1963 Stanford Indians football team

1963 Stanford Indians football
Conference	Athletic Association of Western Universities
Record	3–7 (1–4 AAWU)
Head coach	John Ralston (1st season)
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium
Seasons ←  1962 1964  →

1963 Athletic Association of Western Universities football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Washington $	4	–	1	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
USC	3	–	1	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
UCLA	2	–	2	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
Washington State	1	–	1	–	0			3	–	6	–	1
California	1	–	3	–	0			4	–	5	–	1
Stanford	1	–	4	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion

The 1963 Stanford Indians football team represented Stanford University in the 1963 NCAA University Division football season. The team was led by first-year head coach John Ralston. Ralston succeeded Jack Curtice, who had been fired at the end of the previous season. ^[1] The team played home games at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 21	San Jose State *	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	W 29–13	31,000
September 28	Oregon *	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	L 7–36	31,000
October 5	UCLA	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	L 9–10	21,000
October 12	at Rice *	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 13–23	30,000	[2]
October 19	at Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	L 11–19	54,213
October 26	Notre Dame *	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	W 24–14	55,000
November 2	at Oregon State *	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	L 7–10	13,697–17,697
November 9	at USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	L 11–25	57,035
November 16	Washington State *	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	L 15–32	27,500
November 30 [a 1]	California	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (Big Game)	W 28–17	82,000
*Non-conference game

^[3]

1. Rescheduled from November 23 following the Kennedy assassination.

Game summaries

California

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
California	3	0	14	0	17
• Stanford	0	3	12	13	28

• Date: November 30
• Location: Stanford Stadium
• Game attendance: 82,000

Scoring summary

1		CAL	Tom Blanchfield 37-yard field goal	CAL 3–0
2		STAN	Braden Beck 36-yard field goal	Tied 3–3
3		STAN	Steve Thurlow 5-yard run (run failed)	STAN 9–3
3		CAL	Jim Blakeney 7-yard run (Tom Blanchfield kick)	CAL 10–9
3		CAL	Tom Blanchfield 69-yard punt return (Tom Blanchfield kick)	CAL 17–9
3		STAN	Ken Babajian 1-yard run (run failed)	CAL 17–15
4		STAN	Braden Beck 48-yard field goal	STAN 18–17
3		STAN	Steve Thurlow 5-yard run (Braden Beck kick)	STAN 25–17
4		STAN	Braden Beck 46-yard field goal	STAN 28–17

The 66th Big Game was scheduled for November 23, but after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, like nearly all sporting events, the game was canceled and rescheduled for the following week. ^[4] Stanford was winless in the conference coming into the game, and following a California punt return for a touchdown, were behind their rival 17–9 late in the second half. But the Indians fought back, scoring the last 19 points in the game on two touchdowns and two field goals to win the game. ^[5]

Roster

1963 Stanford Cardinal football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class   Steve Thurlow Sr OL Marvin Harris Sr FB Ray Handley So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Jack Chapple Jr DT Gary Pettigrew So DB Richard Ragsdale Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach John Ralston Coordinators/assistant coaches Dutch Fehring –Assistant Bob Gambold –Assistant Robert Jones –Assistant Leon McLaughlin –Assistant Rod Rust –Assistant Bill Walsh –Defensive backs Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Players drafted by the NFL/AFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL/AFL Club [b 1]
Steve Thurlow	Running back	2	25	New York Giants
Bob Nichols	Tackle	9/18	122/142	Pittsburgh Steelers/ Houston Oilers [b 2]
Dick Leeuwenburg	Tackle	11/17	154/134	Chicago Bears/ Houston Oilers [b 3]
Marv Harris	Linebacker	13	175	Los Angeles Rams

^{[6] [7]}

1. AFL Draft selections shown in italics.
2. Signed with Pittsburgh.
3. Signed with Chicago.

References

1. "Coach Jack Curtice fired by Stanford". The News and Courier. November 27, 1962. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
2. "Rice trips Tribe, 23–13". The Fresno Bee. October 13, 1963. Retrieved March 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Schedule/Results (1963 Stanford)". NCAA Statistics. National Collegiate Athletic Association . Retrieved May 24, 2025.
4. Migdol, Gary (1997). Stanford: Home of Champions. Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing LLC. p. 140. ISBN   1-57167-116-1.
5. "Stanford defeats California by 28–17". The Register-Guard. December 1, 1963. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
6. "1964 NFL Draft" . Retrieved November 25, 2013.
7. "1964 AFL Draft" . Retrieved November 25, 2013.