1960 Missouri Tigers football team

1960 Missouri Tigers football
National champion (Poling System)
Big 8 champion
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 21–14 vs Navy
ConferenceBig Eight Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 4
APNo. 5
Record11–0 (7–0 Big 8)
Head coach
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1959
1961 →
1960 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Missouri $ 7 – 0 – 0 11 – 0 – 0
No. 11 Kansas† 6 – 0 – 1 7 – 2 – 1
Colorado 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Iowa State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Oklahoma 2 – 4 – 1 3 – 6 – 1
Nebraska 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Oklahoma State 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Kansas State 0 – 7 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • † Kansas' conference victories against Colorado and Missouri were forfeited by Big Eight sanctions, though both are recognized as Kansas victories by Kansas and the NCAA.[1]
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1960 Missouri Tigers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Missouri in the Big Eight Conference (Big 8) during the 1960 college football season. The team compiled an 11–0 record (7–0 against Big 8 opponents), won the Big 8 championship, defeated Navy in the Orange Bowl, was ranked No. 5 in the final AP Poll, and outscored its opponents 295 to 93. Led by third-year head coach Dan Devine,[2][3] the team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri.

The 1960 season included one of the most famous games in the history of Missouri vs. Kansas rivalry. Missouri had won its first nine games and was top-ranked in the polls, but the visiting Jayhawks won 23–7.[4][5] Kansas used an ineligible player, Bert Coan, in the game and the win was officially awarded to Missouri by the Big Eight Conference on December 8. The reversal brought Missouri's record to 11–0 instead of 10–1.[6][7]

The team's statistical leaders included Mel West with 650 rushing yards and 650 yards of total offense, Ron Taylor with 302 passing yards, Danny LaRose with 151 receiving yards, and Donnie Smith with 78 point scored.[8]

The team was featured in the 2024 historical novel "Respectable Roughnecks" by Brendon Steenbergen. The book focused on Dan LaRose during his All-American season, and on West and Norris Stevenson with their struggles as Missouri's first black players.[9]

  1. ^ Morey, Earl (December 9, 1960). "Big Eight voted 5-3 to strip KU's title in Bert Coan action". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). p. 1. The Big Eight faculty committee, meeting in Kansas City, found that Kansas violated league rules in recruiting Coan and order the Jayhawks to forfeit their last two victories-over Colorado and Missouri.
  2. ^ "1960 Missouri Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  3. ^ "2016 Mizzou Football Media Guide" (PDF). University of Missouri. p. 158. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  4. ^ Morey, Earl (November 21, 1960). "MU 'No. 1' for US but KU Big 8's best". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). p. 14.
  5. ^ "Kansas upsets Missouri for loop crown, but losers awarded bid to Orange Bowl". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 20, 1960. p. 1B.
  6. ^ Morey, Earl (December 9, 1960). "Big Eight voted 5-3 to strip KU's title in Bert Coan action". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). p. 1. The move gave MU a 10-0 season record and a 7-0 record in league play.
  7. ^ "Jayhawks lose league title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 9, 1960. p. 2B.
  8. ^ "2014 Mizzou Football Records Book" (PDF). University of Missouri. pp. 26–27. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  9. ^ Steenbergen, Brendon G. (January 8, 2024). Respectable Roughnecks: The True Story of a Forgotten Champion. Independently published. ISBN 979-8-8655-7651-8.