The year was 1968. And Leroy Keyes remembers it well. For many reasons.
Tumult enveloped the nation. There was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. that set off riots in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other cities. Civil rights demonstrations also sparked fury across America, highlighted by a deadly protest in Orangeburg, South Carolina. At Columbia, a school official was held hostage as part of a protest again racists polices at the Ivy League institution.
It was against that backdrop of upheaval 50 years ago that Keyes prepared to play his final season at Purdue. It was a season of individual glory and still resonates in West Lafayette. Keyes remembers it all well.
"We had good players," Keyes said. "It was a special time. But there also was a lot going on across the country back then. There was a lot of unrest with protests over civil rights, the Vietnam War and other things."
The anglar Keyes was the best of a star-studded bunch on this fabulous 1968 squad that provided an exclamation point on the most glorious four-year run (1966-69) in school history. That season, cries of "Give the ball to Leroy" resonated at Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturdays. It was a strategy Purdue head coach Jack Mollenkopf heeded often. Why not? Keyes was one of the best players in the nation on one of the best teams in the nation.
"Has it really been 50 years?" Keyes marveled. "I have been a lucky man."
Purdue fans never will forget 1968. The football program was two years removed from a Rose Bowl win and a season removed from a Big Ten Conference championship campaign in 1967 that saw Keyes lead the nation in scoring and finish No. 3 in the Heisman voting behind UCLA's Gary Beban and USC's O.J. Simpson. Adding to the 1968 preseason hype: Purdue appeared on the cover of the "Sports Illustrated" college football preview issue as the No. 1 team in the nation.
"I'm not sure we have a No. 1 team," Mollenkopf told SI, "but I don't mind that kind of speculation. If you can't look at a season optimistically with our talent, you can't look at anything optimistically."
In addition to the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Keyes, Purdue featured talent like running back Perry Williams, defensive linemen Chuck Kyle and Bill Yanchar, quarterback Mike Phipps, wideout Bob Dillingham and defensive back Tim Foley.
But Marvin Leroy Keyes was the straw that stirred the drink. He was the ultimate do-it-all talent - running, passing, returning kicks and even getting the occasional defensive snap in the secondary. Keyes was college football's Swiss Army knife.
"I was a marked man coming into the season," Keyes said.
Keyes also was a man motivated to have an impact off the field, too, during those days of rage.
"I participated in a couple of sit-ins," Keyes said. "Students at the time were upset with the Vietnam War and a lack of minority faculty on our campus. I was arrested at one protest, and a photo of me went across the wire. My uncle called and said he didn't send me to Purdue to be a protester.
"Sometimes, you have to take a stand if you think something is wrong. I grew up in Newport News, Virginia. I knew what segregation was about. The students appreciated that one of the top football players would sit in on a demonstration with them."
Keyes didn't let down his peers - or fans - when the season dawned, as expectations boiled for Mollenkopf's 13th Purdue team. The Boilermakers were coming off an 8-2 season and No. 9 final ranking in 1967, finishing in a three-way tie for first with Indiana and Minnesota. It was Keyes' first season playing running back after starring in the secondary as a sophomore during the 1966 season. Keyes excelled as a junior in 1967, rushing for 986 yards en route to earning first-team All-American honors. He was back as a senior, ready to reprise his starring role in the backfield along with Phipps.
"You didn't see it coming (in 1967)," Keyes said. "We knew we were good but didn't understand how good we were. We thought Mike Engelbrecht would start at quarterback, but it ended up being Mike Phipps out of nowhere. He set the tone. He could throw the ball and was a great leader. He loved to get dirty and block."
The season began with a bang, as the top-ranked Boilermakers ripped visiting Virginia 44-6 at Ross-Ade. The next week, Purdue played perhaps the biggest game in school annals when it traveled to South Bend to take on No. 2 Notre Dame. It's the only time in school history Purdue has played in a No. 1-vs.-No. 2 clash. And the Boilermakers dominated, racing to a 23-7 lead and never looking back. By the second half, Mollenkopf had called off the dogs as Purdue cruised to a 37-22 triumph. A 43-6 win at Northwestern came the next week, pushing the Boilermakers to 3-0.
Could this team be beaten?
A big test loomed, as Purdue had to play at No. 4 Ohio State. The offense never got on track in Columbus, as the Boilermakers fell 13-0. Purdue dropped to No. 5 in the polls but proceeded to run off three victories in succession, taking down Wake Forest, Iowa and Illinois - all at home. But a 27-13 loss at Minnesota on Nov. 9 derailed the Boilermakers' Big Ten and national title dreams. Purdue closed the season with a win at Michigan State followed by an Old Oaken Bucket victory over Indiana. When the dust settled, Purdue finished No. 10 in the Associated Press poll during an 8-2 season, finishing behind Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten standings.
"We had a juggernaut team," Keyes said. "And to lose the two games we lost was a surprise. We got a little complacent and thought we were better than we were. Still, that 1968 season was one of the greatest I can recall. We had coaches who believed in the players and we had a head coach who commanded respect.
"You will never see me beat my chest and say I am the greatest. If not for Jack Mollenkopf and others, I don't know ... Leroy Keyes might have been at Grambling or FAMU, and no one may have heard of Leroy Keyes. I am always grateful to Purdue."
Tumult enveloped the nation. There was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. that set off riots in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other cities. Civil rights demonstrations also sparked fury across America, highlighted by a deadly protest in Orangeburg, South Carolina. At Columbia, a school official was held hostage as part of a protest again racists polices at the Ivy League institution.
It was against that backdrop of upheaval 50 years ago that Keyes prepared to play his final season at Purdue. It was a season of individual glory and still resonates in West Lafayette. Keyes remembers it all well.
"We had good players," Keyes said. "It was a special time. But there also was a lot going on across the country back then. There was a lot of unrest with protests over civil rights, the Vietnam War and other things."
The anglar Keyes was the best of a star-studded bunch on this fabulous 1968 squad that provided an exclamation point on the most glorious four-year run (1966-69) in school history. That season, cries of "Give the ball to Leroy" resonated at Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturdays. It was a strategy Purdue head coach Jack Mollenkopf heeded often. Why not? Keyes was one of the best players in the nation on one of the best teams in the nation.
"Has it really been 50 years?" Keyes marveled. "I have been a lucky man."
Purdue fans never will forget 1968. The football program was two years removed from a Rose Bowl win and a season removed from a Big Ten Conference championship campaign in 1967 that saw Keyes lead the nation in scoring and finish No. 3 in the Heisman voting behind UCLA's Gary Beban and USC's O.J. Simpson. Adding to the 1968 preseason hype: Purdue appeared on the cover of the "Sports Illustrated" college football preview issue as the No. 1 team in the nation.
"I'm not sure we have a No. 1 team," Mollenkopf told SI, "but I don't mind that kind of speculation. If you can't look at a season optimistically with our talent, you can't look at anything optimistically."
In addition to the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Keyes, Purdue featured talent like running back Perry Williams, defensive linemen Chuck Kyle and Bill Yanchar, quarterback Mike Phipps, wideout Bob Dillingham and defensive back Tim Foley.
But Marvin Leroy Keyes was the straw that stirred the drink. He was the ultimate do-it-all talent - running, passing, returning kicks and even getting the occasional defensive snap in the secondary. Keyes was college football's Swiss Army knife.
"I was a marked man coming into the season," Keyes said.
Keyes also was a man motivated to have an impact off the field, too, during those days of rage.
"I participated in a couple of sit-ins," Keyes said. "Students at the time were upset with the Vietnam War and a lack of minority faculty on our campus. I was arrested at one protest, and a photo of me went across the wire. My uncle called and said he didn't send me to Purdue to be a protester.
"Sometimes, you have to take a stand if you think something is wrong. I grew up in Newport News, Virginia. I knew what segregation was about. The students appreciated that one of the top football players would sit in on a demonstration with them."
Keyes didn't let down his peers - or fans - when the season dawned, as expectations boiled for Mollenkopf's 13th Purdue team. The Boilermakers were coming off an 8-2 season and No. 9 final ranking in 1967, finishing in a three-way tie for first with Indiana and Minnesota. It was Keyes' first season playing running back after starring in the secondary as a sophomore during the 1966 season. Keyes excelled as a junior in 1967, rushing for 986 yards en route to earning first-team All-American honors. He was back as a senior, ready to reprise his starring role in the backfield along with Phipps.
"You didn't see it coming (in 1967)," Keyes said. "We knew we were good but didn't understand how good we were. We thought Mike Engelbrecht would start at quarterback, but it ended up being Mike Phipps out of nowhere. He set the tone. He could throw the ball and was a great leader. He loved to get dirty and block."
The season began with a bang, as the top-ranked Boilermakers ripped visiting Virginia 44-6 at Ross-Ade. The next week, Purdue played perhaps the biggest game in school annals when it traveled to South Bend to take on No. 2 Notre Dame. It's the only time in school history Purdue has played in a No. 1-vs.-No. 2 clash. And the Boilermakers dominated, racing to a 23-7 lead and never looking back. By the second half, Mollenkopf had called off the dogs as Purdue cruised to a 37-22 triumph. A 43-6 win at Northwestern came the next week, pushing the Boilermakers to 3-0.
Could this team be beaten?
A big test loomed, as Purdue had to play at No. 4 Ohio State. The offense never got on track in Columbus, as the Boilermakers fell 13-0. Purdue dropped to No. 5 in the polls but proceeded to run off three victories in succession, taking down Wake Forest, Iowa and Illinois - all at home. But a 27-13 loss at Minnesota on Nov. 9 derailed the Boilermakers' Big Ten and national title dreams. Purdue closed the season with a win at Michigan State followed by an Old Oaken Bucket victory over Indiana. When the dust settled, Purdue finished No. 10 in the Associated Press poll during an 8-2 season, finishing behind Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten standings.
"We had a juggernaut team," Keyes said. "And to lose the two games we lost was a surprise. We got a little complacent and thought we were better than we were. Still, that 1968 season was one of the greatest I can recall. We had coaches who believed in the players and we had a head coach who commanded respect.
"You will never see me beat my chest and say I am the greatest. If not for Jack Mollenkopf and others, I don't know ... Leroy Keyes might have been at Grambling or FAMU, and no one may have heard of Leroy Keyes. I am always grateful to Purdue."