1975 Yale Bulldogs football team

American college football season

1975 Yale Bulldogs football
Conference	Ivy League
Record	7–2 (5–2 Ivy)
Head coach	Carmen Cozza (11th season)
MVP	John Smoot
Captain	John Smoot
Home stadium	Yale Bowl
Seasons ← 1974 1976 →

1975 Ivy League football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Harvard $	6	–	1	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
Brown	5	–	1	–	1	6	–	2	–	1
Yale	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
Dartmouth	4	–	2	–	1	5	–	3	–	1
Princeton	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Penn	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Columbia	2	–	5	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Cornell	0	–	7	–	0	1	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion

The 1975 Yale Bulldogs football team represented Yale University in the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. The Bulldogs were led by 11th-year head coach Carmen Cozza, played their home games at the Yale Bowl and finished in third place in the Ivy League with a 5–2 record, 7–2 overall.^[1]^[2]

On November 22, 1975, Harvard and Yale entered "The Game" tied for first place with identical 5–1 records. The game was played at the Yale Bowl in front of 66,846 spectators. Yale took a 7–0 lead on a five-yard option run by quarterback Stone Phillips (later known for his work as a television news reporter). Harvard rallied with 10 points in the second half to win the game and become the 1975 Ivy League champion.^[3]

The team's statistical leaders included Stone Phillips with 969 passing yards, halfback Don Gesicki with 873 rushing yards and 42 points scored, and split end Gary Fencik (who later played 12 years in the NFL) with 729 receiving yards.^[4]^[5]

Linebacker John Smoot was the team captain and also received the Ted Blair Award as the team's most valuable player.^[6] Eight Yale players received first-team All-Ivy honors: Fencik, Gesicki, Smoot, defensive end Scott Keller, offensive tackle Charlie Palmer, offensive guard Victor Staffieri, punter Mike Southworth, and MB John Cahill.^[7]

One Yale player was selected in the 1976 NFL Draft: Gary Fencik by the Miami Dolphins in the 10th round, 281st overall pick.^[8]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 27	Connecticut*	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	W 35–14	18,900	^[9]
October 4	Colgate*	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	W 24–10	13,758	^[10]
October 11	at Brown	Brown Stadium Providence, RI	L 12–27	14,532	^[11]
October 18	at Columbia	Baker Field New York, NY	W 34–7	3,900	^[12]
October 25	Cornell	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	W 20–14	13,988	^[13]
November 1	Dartmouth	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	W 16–14	30,000	^[14]
November 8	Penn	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	W 24–14	18,740	^[15]
November 15	at Princeton	Palmer Stadium Princeton, NJ (rivalry)	W 24–13	25,000	^[16]
November 22	Harvard	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT (The Game)	L 7–10	66,846	^[17]
*Non-conference game

Roster

1975 Yale Bulldogs football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`25`	Glenn Baker	Jr
WR	`85`	Al Barker	Sr
FB	`43`	Keith Bassi	So
WR	`22`	Gary Fencik	Sr
RB	`44`	Ed Lewis	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`13`	Jeff Knapp	So
LB	`52`	Jeff Waller	Jr
LB	`37`	Charlie Zupsic	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Carmen Cozza

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

References

^ "1975 Yale Bulldogs Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
^ "Yale Football 2009" (PDF). Yale University. 2009. p. 111.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Phil Hersh (November 23, 1975). "Harvard squeezes past Yale, 10-7, for Ivy title". The Baltimore Sun. pp. B1, B13 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Yale Football 2009, pp. 100-101.
^ "1975 Yale Bulldogs Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
^ Yale Football 2009, pp. 84, 111.
^ Yale Football 2009, p. 80
^ Yale Football 2009, p. 86.
^ Wallace, William N. (September 28, 1975). "Yale Wins; Connecticut Routed by Elis, 35-14". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. S1.
^ Harvin, Al (October 5, 1975). "Yale Tops Colgate; Turnovers Help Elis Win, 24-10". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. S6.
^ Wallace, William N. (October 12, 1975). "Unbeaten Brown Downs Yale; Bruins Register 27-12 Victory". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. S1.
^ Harvin, Al (October 19, 1975). "Yale Overwhelms Columbia by 34-7". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. S1.
^ Rogers, Thomas (October 26, 1975). "Yale Tops Cornell; Eli 20-14 Victor on Late Score". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. S8.
^ Wallace, William N. (November 2, 1975). "Yale Rally Tops Dartmouth; Kick on Final Play Decides by 16-14". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. S1.
^ Dell, John (November 9, 1975). "Wixted Hurt Again in Penn Loss". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pa. p. 1-E – via Newspapers.com.
^ Wallace, William N. (November 16, 1975). "Elis Post 24-13 Victory over Princeton". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. S1.
^ Wallace, William N. (November 23, 1975). "Harvard Tops Yale, 10-7, and Takes Ivy Title". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. S1.

v t e Yale Bulldogs football
Venues	Hamilton Park (1872–1883) Yale Field (1884–1914, 1916) Yale Bowl (1914–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Harvard Princeton
Culture & lore	1910 Vanderbilt game 1927 Georgia game 1968 Harvard game (Harvard Beats Yale 29–29) 2004 Harvard–Yale prank Handsome Dan "Boola Boola" Pigskin Parade Huddle
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 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
National championship seasons in bold