1962 Ole Miss Rebels football
National Champion (Billingsley, Litkenhous, Sagarin)[1]
Sugar Bowl champion
SEC champion
Sugar Bowl, W 17–13 vs. Arkansas
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
Record10–0 (6–0 SEC)
Head coach
Home stadiumHemingway Stadium

Mississippi Memorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1961
1963 →
1962 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Ole Miss $ 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 0 – 0
No. 5 Alabama 6 – 1 – 0 10 – 1 – 0
No. 7 LSU 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 1
Georgia Tech 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 1
Florida 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Auburn 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 1
Georgia 2 – 3 – 1 3 – 4 – 3
Kentucky 2 – 3 – 1 3 – 5 – 2
Mississippi State 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Tennessee 2 – 6 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Vanderbilt 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
Tulane 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1962 Ole Miss Rebels football team was an American football team that represented the University of Mississippi in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1962 NCAA University Division football season. In their 16th year under head coach Johnny Vaught, the Rebels compiled a perfect 10–0 record, outscored opponents by a total of 247 to 53, won the SEC championship, and defeated Arkansas in the 1963 Sugar Bowl.[2] To date, it is the only undefeated and untied season in Ole Miss football history.

Mississippi finished No. 1 in the season's final Litkenhous Ratings and was awarded the Litkenhous Ratings Championship trophy.[3] This team was apparently the last Litkenhous champion to be awarded the traveling trophy, as the plaque remains at Ole Miss today.[3]

The team ranked No. 3 in the final AP and UPI coaches polls released in December 1962. USC was selected as the national champion by both the AP and UPI.[4][5] In later retrospective analyses, Ole Miss was recognized as the 1962 national champion by the Billingsley Report and Sagarin Ratings.[6] In September 2012, Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork announced that the 1962 team would be receiving national championship rings to honor their accomplishments.[7]

Ole Miss tackle Jim Dunaway was a consensus first-team player on the 1962 All-America college football team.[8] Quarterback Glynn Griffing was also selected as a first-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America.[9] The team's statistical leaders included Griffing with 882 passing yards and 278 rushing yards and Lou Guy with 295 receiving yards and 42 points scored.[10]

The Rebels' undefeated season was set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement taking place on their own campus as James Meredith, aided by the United States government, was attempting to be the first African American student to enroll at the university. In 2012, ESPN aired a documentary on the team, Ghosts of Ole Miss, as part of its 30 for 30 series.[11]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 22at Memphis State*No. 6
W 21–730,100[12]
September 29KentuckyNo. 7
W 14–042,000[13]
October 6Houston*No. 7
  • Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium
  • Jackson, MS
W 40–718,000[14]
October 20TulaneNo. 5
  • Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium
  • Jackson, MS (rivalry)
W 21–023,000[15]
October 27vs. VanderbiltNo. 7
W 35–016,262[16]
November 3at No. 4 LSUNo. 6
W 15–767,500[17]
November 10Chattanooga*No. 4
W 52–79,200[18]
November 17at TennesseeNo. 3
W 19–637,166[19]
December 1Mississippi StateNo. 3
W 13–630,000[20]
January 1, 1963vs. No. 6 Arkansas*No. 3
W 17–1382,900[21]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[22]

Roster

Awards

References

  1. ^ NCAA. "National Poll Champions" (PDF). 2020 NCAA Division I Football records. NCAA.org. p. 117. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  2. ^ "1962 Ole Miss Rebels Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Litkenhous Ratings Championship trophy (Trophy plaque). Hollingsworth/Manning Hall, University of Mississippi: Litkenhous Ratings. July 18, 2013. Retrieved April 5, 2023. The Difference By Score System
  4. ^ "UPI poll". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. December 4, 1962. p. 3B.
  5. ^ "Trojans voted No. 1 in runaway". Bend Bulletin. (Oregon). UPI. December 4, 1962. p. 2.
  6. ^ 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2018. pp. 113, 120. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  7. ^ Normand, Travis (September 14, 2012). "1962 Ole Miss Football Team gets National Title Rings". Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  8. ^ a b "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 9. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  9. ^ Ted Gangi (ed.). "FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  10. ^ "1962 Ole Miss Rebels Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  11. ^ "Ghosts of Mississippi". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  12. ^ Wayne Thompson (September 23, 1962). "Rebels Crack Memphis 21-7 For Warmup". The Clarion-Ledger. pp. 1C, 4C – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Carl Walters (September 30, 1962). "Ole Miss Wins Uphill Fight Against Kentucky Cats 14-0". The Clarion-Ledger. pp. 1C, 3C – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Carl Waters (October 7, 1962). "Rebels Triumph 40-7; Griffing-To-Guy Play Slaughters Cougars". The Clarion-Ledger. pp. 1C, 6C – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Ole Miss shuts out Tulane in rain-swept stadium 21–0". The Clarion-Ledger. October 21, 1962. Retrieved September 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ John Bibbs (October 28, 1962). "Rebs Blank Vandy Again". The Nashville Tennessean. p. 1E – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Bill McIntyre (November 4, 1962). "Griffing Guides Ole Miss Rebels To 15-7 Victory". The Shreveport Times. pp. 1A, 1D – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Wayne Thompson (November 11, 1962). "Ole Miss Rebs In Effortless Win". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved September 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Marvin West (November 18, 1962). "Rebs' 103-Yard TD Spoils Vol Homecoming". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. pp. D1, D5 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Wayne Thompson (December 2, 1962). "Ole Miss Overcomes Valiant State Effort To Climax Perfect Season In 13-6 Win: Bulldogs Fight Hard But Yield To Rival". The Clarion-Ledger. pp. 1B, 2B – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Bill McIntyre (January 2, 1963). "Razorbacks Fall Before Rebel Passes in Sugar". The Shreveport Times. p. 1C – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ DeLassus, David. "Mississippi Yearly Results: 1960–1964". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  23. ^ Pepper, Bobby (February 3, 2021). "Jim Weatherly, Pontotoc native and Hall of Fame songwriter, dies". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Tupelo, Mississippi. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  24. ^ "Vaught Voted Coach of Year". The Clarion-Ledger. December 1, 1962. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Ted Gangi (ed.). "FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 12, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  26. ^ "All-Southeastern Conference 1962". Fitchburg Sentinel. December 4, 1962. Retrieved June 8, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  27. ^ "All-SEC Roster". Palm Beach Daily News. November 29, 1962.
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