Robert D. Arnold 
A Team of Destiny 
The Unforgettable Story of Indiana’S 1967 Big Ten Championship Season and the Rose Bowl of 1968

By the mid 1960s, Indiana University had hired its sixth football
coach since 1945. The Hoosiers reputation continued to erode.
To the other Big Ten teams, the Hoosiers were patsies! And
their new coach, John Pont, despite a good record at Yale and
Miami (Ohio), had started his first two years at Indiana with a
miserable two wins, sixteen losses and one tie.
By the year 1967, Indiana had little thought of competing for
the Big Ten Championship. It would be considered a successful
campaign if Indiana had a .500 record and beat Purdue. What
nobody expected was that Coach Pont and a determined group
of veterans and sophomores would take the college football
world by storm. With sophomores like quarterback Harry
Gonso, running back John Isenbarger, pass catching whiz Jade
Butcher, and a stout senior led defense Indiana would go
undefeated in its first eight games before being surprised by
Minnesota. Still, the Hoosiers went on to win their first Big
Ten championship since 1945, beating Purdue to claim the Old
Oaken Bucket, and play against the mighty Southern California
Trojans in the Rose Bowl

Über den Autor

Bob Arnold is a graduate of Indiana University and its School of Law. He worked for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana where he became Executive Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Chief Legal Counsel. He has followed Indiana University football and basketball his entire life and is well versed in Hoosier history. Upon his retirement he fulfilled his lifelong ambition to write, initially chronicling his I.U. class of 1954 for their 40th anniversary reunion. In 1996 he wrote Hoosier Autumn, The Remarkable Story of Indiana Universitys 1945 Championship Team, a book acclaimed for its depiction of football and race relations following World War II. His next book, The Rivalry, Purdue and Indiana 1925-2004, encompassed the 75 year history of the Old Oaken Bucket game.
Bob and his wife, Linda, have lived most of their lives in Indianapolis and have also lived in St. Petersburg, Florida. They presently reside near Zionsville.