4 in the AP poll before losing to Ohio State by a 50-14 score in the final game of the season.

On November 16, 1968, Michigan running back Ron Johnson set an NCAA record with 347 rushing yards against Wisconsin. He also finished his career with a school record 2,524 rushing yards. At the end of the year, Johnson was selected as Michigan's most valuable player and a first-team All-American. He also won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten.

Defensive back Tom Curtis set a new Big Ten record with 10 interceptions in 1968 and was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten player. Michigan's other first-team All-Big Ten players included Johnson, quarterback Dennis Brown, and ends Jim Mandich and Phil Seymour.

The 1967 Michigan team compiled a 4–6 (3–4 Big Ten) record. After compiling a 14–16 record since 1964, Elliott became the subject of a "Dump Bump" campaign among Michigan alumni.

Two key players returned to the 1968 team as senior leaders on offense. Halfback Ron Johnson rushed for over 1,000 yards in 1967 and was selected as a second-team All-American, and quarterback Dennis Brown in 1967 broke the Big Ten Conference record for total offense.

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