Minnesota Football: 1967 Gophers Upset #5 Indiana TBT

The date: November 18, 1967

The matchup: #5 Indiana at unranked Minnesota

The stakes: If Indiana won it would clinch a trip to the Rose Bowl. One visiting Indiana fan even brought roses down to the team’s bench before the game.

The backstory: Indiana came into the game undefeated in Big Ten play while Minnesota had lost the previous week to also undefeated Purdue.

The game: Minnesota 33 - Indiana 7

Synopsis from Minneapolis Tribune November 19, 1967

Yesterday's 26 - point margin between the Gophers and the Hoosiers sounds decisive. It was anything but that for three quarters.

The Gophers held a 7-0 lead at halftime only because Indiana had an ineligible receiver downfield, on a second-quarter touchdown that was called back.

The Hoosiers retaliated with the second-half kickoff to tie the score and later, when Minnesota had taken a 13-7 lead, appeared to be moving toward a touchdown and an extra point that would have produced a one - point advantage.

The Gophers weathered that threat and pushed Indiana's smaller defense around at will in the last 15 minutes.

Curtis Wilson, the man who spurred Minnesota over Michigan State month, scored four touchdowns and passed for another. He finished with 118 yards in 20 carries and 5 of 11 pass completion for 46 yards.

His cohorts in an awesome running game were tailback John Wintermute, a reserve in eight previous games, and fullback Jim Carter.

Wintermute accumulated 135 yards in 23 attempts, while Carter carried 19 times for 94 yards. Carter gained 70 of that total in the fourth period.

Minnesota had averaged only 129 yards per game by rushing before yesterday's game and had surpassed 200 yards only twice. The figure yesterday 236.

The names of Wilson, Wintermute and Carter are obvious i n the statistics. The men who made those gains responsible are not — guards Tom Fink and Dick Enderle, tackles Ezell Jones and John Williams, centers Steve Lundeen and Jim Pahula and els Charley Sanders and Chip Litten.

The Box score:

The Outcome: Minnesota could not win the Big Ten outright after losing to Purdue, but the Boilermakers went to the Rose Bowl in 1966, so the Big Ten would have sent Minnesota. Unfortunately Indiana won the Old Oaken Bucket, went to Pasadena, and the Gophers had to settle for a share of their 18th conference title.