The 1975 Big Ten Conference football season was the 80th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1975 NCAA Division I football season.
The 1975 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, under head coach Woody Hayes, compiled an 11âÂÂ0 record in the regular season, won the Big Ten championship, led the conference in scoring offense (32.0 points per game) and scoring defense (8.5 points allowed per game), and lost to UCLA in the 1976 Rose Bowl. Running back Archie Griffin won the 1975 Heisman Trophy, becoming the only two-time Heisman winner. Quarterback Cornelius Greene won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten's most valuable player, and Pete Johnson led the conference with 156 points scored. Griffin, defensive back Tim Fox, and offensive guard Ted Smith were consensus first-team All-Americans.
The 1975 Michigan Wolverines football team, under head coach Bo Schembechler, compiled an 8âÂÂ2âÂÂ2 record, finished in second place in the Big Ten, and lost to Oklahoma in the 1976 Orange Bowl. Gordon Bell gained 1,390 rushing yards and was selected as Michigan's most valuable player and a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten player. Defensive back Don Dufek was selected as a first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, Football News, and the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
The 1975 Michigan State Spartans football team, under head coach Denny Stolz, compiled a 7âÂÂ4 record and finished in third place in the Big Ten. Charley Baggett led the team with 1,499 total yards, and Levi Jackson gained 1,063 rushing yards and was selected as the team's most valuable player.
Other conference leaders included Minnesota quarterback Tony Dungy with 1,515 passing yards and 1,759 yards of total offense and Purdue wide receiver Scott Yelvington with 686 receiving yards. Wisconsin offensive tackle Dennis Lick was a consensus first-team All-American.
Key<br> AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1975 season<br> AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1975 season<br> PPG = Average of points scored per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold<br> PAG = Average of points allowed per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold<br> MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy; trophy winner in bold
On September 13, 1975, the Big Ten football teams opened the season with five conference games.
On September 20, 1975, the Big Ten teams played 10 non-conference games.
On September 27, 1975, the Big Ten teams played 10 non-conference games.
On October 4, 1975, the Big Ten teams played 10 non-conference games.
On October 11, 1975, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.
On October 18, 1975, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.
On October 25, 1975, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.
On November 1, 1975, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.
On November 8, 1975, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.
On November 15, 1975, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.
On November 22, 1975, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.
On January 1, 1976, Dick Vermeil's UCLA Bruins (ranked No. 11 in the AP Poll) defeated Ohio State (ranked No. 1), 23âÂÂ10, before a crowd of 105,464 in the 1976 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Ohio State had defeated UCLA, 41âÂÂ20, in the regular season and came into the game as a 14-point favorite. Ohio State led, 3-0, at halftime, but Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin fractured a bone in his left hand on the third play of the game. UCLA rallied with 23 points in the second half. UCLA quarterback John Sciarra threw two touchdown passes to Wally Henry covering 16 and 67 yards. Ohio State cut the lead to 16-10 early in the fourth quarter, but Ohio State quarterback then threw two costly interceptions. Late in the game, UCLA's Wendell Tyler ran 54 yards for a touchdown; Tyler finished the game with 155 rushing yards.
On January 1, 1976, Oklahoma (ranked No. 3 in the AP Poll) defeated Michigan (ranked No. 5), 14âÂÂ6, before a crowd of 80,307 in the 1976 Orange Bowl in Miami. Oklahoma took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 39-yard end-around touchdown run by split end Billy Brooks. In the fourth quarter, Oklahoma quarterback Steve Davis ran 11 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0. Midway through the fourth quarter, Michigan linebacker Dave Devich recovered an Oklahoma fumble at the Sooners' two-yard line. Gordon Bell then ran two yards for a touchdown to narrow Oklahoma's lead to 14-6. An attempted two-point conversion failed when Rick Leach was stopped short of the goal line. With its victory over Michigan, Oklahoma rose to No. 1 in the final AP and UPI polls and was the consensus national champion.
1. Tony Dungy, Minnesota (1,515)<br> 2. Randy Dean, Northwestern (1,315)<br> 3. Kurt Steger, Illinois (1,136)<br> 4. Cornelius Greene, Ohio State (1,066)<br> 5. Charles Baggett, Michigan State (854)
1. Archie Griffin, Ohio State (1,450)<br> 2. Gordon Bell, Michigan (1,390)<br> 3. Billy Marek, Wisconsin (1,281)<br> 4. Greg Boykin, Northwestern (1,105)<br> 5. Courtney Snyder, Indiana (1,103)
1. Scott Yelvington, Northwestern (686)<br> 2. Jim Smith, Michigan (553)<br> 3. Ron Kullas ⢠Minnesota (545)<br> 4. Mike Jones ⢠Minnesota (473)<br> 5. Paul Beery ⢠Purdue (454)
1. Tony Dungy, Minnesota (1,759)<br> 2. Cornelius Greene, Ohio State (1,584)<br> 3. Charles Baggett, Michigan State (1,499)<br> 4. Archie Griffin, Ohio State (1,450)<br> 5. Gordon Bell, Michigan (1,401)
1. Tony Dungy, Minnesota (120.8)<br> 2. Kurt Steger, Illinois (104.7)<br> 3. Randy Dean, Northwestern (103.7)
1. Jim Jensen, Iowa (5.8)<br> 2. Archie Griffin, Ohio State (5.5)<br> 3. Rob Lytle, Michigan (5.4)<br> 4. Dave Schick, Iowa (5.4)<br> 5. Lonnie Perrin, Illinois (5.3)
1. Jim Smith, Michigan (23.0)<br> 2. Trent Smock, Indiana (17.1)<br> 3. Paul Beery, Purdue (16.8)<br> 4. Mike Jones, Minnesota (16.3)<br> 5. Brian Baschnagel, Ohio State (15.1)
1. Pete Johnson, Ohio State (156)<br> 2. Gordon Bell, Michigan (84)<br> 3. Billy Marek, Wisconsin (78)<br> 4. Rob Lytle, Michigan (60)<br> 5. Greg Boykin, Northwestern (54)
The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1975 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
Offense
Defense
At the end of the 1975 season, Big Ten players secured four of the consensus first-team picks for the 1975 College Football All-America Team. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:
Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:
Ohio State running back Archie Griffin won the 1975 Heisman Trophy. Michigan running back Gordon Bell finished eighth in the Heisman voting.
Ohio State's Woody Hayes was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.
The 1976 NFL draft was held in New York on April 8âÂÂ9, 1976. The following players were among the first 100 picks:<br>