Chippewas Football (IIAC, 1968)

 

1968 Homecoming: Chippewas vs. Illinois State Redbirds

     1968 was the 72nd season of Central Michigan football and 20th in the Division 2 Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC). Home games were still played at Alumni Field, between Theunissen Stadium and Finch Fieldhouse.

    Roy Kramer was in his second season as head coach. CMU was in the middle of an incredible stretch of coaching stability at this time. From 1951 to 1993, Central Michigan employed just three head coaches: Bill Kelly, Kramer, and Herb Deromedi. These days, mid-major programs cycle through coaches--as soon as a head coach is successful, the "Power Five" schools come calling.

     Kramer's squad was coming off an 8-2 record and conference co-championship (with Illinois State) in 1967. The following year would be no different, as the Chippewas were co-champs again in the IIAC with Illinois State. 

     The IIAC was a small conference, fielding just four teams (3 of which were in Illinois), forcing each team to schedule more than twice the amount of non-conference games each year. The Chippewas were able to play a few in-state opponents that year, including Northern Michigan, Wayne State and Hillsdale. Oddly enough, they only had three road games all season.

     This program is from the October 26, 1968, game vs. the Illinois State Redbirds. Not only was this Homecoming in Mount Pleasant, but a crucial game for the conference title. The Chippewas prevailed, 19-16, to take sole possession of first place. However, a 30-28 loss to Western Illinois at Alumni Field the following week ensured a second-straight co-championship with the Redbirds.

   

Here is the roster for the 1968 Chippewas. In the modern era of college football, CMU recruits many players from across the country, especially in the South. Back in the 1960s, this wasn't the case. Similar to the 1940 Bearcats roster, Roy Kramer and CMU recruited almost all of it's players from Michigan. In fact, only one player on the roster, sophomore defensive end Dave Roberts of Toledo, was the lone out-of-state Chippewa that year. There are a lot of players from Traverse City, Grand Rapids and the Detroit area. There are even a couple players from The Thumb: junior back Tom Main from Vassar, and sophomore defensive tackle Jim Walter from Cass City.
     The largest player on the roster for the 1968 Chippewas was Ralph Burde, sophomore defensive tackle from Port Huron, who was 6'6" and 245 lbs.
     

     Also included in this post are two pictures of junior defensive end Bucky Colton. Colton, from Midland, was profiled on pages 24-25 in an article titled "Bucky Colton...the happy defender..". He was a "Little All-American" candidate that season for CMU and was All-IIAC first team in 1967 and 1968.
     These pictures show what CMU's uniforms looked like back then. Obviously, this is long before the "Flying C" was used, but it's even before the spear and feather appeared on the helmet as well. It's kind of unusual to see CMU wearing a white helmet (before alternate jerseys became in vogue).

     The jersey was pretty simple, a maroon jersey with "CENTRAL MICHIGAN" above the numbers, a style that would be used through the 1980s. The helmet appears to be white, with a gold stripe on top of a maroon stripe, and a grey facemask. Pretty sure the pants were white with maroon and gold stripes.
     Seeing that  this is a homecoming program, there are plenty of pictures of not only of Homecoming Queen candidates, but the Queen's Candidate Assembly. The assembly took place in a jam-packed Finch Fieldhouse, the basketball stadium at the time.

     As with all programs, there are plenty of advertisements, and a few of the businesses still exist to this day. Pisanello's Pizza has an ad on page 9, with "prices starting at 90 cents" with fast, free delivery. Pisanello's still exists on 110 North Main Street. Jon's Country Burgers has an ad on page 28, and also still exists at 1030 S. Mission Street. Page 14 has Pizza King, which is currently Mount Pleasant's oldest pizzeria, having been in town since 1962. And on page 21 is Vic's Shop Rite, now Ric's Food Center, on 705 S. Mission.
     The Student Book Exchange (SBX) was located on the north end of campus, and was still around during my time at CMU, but eventually closed in 2014. Page 28 has an ad for WCEN FM 94.5, then the radio home of CMU football with Tim Moore on play-by-play. WCEN still exists, as 94.5 The Moose, a country music station. 98.5 WUPS is the current home of Chippewa athletics.    

References:

The Official 2018 Chippewa Football Media Guide, CMU Athletics