1975 Kentucky Wildcats football
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record2–8–1 (0–6 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJon Mirilovich (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorCharlie Bailey (1st season)
Home stadiumCommonwealth Stadium
Seasons
← 1974
1976 →
1975 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Alabama $ 6 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
Florida 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
No. 19 Georgia 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Ole Miss 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Tennessee 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 5 – 0
Vanderbilt 2 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
LSU 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Auburn 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 2
Mississippi State 1 – 4 – 1 6 – 4 – 1
Kentucky 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
  • Mississippi State later forfeited all 1975 wins and one tie due to NCAA violations.
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1975 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference during the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. The Wildcats scored 132 points while allowing 183 points, finishing 2–8–1 overall, 0–6 in the SEC.[1][2]

Wally Pesuit and Tom Ranieri were chosen as team captains.[3]

Kentucky opened with a 27–8 home victory against Virginia Tech, then lost 14–10 at home to Kansas, followed by a 10–10 tie at home against Maryland. A road game against Penn State ended in a 10–3 loss, putting Kentucky at 1–2–1 entering SEC play.[4][5]

Kentucky lost its home conference opener to Auburn, 15–9, and then lost 17–14 at LSU. A 21–13 loss at Georgia was followed by a 23–10 home win against Tulane. A 13–3 road loss at Vanderbilt and 48–7 road loss at Florida led to a 17–13 home loss in the season finale against Tennessee.[6][7]

The 1975 Kentucky team lost only two games by more than 9 points, and had three losses by 4 or fewer points.[8][9] The Maryland team that tied Kentucky 10-10 finished the season as the Atlantic Coast Conference champions, with an undefeated record in conference play.[10]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 13Virginia Tech*
W 27–856,616[11]
September 20Kansas*
  • Commonwealth Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
L 10–1456,467[12]
September 27No. 20 Maryland*
  • Commonwealth Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
T 10–1055,000[13]
October 4at No. 10 Penn State*
L 3–1060,225[14]
October 11Auburn
  • Commonwealth Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
L 9–1557,722[15]
October 18at LSU
L 14–1761,083[16]
October 25at Georgia
L 13–2150,000[17]
November 1Tulane*
  • Commonwealth Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
W 23–1056,500[18]
November 8at Vanderbilt
L 3–1333,815[19]
November 15at No. 14 Florida
L 7–4859,671[20]
November 22Tennessee
  • Commonwealth Stadium
  • Lexington, KY (rivalry)
L 13–1756,000[21]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[22][23]

Roster

1975 Kentucky Wildcats football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
OT 69 Warren Bryant Jr
WR 80 Randy Burke Jr
RB 41 Steve Campassi Sr
RB 40 Sonny Collins Sr
C 53 Thon Dornbrook Fr
WR 87 Bill Finn So
G 59 Dan Flower So
QB 5 John McGrath Jr
OT 65 Wally Pesuit Sr
QB 12 Derrick Ramey So
Defense roster/Player
Pos. # Name Class
LB 87 Lester Boyd Fr
DE 97 Art Still So
DT 83 Bob Winkel So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
special_teams_players=

))

Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Team players in the 1975 NFL Draft

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Sonny Collins Running back 2 36 Atlanta Falcons
Wally Pesuit Tackle 5 151 Dallas Cowboys
Steve Campassi Running back 16 439 Philadelphia Eagles

[24]

References

  1. ^ "1975 Kentucky Wildcats game by game results". Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  2. ^ 1997 Kentucky Football Media Guide, p.208
  3. ^ 1997 Kentucky Football Media Guide, p.208
  4. ^ 1997 Kentucky Football Media Guide, p.208
  5. ^ "1975 Kentucky Wildcats game by game results". Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  6. ^ 1997 Kentucky Football Media Guide, p.208
  7. ^ "1975 Kentucky Wildcats game by game results". Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  8. ^ 1997 Kentucky Football Media Guide, p.208
  9. ^ "1975 Kentucky Wildcats game by game results". Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  10. ^ 1975 Maryland Terrapins game by game results
  11. ^ "Kentucky quiets Gobblers with stout defense, 27–8". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 14, 1975. Retrieved January 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Alert Hawks whip Kentucky, 14–10". The Salina Journal. September 21, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "10–10 tie irks Kentucky fans". Sunday News Journal. September 28, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Defense carries Penn State". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 5, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Auburn nips Wildcat foe". Panama City News-Herald. October 12, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Bayou Bengals outlast Wildcats for 17–14 win". The Daily Advertiser. October 19, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Georgia overturns Kentucky". The Paducah Sun-Democrat. October 26, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Kentucky outscores Tulane". Panama City News-Herald. November 2, 1975. Retrieved January 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Inspired Vandy tops Kentucky". The Leaf-Chronicle. November 9, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Gators trounce Wildcats". St. Lucie News Tribune. November 16, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Tennessee foils UK 17–13, saves Battle from the axe". The Courier-Journal. November 23, 1975. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "College Football Reference". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  23. ^ 1997 Kentucky Football Media Guide, p.168
  24. ^ "1976 NFL Draft Listing | Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
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