J.R. WILBURN
Wide Receiver
1963 / 1965
Portsmouth, VA
Biography
Until his senior season Wilburn was a very unlikely candidate to excel in college football – he didn’t start as a junior. He did have a good senior season, and USC coach Marvin Bass brought him south to Columbia while recruiting his Craddock teammate, quarterback Larry Weldon. Wilburn did not play as a sophomore in 1962 and so retained his soph classification for the 1963 season. He was named “Cock of the Walk”, the team award for player of the game for his play against Tulane that season, a game in which he caught a touchdown pass from Dan Reeves on offense and had a key sack on defense. Wilburn also had a big game in a losing cause against Wake Forest, scoring on passes of 27 and 28 yards in a 1-point loss. The offense struggled in 1964, though he did have 82 yards receiving against Georgia. Wilburn earned All-ACC honors for his play in 1965, which featured strong performances against national champion Alabama (89 yards and a touchdown), LSU (5 catches for 70 yards) and Wake Forest (9 for 105). That year the Virginia Beach Sports Club named him Outstanding College Player from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Wilburn played in the Blue-Gray All-Star Game after graduation.

Wilburn had a successful pro career after being drafted by the Steelers in the NFL and the Bills in the AFL. He chose to sign on with Pittsburgh and played five seasons with them, catching 123 passes with his best season being 1967 when he caught 51 passes for 767 yards and five scores. Wilburn went on to a long career with Alcoa after his retirement from the NFL. He was elected to both the USC Sports Hall of Fame and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
Prior Schools
SchoolLocation
Craddock Portsmouth, VA


Roster Listings
YearRosterNumPosHtWtYrGmsGS
1962 Game Programs 81 E 6-2 182 So 0 0
1963 Fill 1963 81 E 6-2 190 So 0 0
1964 North Carolina 1964 81 E 6-2 190 Jr 7 7
1965 1965 Media Guide 81 SE 6-2 195 Sr 4 4
9999 Gamecock Archives All-Time By # 81 WR 0 0
Depth Chart Appearances
DescriptionPositionRank
1963 Media Guide Left End 3rd String
Spring 1964 Left End Starter
1965 Media Guide Split End Starter
10/23/65 vs. LSU Split End Starter
Honors
AwardYear
1965 All-ACC
1965 Blue-Gray Game
Receiving
YearRecYdsAvgTDCom%1DCDTCD%BP%
1963 11 153 13.9 3
1964 21 236 11.2 0
1965 38 562 14.8 1
Tot 70 951 13.6 4
Receiving by QB
YearQBRec Throws Com% Yds 1D TD Success Rate
1963
Dan Reeves 7 10 70.0 117 5 3 70.00
Jack McCathern 1 3 33.3 11 0 0 0.00
1964
Dan Reeves 16 37 43.2 151 9 0 37.84
1965
Mike Fair 29 60 48.3 462 24 0 46.67
Jim Rogers 1 1 100.0 18 1 0 100.00
Success Rate from Official Play-By-Play Stats
YearPass PlaysPass SRPass SPPRush PlaysRush SRRush SPPRecv PlaysRecv SRRecv SPPRecv FC%Tot SPPSPP/Play
1963 0 13 53.8 23.16 13 23.16 1.78
1964 0 37 37.8 6.33 13 6.33 0.17
1965 0 61 47.5 91.8 3 91.8 1.5
Games Started
DateOpponentPosition
1964-09-26 Maryland Left End
1964-10-03 Georgia Left End
1964-10-10 Nebraska Left End
1964-10-17 Florida Left End
1964-10-24 North Carolina Left End
1964-11-07 Citadel Left End
1964-11-21 Clemson Left End
1965-09-18 Citadel Left End
1965-10-02 N.C. State Split End
1965-10-23 LSU Split End
1965-11-20 Clemson Split End
Single Game Receiving Stats
SeasonGame DateOpponentRecYdsTD
1963 1963-10-05 Georgia 1 11 0
1963-11-02 Tulane 1 8 1
1963-11-09 Memphis 1 23 0
1963-11-16 Wake Forest 2 55 2
1963-11-28 Clemson 3 31 0
1964 1964-09-19 Duke 3
1964-09-26 Maryland 2 18 0
1964-10-03 Georgia 6 82 0
1964-10-10 Nebraska 4 28 0
1964-10-17 Florida 2 5 0
1964-10-31 N.C. State 1 5 0
1964-11-07 Citadel 1 11 0
1964-11-21 Clemson 2 55 0
1965 1965-09-25 Duke 3 38 0
1965-10-02 N.C. State 2 23 0
1965-10-09 Tennessee 7 86 0
1965-10-16 Wake Forest 9 105 0
1965-10-23 LSU 5 70 0
1965-10-30 Maryland 4 69 0
1965-11-13 Alabama 5 99 1
1965-11-20 Clemson 3 72 0
Scoring Plays
DateOpponentQtrTimeUSCOppPlay
1963-11-02 Tulane 2 7 20 J.R. Wilburn, 8-yd pass from Dan Reeves (Jack McCathern kick)
1963-11-16 Wake Forest 2 13 7 J.R. Wilburn, 28-yd pass from Dan Reeves (kick failed)
1963-11-16 Wake Forest 2 19 7 J.R. Wilburn, 27-yd pass from Dan Reeves (pass failed)
1965-11-13 Alabama 3 7 14 J.R. Wilburn, 7-yd pass from Mike Fair (Jimmy Poole kick)
Receptions
YearDateOpponentDownTo GoSideYdlinePlay
1963 1963-10-05 Georgia 3 14 50 J.R. Wilburn, 11-yd pass from Jack McCathern
1963 1963-11-02 Tulane 4 3 TUL 8 J.R. Wilburn, 8-yd pass from Dan Reeves, touchdown
1963 1963-11-09 Memphis 1 10 MEM 43 J.R. Wilburn, 23-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1963 1963-11-16 Wake Forest 1 10 WFU 28 J.R. Wilburn, 28-yd pass from Dan Reeves, touchdown
1963 1963-11-16 Wake Forest 1 10 WFU 27 J.R. Wilburn, 27-yd pass from Dan Reeves, touchdown
1963 1963-11-28 Clemson 2 10 USC 48 J.R. Wilburn, 15-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1963 1963-11-28 Clemson 1 10 CLM 42 J.R. Wilburn, 9-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1963 1963-11-28 Clemson 2 8 CLM 27 J.R. Wilburn, 7-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-09-26 Maryland 2 9 USC 44 J.R. Wilburn, 8-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-09-26 Maryland 2 10 USC 33 J.R. Wilburn, 9-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-10-03 Georgia 1 10 UGA 38 J.R. Wilburn, 15-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-10-03 Georgia 2 11 UGA 24 J.R. Wilburn, 8-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-10-03 Georgia 2 10 UGA 23 J.R. Wilburn, 19-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-10-03 Georgia 3 6 USC 24 J.R. Wilburn, 10-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-10-03 Georgia 2 10 USC 20 J.R. Wilburn, 13-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-10-03 Georgia 1 10 USC 49 J.R. Wilburn, 16-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-10-10 Nebraska 2 10 NEB 48 J.R. Wilburn, 7-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-10-10 Nebraska 1 10 USC 34 J.R. Wilburn, 6-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-10-10 Nebraska 2 4 USC 40 J.R. Wilburn, 5-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-10-10 Nebraska 3 8 USC 29 J.R. Wilburn, 10-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-10-17 Florida 3 7 FLA 47 J.R. Wilburn, 9-yd pass from Dan Reeves (Russell)
1964 1964-10-17 Florida 3 9 FLA 15 J.R. Wilburn loss of 5 on pass from Dan Reeves (Card, Richbourg)
1964 1964-11-07 Citadel 1 10 USC 45 J.R. Wilburn, 11-yd pass from Dan Reeves
1964 1964-11-21 Clemson 3 11 CLM 39 J.R. Wilburn, 10-yd pass from Dan Reeves (J.Bell, Pat Crain)
1965 1965-09-25 Duke 3 21 DUK 49 J.R. Wilburn, 9-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-09-25 Duke 3 6 DUK 39 J.R. Wilburn, 15-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-09-25 Duke 3 5 USC 41 J.R. Wilburn, 14-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-10-02 N.C. State 1 10 USC 47 J.R. Wilburn, 17-yd pass from Mike Fair - SC clipping
1965 1965-10-02 N.C. State 2 8 NCS 23 J.R. Wilburn, 12-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-10-09 Tennessee 4 1 UTN 34 J.R. Wilburn, 10-yd pass from Mike Fair (Petrella)
1965 1965-10-09 Tennessee 2 4 USC 46 J.R. Wilburn, 13-yd pass from Mike Fair (Petrella)
1965 1965-10-09 Tennessee 1 10 UTN 41 J.R. Wilburn, 8-yd pass from Mike Fair (Smith)
1965 1965-10-09 Tennessee 2 7 USC 45 J.R. Wilburn, 7-yd pass from Mike Fair (Fisher)
1965 1965-10-09 Tennessee 1 10 UTN 48 J.R. Wilburn, 15-yd pass from Mike Fair (Frank Emanuel)
1965 1965-10-09 Tennessee 3 6 UTN 32 J.R. Wilburn, 18-yd pass from Jim Rogers (Cameron, Stancell)
1965 1965-10-09 Tennessee 1 10 UTN 40 J.R. Wilburn, 15-yd pass from Mike Fair (Fisher)
1965 1965-10-16 Wake Forest 2 9 WFU 47 J.R. Wilburn, 16-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-10-23 LSU 3 6 USC 22 J.R. Wilburn, 14-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-10-23 LSU 1 10 USC 17 J.R. Wilburn, 13-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-10-23 LSU 3 10 USC 39 J.R. Wilburn, 14-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-10-23 LSU 1 10 LSU 47 J.R. Wilburn, 11-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-10-23 LSU 1 5 LSU 25 J.R. Wilburn, 18-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-10-30 Maryland 2 10 USC 19 J.R. Wilburn, 16-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-10-30 Maryland 3 10 50 J.R. Wilburn, 16-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-10-30 Maryland 2 1 UMD 46 J.R. Wilburn, 13-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-10-30 Maryland 4 10 UMD 39 J.R. Wilburn, 24-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-11-13 Alabama 2 9 USC 36 J.R. Wilburn, 10-yd pass from Mike Fair (Bobby Johns)
1965 1965-11-13 Alabama 1 10 USC 44 J.R. Wilburn, 49-yd pass from Mike Fair (Bobby Johns)
1965 1965-11-13 Alabama 2 7 ALA 7 J.R. Wilburn, 7-yd pass from Mike Fair, touchdown
1965 1965-11-13 Alabama 1 10 ALA 43 J.R. Wilburn, 20-yd pass from Mike Fair (Mosley)
1965 1965-11-13 Alabama 1 10 USC 41 J.R. Wilburn, 13-yd pass from Mike Fair (Sherrill)
1965 1965-11-20 Clemson 3 12 USC 25 J.R. Wilburn, 50-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-11-20 Clemson 1 10 CLM 21 J.R. Wilburn, 7-yd pass from Mike Fair
1965 1965-11-20 Clemson 3 9 USC 46 J.R. Wilburn, 16-yd pass from Mike Fair
Defense - Sacks
YearDateOpponentDownTo GoSideYdlinePlay
1963 1963-11-02 Tulane 1 10 USC 18 Burguieres sacked for loss of 7 (J.R. Wilburn)
Defensive Plays
YearDateOpponentDownTo GoSideYdlinePlay
1964 1964-11-21 Clemson 2 6 CLM 22 Pat Crain rush for no gain (J.R. Wilburn)
1964 1964-11-21 Clemson 3 2 USC 27 Baldwin rush for 3 (Larry Gill, J.R. Wilburn)
1964 1964-11-21 Clemson 3 6 USC 20 Thomas Ray rush for 3 (Jon Linder, J.R. Wilburn)