[1] The team played its home games at Cessna Stadium in Wichita, Kansas. Wichita State cancelled its games against Utah State (Oct. 3) and Southern Illinois (Oct. 10) and moved its game against Cincinnati from Oct. 17 to Oct. 31. The Shockers took 46 players to the game, 39 of them freshmen and sophomores. This years is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday. But they could not pull the overweight plane, a Martin 404, out of a box canyon. John Hoheisel, linebacker and team captain. This is an opportunity to put the events in the publics mind, Stephens said in 2014. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Bob Seaman took over as head coach after the crash. After starting all 14 games for Michigan in 2021 and injuring his knee three games into 2022, Cade McNamara looks at his move to Iowa as a fresh start. On Saturday, Nov. 14, 1970, a plane carrying members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team and coaching staff crashed in West Virginia killing all 75 people on board and plunging the university and community into grief. There was talk over the summer about reviving the football program. (AP Photo)ASSOCIATED PRESS, Virginia Tech head football coach Frank Beamer places a memorial stone in honor of former Va Tech players Frank Loria and Rick Tolley at the Marshall memorial site at Springhill Cemetery in Huntington, W.Va. on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011. That event is the subject of the 2006 movie "We Are Marshall," starring Matthew McConaughey. Head coach Ben Wilson, 14 players, and 16 others died on October 2 in the Wichita State University football team plane crash. All Rights Reserved. 9-ranked football team the Arkansas Razorbacks. 1 Houston, How Wichita State basketball coach Billy Kennedy hasnt let Parkinsons slow him down, While others shy away, Wichita States Craig Porter sees opportunity in the mid-range, Who I do it for: WSUs Jaron Pierre puts on a show for family in New Orleans homecoming. Ahlberg traveled to Colorado with the families to visit survivors and identify the dead. The official 1970 Football Roster for the North Dakota State Bison It is also available at watch.kpts.org. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Record: 0-9 (123rd of 123) (Schedule & Results). The site is accessible after a short hike and friends and family members still visit. The NTSB also cited the overloaded condition of the plane and a virtual absence of planning by the flight crew. The Wichita State Shockers football team was the college football program of Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. 9 Arkansas had the plane carrying their starters not crashed three weeks before, but it was even more pronounced with the young players they were forced to use. You really do. Mike Bruce, I hate like hell to fly. John Duren, 19, Oklahoma City, Okla., Sophomore TE, Randy Kiesau, 20, Clinton, Okla., Junior CB, Mal Kimmel, 21, St. Genevieve, Mo., Senior C, Carl Krueger, 19, Chicago, Ill., Sophomore DE, Tom Owen, 20, Temple Terrace, Fla., Junior RB, Gene Robinson, 21, Dayton, Ohio, Junior TE, Tom Shedden, 20, Oklahoma City, Okla., Junior OT, Richard Stines, 19, Kansas City, Kan., Sophomore G, Jack Vetter, 21, McPherson, Kan., Senior DT, Bert Katzenmeyer, 52, Elwood City, Penn., Athletic Director, Ray Coleman, 45, Wichita, Kan., Shocker Club Chairman, Minority Owned Businesses & Cultural Opportunities in the AAC, Wichita State Crash Survivor Relives Details, Crash site an important memorial for 'Gold Plane' family, Triumph and tragedy: Scotties grad Barkell starred at Wichita State, recalls plane crash, Forgotten tragedy: Survivors' quest to keep memories of 1970 Wichita State crash from fading, Daughter of WSU plane crash victim never knew her 'Da-da', 1990: Those left behind mourned and built new lives, Three generations later, the secrets of Wichita State's devastating plane crash are still unfolding, Wichita State plane crash killing 31 in 1970 revisited Saturday, Youve got to go on: Children of Wichita State crash victims share a 50-year bond, Wichita State marks anniversary of 1970 football team plane crash - Wichita Eagle, Overshadowed: The Wichita State Football Crash, Black & Gold: Remembering the WSU Plane Crash, Surviving Oct. 2nd: Remembering the Fallen with Rick Stephens, 'Gold Plane' & Silver Plume: the Wichita State Plane Crash Revisited, A Look at the WSU Plane Crash's Aftermath, Crash Site an Important Memorial for 'Gold Plane' Family, Former Utah State player still feels linked to Shockers, Shocker Summer: 1970 healing process began on a Saturday night in Little Rock, Shockers forever: Area graduates were part of Wichita State program when plane crash killed 31 in 1970, Greg Hansen: Remembering the Wichita State plane crash, 50 years later, The Valley of No Return: The Story of the Wichita State University Football Team Plane Crash, Wichita State University Football Team Airplane Crash Collection. Senior center Hayden Gillum became the first to make the leap, announcing Friday on social media that he will be back for the . Outland commented, "It seems to me that the distance required in three downs would almost eliminate touchdowns, except through fakes or flukes. It gave us a real release and a real outlet and a real focus, safety Bruce Gerleman said. Of the 40 people on board, 29 died at the scene and two died later. Find out more. It was the first night football game played west of the Mississippi River. Not a subscriber yet? Do you have a blog? "I look up there and think of them." Lewis could have been on the list. Those that died they wouldnt have wanted us to quit. We were even joking about being so close to the ground, saying things like, Look, you can see the rabbits down there. Wichita State player Glenn Kostal, When we climbed out of the plane, I could tell with one quick look that I was in about the best condition. Marshall lost, 17-14. really had to, essentially, trust myself. (AP Photo/Randy Snyder)AP. With permission from the NCAA, the Shockers played seven freshmen in their starting lineup. I headed down the mountain to get help and a pickup came and took me up to a construction site where we called for help.". Herald-Dispatch photo archive - Marshall University (dark jerseys) beat Morehead State (white jerseys) 17-7 in the season opener Sept. 19, 1970, at Fairfield Stadium. They met Wichita coming the other way. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. 31 people were killed. Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 6:41AM. Judy Dunn, 39, Oklahoma City, flight attendant, Judy Lane, 28, Oklahoma City, flight attendant, Oct. 31: Cincinnati 35, WSU 5 (moved from Oct. 17), Leading passer: Rick Baehr, 43 of 121, 514 yards, Leading receiver: Bill Moore, 12 for 175 yards, Honorable mention All-Missouri Valley Conference: C Kelly Cook, RB Don Gilley, DT Don Pankratz, LB George Whitfield, LB Bruce Gerleman. [18][19], In 2012, an attempt was made to begin a club-level football team at Wichita State with hopes of eventually reviving the football program, though no official endorsement was given by the university.[20]. [2], 1970 NCAA University Division football season, 1970 Missouri Valley Conference football standings, Wichita State University football team plane crash. [4], In the 1905 season, the Coleman Company set up temporary gas-powered lighting for a night game against Cooper College (now called the Sterling Warriors). "[9] According to Nelson, Washburn completed three passes, and Fairmount completed two. By the half, the freshmen were veterans. Make sure you're in the loop --- take five seconds to Sign up for our FREE Razorbacks newsletter now!). The future of the 1970 football season was in doubt, with the decision lying in the had no objection of using freshman in the remaining games; neither did the Missouri The Shockers went 6-5 in 1972 and didnt post another winning season until going 8-3 in 1983. The Shockers would have likely still been over-matched against No. Joyce Series No: FBC613 Holdings: Box 1 (FBC613-1) Abilene Christian (Abilene Christian University - Abilene TX) 17 Sep 1960 vs East Texas State - 15 Oct 1960 vs Howard Payne - 29 Oct 1960 vs Mississippi Southern 30 Sep 1961 vs Lamar Tech 3 Nov 1962 vs Arlington State 26 Oct 1963 vs Trinity teacher and coach at Robinson Middle School, he died in 2010 from pancreatic cancer. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. We present them here for purely educational purposes. The NCAA Hugh McElroy, who that week became the . Caden Henderson NCAA Stats Splits: Stat Type: Pace Adjusted Season View See our list of forfeits and vacated games for more details. In the afterglow of Kansas State's remarkable 2022 football season, some pieces are starting to fall into place for next year. And thats only because I had to. Randy Jackson, You get used to sounds in the valley. A: The Black plane followed the original flight plan, north toward Laramie, Wyo., to gain altitude before crossing the Rockies. On Friday, October 2, 1970, Wichita State traveled to Logan, Utah, in two chartered planes, designated as "Gold" and "Black" according to the school colors, for a game against Utah State. Texas A&M Sports Information. Thanks for visiting PennLive. The pilots of the Gold plane changed their flight plan, deciding to give their passengers a scenic view of the Rocky Mountains. It wasnt a great team to begin with. A: Other factors budget woes,losing records, low attendance and loss of conference affiliation caused the demise of football. To read last week's Throwback Thursday on the previous nine times Arkansas and Texas A&M played when both were ranked, click here. of the survivors to Denver. All 75 on board were killed. In addition to the 14 players killed, eight other players survived the crash with varying degrees of injury: On the scheduled game day, the team held a memorial service at Romney Stadium in Logan and placed a wreath on the 50-yard line. Fifty years ago Friday. According to history.com, on the plane were 37 football players, head coach Rick Tolley, team doctors, the university athletic director and 25 football boosters from the Huntington, W.Va. community. The "Gold" plane, a Martin 404, carried 36 passengers and a crew of four. Wichita waving white flag on Fourth of July skyrockets | Opinion, Wichita man sentenced for murdering 19-year-old who tried to steal $450 worth of marijuana, Kansas State at West Virginia could have major Big 12 Tournament seed implications, AAC tournament seeding on the line for Wichita State basketball: a look at tiebreakers, The bizarre stats the Wichita State basketball team finished with in loss to Houston, Turnovers spoil valiant road effort for Wichita State basketball in loss to No. That meant the Arkansas game was the beginning of what the Shockers were calling their "Second Season," in which they obtained special permission from the NCAA and Missouri Valley Conference to play freshmen, who were ineligible for varsity play back then. Do you have a sports website? On September 12, Wichita State opened its season with a 4114 loss to Gene Stallings' Texas A&M Aggies before a crowd of 30,006 in College Station, Texas. Understanding the 1970 Wichita State football plane crash Two planes carrying Wichita State University football players, coaches, administrators and fans refueled on Oct. 2, 1970, in. 84 defensive end Pete Naputano was a junior from Altoona who was on the injured list and not on the plane. The Shockers were a common opponent for the Razorbacks in those days; they played five times between 1964 and 1980. [5] Fairmount won the game 240.[6]. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. [11], When Willie Jeffries became Wichita States head coach in 1979, he became the first African-American head coach of a Division I-A football program. The first game following the air tragedy was Saturday, October The plane crashed while trying to land at Tri-State Airport in Kenova, W.Va. Bulldozers plow through wreckage of the DC9 chartered jet that crashed in Kenova, W.V., Nov. 15, 1970. AP. [16], In 1998, an advisory committee at Wichita State recommended reinstating the football program at Wichita State after a 15-month study for $70,000. He would subsequently drop the plan weeks later. '70 at 9 a.m. each October 2. Pennsylvania had a connection to the Marshall tragedy No. [21], Wichita State won fourteen conference titles.[22]. We will use old editions of the "Arkansas Recruiting Report" compiled by Otis Kirk during the 1990s, as well as newspaper reports accessed via microfilm, oral stories and other sources. Or write about sports? Id say Wichita State and they would say, Thats the school that had the plane crash, wasnt it? Id say, Yeah, it sure was. But nothing else, because I didnt want to talk about it. Dave Lewis, In almost every conversation, when people ask you where you went to school, they remember the crash and ask about it. Portrait of John Yeros near the site of a plane crash near Loveland Pass, Colo., on Thursday, August 27, 2010. KMUW, 89.1-FM, will broadcast The Pieces that Remain: Remembering the WSU Plane Crash, at 5 p.m. Friday. The highlight of the game for Wichita was a 105-yard kickoff return by tailback Don Gilley in the first quarter. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. The crash site is about a 575-mile drive from Wichita and is above I-70 on the north side of the highway, sitting on public land in the Arapaho National Forest. I headed down the mountain to get help and a pickup came and took me up to a construction site where we called for help. Wichita State player Mike Bruce, If the crew had been concerned about the aircrafts ability to clear the terrain ahead less than one minute sooner, when the aircraft was 1 1/2 to 2 miles east of Dry Gulch, a successful turnaround could have been executed. The first home game was WSU's homecoming on October 31 against the University of Cincinnati Valley Conference. 1970-71 Men, 1958-59 Men, 2008-09 Women, 1975-76 Men, 1995-96 . In one of the worst tragedies of college sports history, a plane carrying WSU football Trailing 216 in the fourth quarter, Wichita's freshman quarterback Tom Owen threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to wingback Tim Thissen to narrow the score to 2112. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Wichita State has won fourteen conference titles. College Football at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. A fictional version of the program is shown in the Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso. "[7] The Los Angeles Times reported that there was much kicking and that the game was considered much safer than regular play, but that the new rule was not "conducive to the sport."[8]. Fewer people are familiar with another football tragedy that happened the month before the crash of an airplane carrying Wichita State University football players. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). The game was officiated by then Washburn head coach John H. Outland. (AP Photo/Henry Griffin)AP. If you have this information and would like to share The Shockers started seven freshmen and 10 sophomores and scored five points on a 37-yard field goal by John Potts and a safety when Cincinnati quarterback Bill Carter was tackled in the end zone. Date Original: Circa 1970. The team compiled a 09 record (04 against conference opponents), finished last out of five teams in the MVC, and was outscored by a total of 381 to 99. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Prior to the game, a 15-minute ceremony featuring astronaut John Swigert was held to commemorate the team's return to Cessna Stadium for its first game since the crash. He earned All-MVC honors as a senior and played three seasons in the NFL. This story was originally published October 1, 2015, 12:36 PM. Taylor died Oct. 28 in a San Antonio hospital. The Shockers voted 76-1 to continue the season against Arkansas in Little Rock. 1990 Roster # Player Position Birthday Hometown High School Height Weight; 1: . [8], On November 7, the Shockers showed marked improvement in a 2112 loss to Tulsa. Sports Reference Baseball; Football; Basketball; Hockey; Calcio; Blog; Stathead . We will take a step back in time and look back at something that happened in Razorbacks history. The team's statistical leaders included Rick Baehr with 513 passing yards, Don Gilley with 290 rushing yards and 12 points scored, Bill Moore with 175 receiving yards.[2]. Find out the latest on your favorite NCAAB players on . [15] Thirty-one persons were killed in the crash, including the following 14 players:[16][17], The fatalities also included head coach Ben Wilson (and his wife Helen), athletic director Bert Katzenmeyer (and his wife Marian), team manager Marty Harrison (age 19), team trainer Tom Reeves, admissions director Carl Fahrbach, ticket manager Floyd Farmer, Shocker Club chairman Ray Coleman (and his wife Maxine), Kansas state representative Ray King (and his wife Yvonne), the plane's pilot Dan Crocker, and two stewardesses.[17][24].