1968 Idaho Vandals football team

The 1968 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1968 NCAA College Division football season. The Vandals were led by first-year head coach Y C McNease and played in the Big Sky Conference. Home games were played on campus at Neale Stadium in Moscow, with one home game in Boise at old Bronco Stadium at Boise Junior College.

1968 Idaho Vandals football
Big Sky co-champion
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	5–5 (3–1 Big Sky)
Head coach	Y C McNease (1st season)
MVP	Jerry Hendren[1]
Captains	Kenny Dotson Rob Young
Home stadium	Neale Stadium
Seasons ← 1967 1969 →

1968 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Weber State +	3	–	1	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Montana State +	3	–	1	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Idaho +	3	–	1	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Idaho State	1	–	3	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Montana	0	–	4	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions

This was the last season for Neale Stadium, which opened 31 years earlier in 1937. It hosted only two games in 1968, and the final one was a win over Weber State on November 2. Due to soil erosion, the wooden grandstands were deemed unsafe the following summer and home games were moved to Rogers Field in Pullman for two seasons.

After fullback Ray McDonald won the NCAA rushing title in 1966, the Vandals were involuntarily dropped by the NCAA to the college division in 1967.^[2] After two seasons, Idaho returned to the university division in 1969.^[3]

Hired in early January, McNease was previously an assistant coach at Michigan under Bump Elliott.^[4] For the second straight season, Idaho allowed 77 points at the Astrodome in Houston.^[5]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 14	7:00 pm	vs. Montana State	Memorial Stadium Great Falls, MT	L 14–17	7,500–8,500	[6][7][8]
September 21	1:30 pm	at Washington State*	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA (Battle of the Palouse)	L 7–14	23,612	[9]
September 28	1:00 pm	at Idaho State	Spud Bowl Pocatello, ID	W 35–15		[10]
October 5	12:30 pm	vs. Pacific (CA)*	old Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	W 31–14	8,500	[11]
October 12	1:30 pm	Montana	Neale Stadium Moscow, ID (Little Brown Stein)	W 56–45	10,793	[12]
October 19	1:30 pm	at Oregon*	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	L 8–23	17,250	[13][14][15]
October 26	1:30 pm	at Washington*	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	L 7–37	49,538	[16]
November 2	12:30 pm	Weber State	Neale Stadium Moscow, ID	W 50–42	10,005	[17]
November 9	8:00 pm	at San Jose State*	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	W 35–17	10,500	[18]
November 16	5:30 pm	at No. 14 Houston*	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX	L 3–77	30,412	[5]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Roster

1968 Idaho Vandals football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 10 Jim Wickboldt Jr QB 11 Steve Olson So QB 14 Mitch Lansdell So RB, P 12 Ron Davis So RB 35 Dale Yount So WR 38 Russ Peterson RB, PK 42 Rob Young (C) Sr RB 43 Jim Pearsall Sr RB 44 Jeff Guillory Jr WR 45 Jim Wilund So C 51 Gary Atkinson RG 61 Dick Chatfield LG 62 Tom Nelson Jr OL 67 John Durham So OL 68 Jim Wimer So OL 70 David Bennett OL 71 Jim Thiemens OL 74 Bruce Langmade So LT 77 Bob Haney Jr OL 78 Larry Kelly RT 79 Gary Grove TE 82 Mike Dempsey Jr WR 84 Jerry Hendren Jr TE, P 88 Dwight Bennett TE 89 Gordon DeWaard Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class S 16 Wayne Marquess Jr DB 20 Doug Clark Jr DB 21 Dick Nelson S 24 Bob Juba Jr CB 26 Art Chubb CB 27 Kenny Dotson (C) Sr LB 31 Mike Wiscombe So LB 36 Fred Gabourie DB 40 Craig Wiegman LB 50 Roosevelt Owens Jr LB 55 Joe Tasby Jr DL 60 Tom Carson Jr DL 63 Pat Flynn So DL 66 Ed Clauson Jr DL 69 Brock Jackley So DL 73 Joe Allen DL 75 Ken Salesky LB 80 John Knowles Jr LB 86 Ed Schmidt	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 42 Rob Young Sr	Head coach Y C McNease (1st year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Harvey Griffin (OB, AHC) Benson Holland (DB) Don Robbins (DL) Gary Sloan (Rec) Ed Troxel (OL) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:^[19][20]

All-conference

Wide receiver Jerry Hendren and linebacker Joe Tasby were unanimous selections to the all-conference team, and were joined by running back Rob Young.^[21]

NFL draft

Two juniors from the 1968 Vandals were selected in the 1970 NFL draft, which lasted 17 rounds (442 selections).

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Jerry Hendren	WR	4th	89	Denver Broncos
Bob Haney	T	15th	383	Detroit Lions