The 1975 Texas A&M Aggies football team represented Texas A&M University as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Emory Bellard, the Aggies compiled an overall record of 10–2 with a mark of 6–1 in conference play, sharing the SWC title with Arkansas and Texas. Texas A&M was invited to the Liberty Bowl, where the Aggies lost to USC. The team was ranked second in the nation after ten games before losing its final two contests. Texas A&M played home games at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.
| 1975 Texas A&M Aggies football | |
|---|---|
SWC co-champion | |
Liberty Bowl, L 0–20 vs. USC | |
| Conference | Southwest Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 12 |
| AP | No. 11 |
| Record | 10–2 (6–1 SWC) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive coordinator | Tom Wilson (1st season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Melvin Robertson (4th season) |
| Home stadium | Kyle Field |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 Arkansas + | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 6 Texas + | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 Texas A&M + | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Tech | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baylor | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SMU | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rice | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TCU | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 10 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Season summary
editThe 1975 Aggie football team started its season with ten wins. Its tenth victory came on the day after Thanksgiving Day (Friday, November 28, 1975) over the Texas Longhorns at Kyle Field before a national television audience (ABC). The Aggies were ranked second in the nation after the game against Texas, but starting quarterback Mike Jay suffered a back injury in the 20–10 win over the Longhorns. The next game came eight days later, a Saturday, December 6, matchup against the Arkansas Razorbacks that had been rescheduled from its typical early November timeframe due to TV scheduling concerns. With Jay injured, Texas A&M backup quarterback David Shipman was called upon to play against Arkansas, who was ranked 18th in the nation. The Aggies were trailing 7–0 at halftime and they lost by a final score of 31–6.
Before the loss at Arkansas, Texas A&M had appeared to be headed for the Cotton Bowl. Instead, the sixth-ranked team faced the unranked USC Trojans in the Liberty Bowl. USC had been ranked in the top five teams nationally in early November, but they struggled late in the season and came into the bowl game with a 7–4 record.[1] The Aggies suffered a 20–0 loss and finished the season ranked #11. The 1975 Liberty Bowl was the final game for USC coach John McKay, as his success had earned him a job with the NFL expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[2]
The 1975 team was bolstered by the play of four-year starter and running back Bubba Bean, who became the first Aggie featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Bean was selected to play in that year's Senior Bowl, where he caught an 82-yard touchdown pass. He rushed for 944 yards on the season and scored a team-high 8 touchdowns.[3] Bean finished his college career with 2,846 yards rushing.[4] Bean was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the ninth pick in the first round of the 1976 NFL draft.[5]
Schedule
edit| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 13 | Ole Miss* | No. 8 | W 7–0 | 47,021 | [6] | ||
| September 20 | at LSU* | No. 11 | W 39–8 | 69,445 | [7] | ||
| September 27 | Illinois* | No. 8 |
| ABC | W 43–13 | 45,524 | |
| October 4 | at Kansas State* | No. 6 | W 10–0 | 37,100 | |||
| October 11 | at Texas Tech | No. 6 | W 38–9 | 52,254 | |||
| October 18 | at TCU | No. 5 | W 14–6 | 34,210 | |||
| October 25 | Baylor | No. 5 |
| W 19–10 | 53,693 | ||
| November 8 | SMU | No. 4 |
| W 36–3 | 49,809 | ||
| November 15 | at Rice | No. 3 | W 33–14 | 67,000 | |||
| November 28 | No. 5 Texas | No. 2 |
| ABC | W 20–10 | 56,679 | |
| December 6 | at No. 18 Arkansas | No. 2 | ABC | L 6–31 | 52,000 | ||
| December 22 | vs. USC* | No. 6 | ABC | L 0–20 | 52,129 | ||
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Roster
edit| 1975 Texas A&M Aggies football team roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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References
edit- ^ Boyles, Bob, Guido, Paul (2009). The USA Today College Football Encyclopedia. Skyhorse Publishing. p. 327. ISBN 1602396779.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Farmer, Sam (January 12, 2007). "He took the money and ran -- to Tampa". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
- ^ "1975 Texas A&M Aggies Stats". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
- ^ "Bubba Bean '75, Football". Texas A&M Letterman's Association. Archived from the original on December 29, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
- ^ "Bubba Bean". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
- ^ "Aggies blank scrappy Rebels, 7–0". The Marshall News Messenger. September 14, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Texas A&M overpowers LSU, 39–8". The Victoria Advocate. September 21, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.