Bob Yencho (1969) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Bob Yencho

Induction:
1969

Bob Yencho is regarded as one of the most outstanding ends to have ever played football at the University of Southern Mississippi and his great hands and his ability to catch the ball in traffic, in addition to his speed and quickness on defense are remembered by those that saw him play.
   Yencho was the type of player on offense that quarterbacks love to play with. He was the kind of receiver that wanted the ball thrown in his direction in tough situations. He was the type of receiver that wanted the ball when the game was on the line. As a blocker he enjoyed the collisions that occurred as he was trying to open a hole for one of the running backs to fight through and it was because of that attitude that he became one of the most devastating blockers of his era.
   It was that same love for contact that made him such an outstanding defensive end as well. He loved to fight off the blocks and put pressure on the quarterback or drop opposing ball carriers for losses and because he became so good at it, the opposition didn’t run in his direction that often.
   Yencho also had a great love for the game of football. He hailed from McKeesport, Pennsylvania, an area of the country known for great football and because of the level of football played there, he was ready to play almost from the day he set foot on the campus.
   He was a red-shirt during the 1954 season, but as a freshman in 1955 he saw plenty of action. As a reserve end on both sides of the ball, Yencho wound up catching six passes for 50 yards and a touchdown on a team that finished 9-1 and won its last seven games of the season. Only two players caught more passes that year than he did and the Southern offense that year averaged 363.1 total yards a game and the defense allowed only 49 points and an average of 122.0 yards per game.
   Although he was hobbled by injuries during the 1956 season, Yencho still managed to catch nine passes for 90 yards and a touchdown in a reserve role again on both offense and defense. Despite being limited by injuries he finished third on the team in receiving as the team went 7-2-1 that year, averaged 349.8 total yards a game and played West Texas State in the Tangerine Bowl.
   Yencho moved into a starting role at end in 1957 and continued to make contributions on both sides of the ball. His junior year would see him catch four passes for 120 yards (30.0 average) and a touchdown as he was the leading pass receiver among the ends. That 1957 team went 8-3 and returned to the Tangerine Bowl to face East Texas State.
   He would be one of the key players on the 1958 team that went 9-0 and won the UPI College Division National Championship. Yencho would lead that championship team in receiving with 11 catches for 230 yards (20.9 average) and two touchdowns.
   Yencho was a first team Little All-American in 1958.