1969 Doane Tigers football team

1969 Doane Tigers football
NIAC champion
ConferenceNebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Record8–0 (5–0 NIAC)
Head coach
CaptainDick Held, Larry Green, Paul Schelstraete
Home stadiumSimon Field
Seasons
← 1968
1970 →
1969 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 11 Doane $ 5 – 0 – 0 8 – 0 – 0
Nebraska Wesleyan 4 – 1 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Concordia (NE) 1 – 2 – 1 4 – 5 – 1
Midland 1 – 3 – 0 1 – 7 – 0
Dana 0 – 3 – 1 2 – 6 – 1
Hastings 0 – 2 – 0 2 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA poll

The 1969 Doane Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Doane University as a member of the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC) during the 1969 NAIA football season. In their 15th year under head coach Al Papik, the team compiled an 8–0 record (5–0 against NIAC opponents), won the NIAC championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 272 to 95. Doane was ranked No. 11 in the final NAIA rankings in late November.[1]

The 1969 season was the fourth of four consecutive undefeated seasons and part of a 38-game undefeated streak that began with the last two games of the 1965 season and continued until September 19, 1970.[2][3] In October 1969, Sports Illustrated published a feature story on the rise of Doane football, noting,

That Doane, with an enrollment of 738 (492 boys), should become a football power is as surprising as if Ohio State gave up the game. The school itself was founded 97 years ago and, though it started playing football in 1895, never, never before has there been anything like this.[2]

Doane tailback Mike Sallier rushed for 1,054 yards on 229 carries, averaged 131.77 rushing yards per game, and scored 96 points in eight games.[4][1] Doane quarterback Larry Green ranked among the NAIA leaders with 1,054 passing yards, an average of 195.7 yards per game.[4] Larry Green, Dick Held, and Paul Schelstraete were the team captains. Held, a senior linebacker, wrote a weekly column in the school newspaper chronicling the season.[5][6][7]

At the end of the regular season, the team was under consideration to participate in the first annual Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl and the Mineral Water Bowl,[8] but the players voted to refuse any postseason bowl offers.[9][10]

The team played its home games at Simon Field in Crete, Nebraska.

  1. ^ a b "Sallier Ranked 4th In Scoring". The Lincoln Star. November 22, 1969. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b "A Small School, but You Can Learn To Hate It". Sports Illustrated. October 13, 1969.
  3. ^ Jacob Knabel (June 8, 2016). "A win for the ages: ending the nation's longest unbeaten streak". Concordia University Nebraska (reprinted from Football).
  4. ^ a b "Doane Star Loses Lead". Omaha World-Herald. November 15, 1969. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Looking Back". The Doane Owl. September 16, 1969. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Looking Back". The Doane Owl. September 23, 1969. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Looking Back". The Doane Owl. October 21, 1969. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Abe Goteiner (November 11, 1969). "NCAA, NAIA and Mineral Bowl Are All Interested". The Doane Owl. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Tigers Vote Down Bowl; Enthusiasm Way Down". The Doane Owl. November 18, 1969. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Doane Gridders Reject Trip To Bowl". The Lincoln Star. November 13, 1969. p. 35 – via Newspapers.com.