Preseason AP #1 Oklahoma Sooners Total # of teams 145 | Start date 1977 Number of bowls 13 | |
Regular season September 2 – November 26, 1977 Bowl games December 17, 1977 – January 2, 1978 Champions Notre Dame Fighting Irish Heisman Earl Campbell, Texas RB Champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish football People also search for 1975 NCAA Division I football season | ||
1977 ncaa division i football season top 9 facts
The 1977 NCAA Division I football season was one in which the top five teams finished with 11–1 records. Notre Dame, which beat top-ranked and undefeated Texas in the Cotton Bowl, became the national champion.
Contents
- 1977 ncaa division i football season top 9 facts
- September
- October
- November
- Rule changes
- Major bowls
- Heisman Trophy
- References
The 1977 season was the last before NCAA's Division I was divided into I-A and I-AA. On the eve of a national playoff for the smaller programs that would be I-AA, the Sugar Bowl in 1977 became the fourth bowl game to sign a contract guaranteeing an appearance by a major conference champion. The result was that meetings between the media poll choices for the top two teams were less likely, unless those teams were in the Big Ten and Pac-8 (which met in the Rose Bowl), or one of the teams was not obligated to play in a particular bowl game.
Besides the Big Ten-Pac-8 matchup in the Rose Bowl, the Southwest champion played in the Cotton, the Big Eight titlist in the Orange, and the SEC champ in the Sugar. Top teams that had their choice of which bowl to play were either independent or in a conference outside of the five major powers (such as the ACC or WAC).
During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for major college football teams, which became Division I-A in 1978. The NCAA Football Guide, however, did note an "unofficial national champion" based on the top ranked teams in the final "wire service" (AP and UPI) polls. The "writers' poll" by Associated Press (AP) was the most popular, followed by the "coaches' poll" by United Press International) (UPI). The AP poll consisted of the votes of as many as 64 writers, though not all voted in each poll, and the UPI poll was taken of a 42-member board of coaches.
September
In the preseason poll released on September 5, the AP ranked Oklahoma first, followed by Michigan, Notre Dame, USC, and Ohio State. Sixth was Alabama, and defending champion Pittsburgh (minus Tony Dorsett and Johnny Majors) was ranked seventh.
September 10 #1 Oklahoma opened its season at home against Vanderbilt, 2–9 the year before. Though the Sooners avoided an upset, their narrow 25–23 win didn't impress the pollsters, and OU dropped to fifth. #2 Michigan won 37–9 at Illinois, and #3 Notre Dame won 19–9 at Pittsburgh. #4 USC won 27–10 at Missouri, and #5 Ohio State beat visiting Miami (FL) 10–0. #6 Alabama beat Mississippi 34–13 at Birmingham. Although the top six teams all won their openers, The next poll shuffled the rankings (2-4-3-6-1-5): 1.Michigan 2.USC 3.Notre Dame 4.Alabama 5.Oklahoma 6. Ohio State.
September 17 #1 Michigan beat Duke 21–9 and #2 USC won at Oregon State, 17–10. A week after losing to Alabama, Mississippi stunned the nation with a 20–13 defeat of #3 Notre Dame on a humid 100 °F (38 °C) day in Jackson. The Irish dropped to eleventh, and as low as fourteenth the week after. #11 Maryland fell 24–16 to unranked West Virginia at home in College Park. #4 Alabama lost 31–24 at #14 Nebraska. #5 Oklahoma crushed visiting Utah, 62–24. #6 Ohio State and #10 Penn State which beat Minnesota 38–7 and Houston 31–14, respectively, reached the top five: 1.Michigan 2.USC 3.Oklahoma 4.Ohio State 5.Penn State
September 24 #1 Michigan beat Navy, 14–7. #2 USC beat visiting TCU 51–0. #3 Oklahoma and #4 Ohio State met in Columbus in the season's first big matchup. In a close game, the visiting Sooners won 29–28 after a touchdown, an onside kick recovery, and a last second field goal by Uwe von Schamann, and reclaimed first place in the next poll. #5 Penn State beat Maryland, 27–9. #6 Texas A&M, which won 33–17 at #7 Texas Tech, reached the top five: 1.Oklahoma 2.USC 3.Michigan 4.Penn State 5.Texas A&M
October
October 1 #1 Oklahoma beat Kansas 24–9 and #2 USC was idle, but the Trojans were voted #1 anyway in a split vote (23 vs. 19 for OU and 16 for UM). #3 Michigan beat #5 Texas A&M 41–3. #4 Penn State lost 24–20 at Kentucky, and #6 Ohio State won 35–7 at SMU. #8 Texas defeated visiting Rice 72–15. With USC having a plurality of votes (23 vs. 19 for OU and 16 for UM), the poll was: 1.USC 2.Oklahoma 3.Michigan 4.Ohio State 5.Texas
October 8 In Los Angeles, #1 USC was beaten 21–20 by #7 Alabama; on a two-point conversion try by USC in the final minute, the Tide intercepted to seal the upset. Earlier in Dallas, #2 Oklahoma and #5 Texas met in their annual game, and Texas won 13–6. In Big Ten play, #3 Michigan won 24–14 at Michigan State and #4 Ohio State beat Purdue 46–0. #6 Colorado beat visiting Oklahoma State 29–13 to move to third, and the Wolverines returned to the top: 1.Michigan 2.Texas 3.Colorado 4.Alabama 5.Ohio State
October 15 #1 Michigan beat #14 Wisconsin 56–0, and #2 Texas won at #7 Arkansas, 13–9. #3 Colorado played at Kansas, a 17–17 tie. #4 Alabama beat Tennessee in Birmingham, 24–10. #5 Ohio State beat Iowa 27–6. #6 USC beat Oregon 33–15 to return to the top five: 1.Michigan 2.Texas 3.Alabama 4.Ohio State 5.USC
October 22 #1 Michigan (6–0) was shut out 16–0 at unranked Minnesota, and #2 Texas won 30–14 at SMU. #3 Alabama beat Louisville 55–6, and #4 Ohio State won 35–15 at Northwestern. #11 Notre Dame wore their green jerseys for the first time in decades and overwhelmed #5 USC 49–19. #7 Oklahoma beat #16 Iowa State 35-16 and returned to the top five, and the Longhorns became the fourth team to lead the poll: 1.Texas 2.Alabama 3.Ohio State 4.Oklahoma 5.Notre Dame
October 29 #1 Texas beat visiting #14 Texas Tech 26–0, and #2 Alabama beat Mississippi State 37–7 in Jackson. #3 Ohio State beat Wisconsin 42–0, #4 Oklahoma won 42–7 at Kansas State, and #5 Notre Dame beat Navy 43–10. Other than the Sooners' trade with the Buckeyes, the poll was stable: 1.Texas 2.Alabama 3.Oklahoma 4.Ohio State 5.Notre Dame
November
November 5 #1 Texas won 35–21 at Houston, and #2 Alabama embarrassed #18 LSU 24–3 in Baton Rouge. #3 Oklahoma won 61–28 at Oklahoma State, #4 Ohio State won 35–0 at Illinois, and #5 Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech 69–14. For the first time since the season began, the top five remained unchanged (in fact, the top nine were the same): 1.Texas 2.Alabama 3.Oklahoma 4.Ohio State 5.Notre Dame
November 12 #1 Texas beat TCU 44–14 and #2 Alabama beat the visiting Miami Hurricanes, 36–0. #3 Oklahoma routed Colorado 52–14, #4 Ohio State beat Indiana 35–7, and #5 Notre Dame won at #15 Clemson, 21–17. #6 Michigan won 40–7 at Purdue and returned to the top five: 1.Texas 2.Alabama 3.Oklahoma 4.Ohio State 5.Michigan
November 19 #1 Texas beat Baylor 29–7, while #2 Alabama and #3 Oklahoma were idle. Once again, the Big Ten title came down to a meeting between #4 Ohio State and #5 Michigan, 7–0 and 6–1 in conference play, respectively. Michigan won 14–6 at home and gained the trip to the Rose Bowl. #6 Notre Dame beat Air Force 49–0. The poll: 1.Texas 2.Alabama 3.Oklahoma 4.Michigan 5.Notre Dame
November 25–26 On Thanksgiving weekend, USC defeated UCLA 29–27 on a last-second field goal on Friday night to knock the Bruins out of the Rose Bowl and put Washington in. Earlier in the day, #3 Oklahoma beat #11 Nebraska 38–7 to go to 10–1. On Saturday, #1 Texas won 57–28 at #12 Texas A&M for an 11–0 record, the SWC title, and a trip to the Cotton Bowl. #2 Alabama closed its season in Birmingham, beating Auburn 48–21. The Crimson Tide was unbeaten (7–0) in SEC conference play, as was Kentucky (6–0, 10–1 overall), but ineligible for bowls because of NCAA probation. #4 Michigan (10–1) had completed its regular season, and #5 Notre Dame was idle until December 3, a 48–10 win at Miami. The final regular season poll had been released on November 28: 1.Texas 2.Oklahoma 3.Alabama 4.Michigan 5.Notre Dame
Rule changes
Major bowls
Monday, January 2, 1978
Two former NFL head coaching failures became college football successes, upsetting the #1 and #2 teams. Dan Devine had been unspectacular at Green Bay before succeeding Ara Parseghian at Notre Dame in 1975, while Lou Holtz had coached the New York Jets to a 3–11 finish in 1976 before taking over at Arkansas.
The Sugar Bowl was a matchup of coaching legends Bear Bryant and Woody Hayes; Bryant's #3 Alabama squad easily handled #8 Ohio State, 35–6.
The largest crowd in Cotton Bowl history (76,701) turned out in Dallas to watch the unbeaten #1 Texas Longhorns to attempt to finalize a national championship. Notre Dame's defense forced five turnovers, which set up five scores. Running back Vagas Ferguson scored three touchdowns, including one on a pass from Joe Montana in a 38–10 win. For Texas, both Earl Campbell and Johnny Lam Jones were injured. Devine changed his mind about resigning his Irish coaching job.
Following Texas' loss in the Cotton Bowl, #4 Michigan hoped an impressive win over the Washington might vault them to a possible national championship. However the Huskies, led by Rose Bowl MVP Warren Moon, raced to a 24–0 lead in the third quarter and held on for a 27–20 upset.
With #1 Texas and #4 Michigan out of the way, #2 Oklahoma was in a position to claim the championship with a win over #6 Arkansas in the nightcap in Miami. The Razorbacks had finished behind Texas in SWC play and had settled for the Orange Bowl. The week of the game, Holtz suspended the Hogs' top rusher, Ben Cowins, and the top receiver, Donny Bobo for violating team rules. The Sooners were 18-point favorites but Cowins' backup Roland Sales rushed for two touchdowns and over 200 yards as the Razorbacks shut down the Sooners' ground game en route to a 24–0 lead after three quarters and a massive 31–6 upset.
The national championship was disputed as there were six teams with one loss: Alabama, Arkansas, Notre Dame, Texas, Penn State, and Kentucky (prohibited from playing in a bowl due to NCAA probation). Notre Dame had lost to Mississippi, who lost to Alabama, who lost to Nebraska, who lost to Oklahoma, who lost to Arkansas, who lost to Texas who lost to Notre Dame. Penn State lost to Kentucky and Kentucky lost to Baylor who had lost to Texas, Arkansas, and Nebraska. Amidst this confusion, there were several good choices for a champion; giant killers Notre Dame and Arkansas, and third-ranked Alabama, and Texas. Notre Dame, on the strength of its lopsided win over #1 Texas, vaulted over Texas, Oklahoma (who lost in the Orange Bowl), Alabama (who won in the Sugar Bowl), and Michigan (who lost in the Rose Bowl). Alabama fans cried foul as they assumed, as the #3 team before the bowls, that if #1Texas and #2 Oklahoma lost (which they did), they would rise to #1 with a win over Ohio State. Some believe Alabama was granted a share of the national title in 1978 despite its loss to the team it shared it with (USC) to make up for 1977.
In the final polls, the electors for AP and UPI were expectedly divided, but a majority in each picked Notre Dame. With one AP writer naming all three schools as number one, the writers poll was 37⅓ for Notre Dame, 19⅓ for Alabama and 5⅓ for Arkansas. UPI had 23 for Notre Dame, 13 for Alabama and 2 for Arkansas. Devine, who had followed in the footsteps of both Vince Lombardi and Parseghian, reversed his earlier plans and continued as head coach in 1978.
Heisman Trophy
- Earl Campbell, RB - Texas, 1,547 points
- Terry Miller, RB - Oklahoma State, 812
- Ken MacAfee, TE - Notre Dame, 343
- Doug Williams, QB - Grambling State, 266
- Ross Browner, DE - Notre Dame, 213
- Guy Benjamin, QB - Stanford, 111
- Matt Cavanaugh, QB - Pittsburgh, 86
- Rick Leach, QB - Michigan, 59
- Charles Alexander, RB - LSU, 54
- Wes Chandler, WR - Florida, 50
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