1975 Washington Huskies football
ConferencePacific-8
Record6–5 (5–2 Pac-8)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDick Scesniak (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorJim Mora (1st season)
MVPAl Burleson (DB)
Captains
Home stadiumHusky Stadium
Seasons
← 1974
1976 →
1975 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 UCLA ^ + 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 1
No. 14 California + 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
Stanford 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 1
Washington 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
No. 17 USC 3 – 4 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Oregon 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
Oregon State 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
Washington State 0 – 7 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – Selected as Rose Bowl representative
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1975 Washington Huskies football team represented the University of Washington in the 1975 NCAA Division I football season as a member of the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8). The Huskies were led by head coach Don James in his first year, and played their home games at Husky Stadium in Seattle. They finished season at 6–5 overall (5–2 in the Pac-8).

Preseason

Coming off a 5–6 season in 1974 under Jim Owens, James inherited a veteran squad with most of the talent on the defensive side of the ball, and they would be relied upon as the offense adjusted to running primarily from the I-formation. Fullback Robin Earl, who switched from tight end after four games last season, and center Ray Pinney were the foundation for the change occurring on that side of the ball.[1]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendance
September 13at Arizona State*
L 12–3550,194
September 20No. 8 Texas*
L 10–2856,000
September 27Navy*
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
W 14–1353,000
October 4at Oregon
W 27–1728,500
October 11at No. 7 Alabama*
L 0–5258,000
October 18Stanford
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
L 21–2445,000
October 25Oregon State
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
W 35–743,500
November 1at No. 13 UCLA
W 17–1329,158
November 8at No. 18 California
L 24–2743,270
November 15No. 13 USC
  • Husky Stadium
  • Seattle, WA
W 8–753,700
November 22Washington State
W 28–2757,100
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1975 Washington Huskies football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TB, QB 15 James Anderson Sr
TE 84 Gordy Bronson Sr
C 58 Blair Bush So
SE 82 Craig Davillier Jr
FB 99 Robin Earl Jr
SE 93 Spider Gaines Fr
RB 32 Greg Martin Fr
QB 12 Warren Moon So
TE 97 Nelse Petermann Sr
SE 91 Scott Phillips So
C 59 Ray Pinney (C) Sr
G 65 Eddie Ray Sr
QB 13 Chris Rowland Sr
G 63 Jeff Toews Fr
OT 95 Don Wardlow So
OT 74 John Whitacre (C) Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 18 Al Burleson (C) Sr
DT 62 Bob Graves Sr
MG 66 Charles Jackson Jr
LB 5 Michael Jackson Fr
DB 42 Roberto Jourdan Sr
LB 50 Dan Lloyd (C) Sr
DB 17 Ron Olson Sr
DB 28 Frank Reed Sr
LB 36 Dean Schlamp Sr
LB 92 Paul Strohmeier Sr
DT 94 Stan Walderhaug So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
P 3 Don Feleay Jr
PK 7 Steve Robbins So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt
Source:[2][3][4]

Game summaries

Washington State

See also: 1975 Washington State Cougars football team and Apple Cup
Washington State Cougars at Washington Huskies
Period 1 2 34Total
Washington St 10 14 3027
Washington 7 7 01428

at Husky Stadium • Seattle, Washington

  • Date: November 22
  • Game time: 1:30 pm PST
  • Game weather: Rain • 50 °F (10 °C)
  • Game attendance: 57,100
Game information

Trailing by thirteen points with three minutes remaining, defensive back Al Burleson returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown and sophomore quarterback Warren Moon connected with Bob "Spider" Gaines for a 78-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute left to complete the comeback victory in the Apple Cup.[5][6][7][8]

Washington State had dominated the second half and appeared on their way to another score when Burleson picked off John Hopkins and raced down the left sideline to the end zone with less than three minutes remaining.

Coach Don James was surprised by the Cougars electing to pass instead of playing for the field goal, saying "Had they made the field goal it would have put the nail in the coffin."

Following a three-and-out on Washington State's next possession, the Huskies started from their own 22. On the first play, Moon threw into coverage and the ball deflected off Leon Garrett and into the hands of teammate Gaines, who went 40 yards to score.

Until then, the Cougars had controlled the game thanks to fullback Vaughn Williams and tailback Dan Doornink, who appeared unstoppable against the Washington defense.

Washington's first score came on a quarterback sneak by Chris Rowland from the one for a 7-3 lead.

The Huskies scored again before halftime on a 29-yard pass from Moon to Gaines, who had primarily been used as a punt blocker to that point.

Moon had started the season as the starting quarterback, only to be replaced by Rowland after the offense struggled in the first few games.

Statistics

Passing

Player Att Comp Yards TD INT
Chris Rowland 45 117 597 4 6
Warren Moon 48 122 587 2 22

Moon played in eight games, started six

Rushing

Player Att Yards TD
Robin Earl 167 782 1

Receiving

Player Rec Yards TD
Scott Phillips 33 433 1

Awards

Al Burleson

Charles Jackson

Dan Lloyd

Ray Pinney

[9]

NFL draft selections

Seven University of Washington Huskies were selected in the 1976 NFL draft, which lasted seventeen rounds with 487 selections.

= Husky Hall of Fame[10]
Player Position Round Pick Franchise
Ray Pinney Center 2nd 37 Pittsburgh Steelers
Dan Lloyd Linebacker 6th 162 New York Giants
Frank Reed Defensive back 8th 219 Atlanta Falcons
Paul Strohmeier Linebacker 10th 272 Washington Redskins
Al Burleson Defensive back 14th 400 Los Angeles Rams
Ron Olson Defensive back 15th 414 Atlanta Falcons
Chris Rowland Quarterback 17th 461 Seattle Seahawks

References

  1. ^ "Conferences: Pacific Eight". Sports Illustrated. September 8, 1975. p. 60.
  2. ^ "The lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 4, 1975. p. 1B.
  3. ^ Barrows, Bob (November 22, 1975). "Cougs close with Huskies". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
  4. ^ "You Always Remember Your First Time". YouTube. (UW video). 2013. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  5. ^ Missildine, Harry (November 23, 1975). "Bomb, theft beat Cougars". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1.
  6. ^ Barrows, Bob (November 23, 1975). "Cougs bit from behind". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
  7. ^ "WSU gets greedy, falls to Huskies". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. November 23, 1975. p. 3B.
  8. ^ Brown, Bruce (November 24, 1975). "Changes due at WSU". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 25.
  9. ^ 2009 Washington football media guide
  10. ^ "The Husky Hall of Fame". gohuskies.com. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
Categories