"Bowl Bound" - Carded Vintage College Teams for the 1986-1988 SOM College Football Game Part 1

SOM has done numerous College games - these materials are intended for the carded version that sold between 1986 and 1988. (Special thanks to JJ Schrems)

Part One includes eight Old Timer Teams. Set Two includes the 8 2003 BCS Bowls Teams. As an additional bonus, I've included 3 Michigan Wolverines favorites, 1947, 1978, and 1985 in Part One.

Original Publication Date: May 2005.

Link to Other SOM CFB Content on this Blog

1966 Notre Dame and 1966 MSU: The 'Game of The Century' was considered a big event in its day and it still has a lot of luster almost fifty years later. Both teams came into the game with an air of invincibility. MSU was led by its defense, men like Charlie Thornhill, Bubba Smith, and George uWebster. RB Bob Apisa ran tough inside and Jimmy Raye found WR Gene Washington downfield just enough for the Spartans to move.

Facing them was the Notre Dame offense, led by Terry Hanratty and loaded with players who would later show up in the NFL - Bob Gladieux, Rocky Bleier, Nick Eddy, and Jim Seymour. MSU knocked out Hanratty early, but backup Cody O'Brien brought Notre Dame back for an historic tie. MSU as repeat Big 10 conference champions could not go to a bowl, but Notre Dame still had USC on their schedule and after waxing them, they won the 1966 title.  

Dropbox link for 1966 ND and 1966 MSU
Dropbox link to Old Timers Set 1
Dropbox Link to Old Timers Set 2

1966 Alabama: The odd team left out in the ND - MSU debate was also the undefeated National Champions from the prior year. 1966 Alabama featured Ken Stabler throwing to Ray Perkins and their typical stingy, Southeastern Conference leading defense. The Tide allowed only 37 points all year, and a clutch 11-10 win over Tennessee and a 34-7 wipeout of Nebraska keyed their 11-0 season.  A recent (and excellent) book, "Missing Ring", recounts the 1966 Tide season against the backdrop of the civil rights marches and the Sixties. 

1965 UCLA: Gary Beban ran and passed the Bruins to big wins, none bigger than the 1965 Rose Bowl clincher over 6th ranked USC, led by Mike Garrett. Despite dominating in the statistics, USC led only 16-6 with less than 4 minutes left in the game when the Bruins scored on a Beban touchdown pass to Dick Witcher and successfully converted a two-point conversion to make the score 16-14. UCLA recovered an onside kick and two plays later, Beban hit Kurt Altenberg, a decoy for RB Mel Farr, on a 49 yard touchdown bomb to win the game, 20-16. UCLA went on to upset top ranked Michigan State in the 1966 Rose Bowl, 14-12, and Beban carried on to win the Heisman Trophy the next season.


1962 Wisconsin: The 1962 Badgers posted an 8-2 record and were only five points short of an undefeated season. The Big Ten champions were led by standout passer Ron Van Der Kelen and tight end Pete Richter, whose 11 catches and 163 yards powered a furious Rose Bowl comeback that fell just short. 


1967 USC: Led by junior runner O.J Simpson and lineman Ron Mix, USC defeated UCLA in the signature game of the rivalry 21-20 and downed Indiana in the Rose Bowl to finish Consensus National Champions at 10-1. 

1968 OSU: Woody Hayes' "Super Sophs" were led by QB Rex Kern and FB Jim Otis, and their fantastic offense led them to a National Championship, an undefeated season and a big win over USC in the Rose Bowl. 

1947 Michigan: The 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team, coached by Fritz Crisler, was undefeated and untied with a 10-0 record. Led by quarterback Howard Yerges, and All-American halfbacks Bob Chappuis and Bump Elliott, the 1947 Wolverines outscored their opponents, 394-53. The Wolverines victory in the 1948 Rose Bowl still stands as the largest margin of victory, in Rose Bowl history.  Though ranked #2 in the Associated Press poll at the end of the regular season, Michigan was selected as the nation's #1 team in an unprecedented post-bowl Associated Press poll.


1970 Stanford: They stumbled at times, but when the Stanford offense was cooking they could beat anybody. Heisman Trophy winning QB Jim Plunkett threw to receivers Bob Moore and Randy Vataha early and often in leading the Indians to wins over ranked squads Arkansas and UCLA on the road, and 3-time defending Pac-8 champion USC in Palo Alto. Stanford's 29-22 win over Sonny Sixkiller and the Washington Huskies landed them in the Rose Bowl, where Plunkett won MVP honors in a 27-17 dismantling of previously undefeated Ohio State. 


Bonus University of Michigan Content:
1978 Michigan: At 10-2, Bo Schembechler's third consecutive winner over Woody Hayes would be the series' last. Jon Giesler, John Arbeznik, Russell Davis, Curtis Greer, Ron Simpkins, Mike Jolly, and Mike Harden all played big roles, but the MVP was QB Rick Leach. It took decades to eclipse his marks, as Leach (up until just a couple years ago) was still the only Michigan player in the top ten in both passing yards and rushing yards, but he is best remembered for beating Ohio State three straight times. He played very well in the Rose Bowl, but Michigan came up short on Charles White's "phantom touchdown".

1985 Michigan: Not much was expected of this team, but a very strong defense led by All-Americans Mike Hammerstein and Brad Cochran helped Michigan to three consecutive wins over ranked teams early in the season and ending victories over Ohio State and Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl en route to a 10-1-1 finish. On offense, Jim Harbaugh passed occasionally to TE Eric Kattus and receiver John Kolesar and handed off quite a bit to TB Jamie Morris in a typical Bo Schembechler ball control offense.