1977 Navy Midshipmen football
Conference	Independent
Record	5–6
Head coach	George Welsh (5th season)
Captain	Joe Gattuso, Mike Galpin
Home stadium	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

1977 NCAA Division I independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Notre Dame		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 5 Penn State		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
Colgate		–		–		10	–	1	–	0
North Texas State *		–		–		10	–	1	–	0
No. 16 San Diego State		–		–		10	–	1	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–		8	–	1	–	1
No. 14 Florida State		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Pittsburgh		–		–		9	–	2	–	1
East Carolina		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		8	–	3	–	0
Army		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Louisville		–		–		7	–	4	–	1
Boston College		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–		5	–	4	–	2
Georgia Tech		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Northwestern State		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
William & Mary		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		–		5	–	5	–	1
Hawaii		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Navy		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		5	–	7	–	0
Utah State		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Villanova		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–		3	–	7	–	1
Virginia Tech		–		–		3	–	7	–	1
Miami (FL)		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Tulane		–		–		3	–	8	–	0
Air Force		–		–		2	–	8	–	1
Holy Cross		–		–		2	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–		2	–	9	–	0

North Texas State (originally 9–2) awarded a forfeit win after Mississippi State was found to be using an ineligible player.^[1] Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) as an independent during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The team was led by fifth-year head coach George Welsh.^[2]^[3]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10		The Citadel	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 21–2	16,226	^[4]
September 17		Connecticut	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 38–7	13,659	^[5]
September 25		at No. 1 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	L 7–14	101,800	^[6]
October 1		at Duke	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	L 16–28	24,800	^[7]
October 8		Air Force	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	W 10–7
October 15		at No. 17 Pittsburgh	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	L 17–34
October 22		William & Mary	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 42–17
October 29	2:30 p.m.	at No. 5 Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	L 10–43	59,075
November 5		Syracuse	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	L 34–45	16,709
November 12		Georgia Tech	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 20–16	18,590
November 26		vs. Army	John F. Kennedy Stadium Philadelphia, PA (Army–Navy Game)	L 14–17	81,091
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Air Force Falcons at Navy Midshipmen

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Air Force	0	7	0	0	7
Navy	0	7	0	3	10

at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland

Date: October 8
Game weather: Rain
^[8]

Game information

Air Force

Navy

Joe Gattuso Jr. 143 Rush Yds

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	AFA	NAVY
2		4			Air Force	Paul Williams 6-yard touchdown reception from Dave Ziebart, Terry Harris kick good	7	0
2			88		Navy	Paul Klawinski 5-yard touchdown run, Bob Tata kick good	7	7
4	0:41				Navy	25-yard field goal by Bob Tata	7	10
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							7	10

Personnel

1977 Navy Midshipmen football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
OT	`65`	Jerome Barker	So
G	`77`	Rick Bott	So
RB		Steve Callahan
TE		Rich Cellon
QB		Randy Farley
G	`62`	Tom Fieldman	So
C		Ray Fritsch
RB		Joe Gattuso (C)	Sr
TE	`83`	Carl Hendershot	So
WR		Sandy Jones
FB	`33`	Larry Klawinski	So
G		Steve Kremer
WR		John Kurkowski
QB	`15`	Bob Lesczynski	Jr
OT	`69`	Jim Lippard
WR	`80`	Phil McConkey	Jr
RB		Leon Miller
OT	`71`	Mark Poston	Sr
QB	`18`	Bob Powers	So
OT	`75`	Kevin Ryan	Sr
RB	`23`	Mike Sherlock	Fr
OT	`61`	John Taylor	So
RB		Dave Walker

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`73`	Steve Chambers	Fr
LB		Bob DeStefany
S		Mike Galpin (C)	Sr
LB	`63`	Mike Kronzer	Fr
DB	`32`	Pat McCormick	Sr
DT	`76`	John Merrill	So
DB	`66`	Charlie Meyers	So
DL		A.B. Miller
DB	`49`	Gregg Milo	So
DE	`88`	Hugh Nixon	So
LB	`55`	Tom Paulk	So
DL		Pfunandre Redvict
DL		Ed Reid
DB		John Sturges
DE	`84`	Charlie Thornton	So
DL		Tom Thompson
DB		Bob Wilson
DB	`36`	Chuck Zingler	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`10`	Bob Tata	Jr

Head coach

George Welsh

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

References

^ https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1977-standings.html
^ "Football History" (PDF). United States Naval Academy. p. 194. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
^ "Navy Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
^ "Navy stymies Citadel to take 21–2 victory". Winston-Salem Journal. September 11, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Final 1977 Cumulative Football Statistics Report". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
^ Curt Sylvester (September 25, 1977). "Rough Seas: 'M' 14, Navy 7". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1E, 4E.
^ "Duke destroys Navy, 28–16". Florence Morning News. October 2, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ New York Times. 1977 Oct 09. Retrieved 2019-Jan-22.

v t e Navy Midshipmen football
Venues	Worden Field (1890–1923) Thompson Stadium (1924–1958) Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (1959–present) Memorial Stadium (alternate)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Army: Army–Navy Game (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy) Air Force: Commander-in-Chief's Trophy: Johns Hopkins Maryland: Crab Bowl Classic Notre Dame SMU: Gansz Trophy
Culture & lore	Bill the Goat "Anchors Aweigh" "I believe that we will win!" Marching band "Navy ends the drought" 2007 North Texas game Salute That Navy Spirit Navy Blue and Gold
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1879 1880–1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold