The 1974 season
Oklahoma finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 11–0 under Barry Switzer. USC also claims the national title. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 4 Ohio State 12, No. 3 Michigan 10 (Nov 23, 1974). 55 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents. Share
Heisman Trophy: Archie Griffin, RB, Ohio State, who also won the Walter Camp.
The Heisman vote: Archie Griffin 1,920 points, Anthony Davis 819
| Player | Points | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archie Griffin RB, Ohio State | 1,920 | 483 | 198 | 75 | |
| Anthony Davis RB, USC | 819 | 120 | 148 | 163 | |
| Joe Washington RB, Oklahoma | 661 | 87 | 146 | 108 | |
| Tom Clements QB, Notre Dame | 244 | 26 | 49 | 68 | |
| David Humm QB, Nebraska | 210 | 23 | 46 | 49 | |
| Dennis Franklin QB, Michigan | 100 | 6 | 30 | 22 | |
| Rod Shoate LB, Oklahoma | 97 | 12 | 16 | 29 | |
| Gary Sheide QB, BYU | 90 | 12 | 19 | 16 | |
| Randy White DT, Maryland | 85 | 9 | 20 | 18 | |
| Steve Bartkowski QB, California | 64 | 6 | 13 | 20 |
First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.
Scoreboards
Final AP poll
| 1 | Oklahoma | Big Eight |
| 2 | USC | Pac-8 |
| 3 | Michigan | Big Ten |
| 4 | Ohio State | Big Ten |
| 5 | Alabama | Southeastern Conference |
| 6 | Notre Dame | Independent |
| 7 | Penn State | Independent |
| 8 | Auburn | Southeastern Conference |
| 9 | Nebraska | Big Eight |
| 10 | Miami (OH) | Mid-American Conference |
| 11 | NC State | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| 12 | Michigan State | Big Ten |
| 13 | Maryland | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| 14 | Baylor | Southwest Conference |
| 15 | Florida | Southeastern Conference |
| 16 | Texas A&M | Southwest Conference |
| 17 | Mississippi State | Southeastern Conference |
| 17 | Texas | Southwest Conference |
| 19 | Houston | Independent |
| 20 | Tennessee | Southeastern Conference |
Biggest upsets
| Nov 9, 1974 | Michigan State 16, 1Ohio State 13 |
| Sep 28, 1974 | Purdue 31, 2Notre Dame 20 |
| Sep 21, 1974 | Wisconsin 21, 4Nebraska 20 |
| Oct 5, 1974 | Kansas 28, 5Texas A&M 10 |
| Oct 12, 1974 | Missouri 21, 5Nebraska 10 |
| Nov 9, 1974 | SMU 18, 5Texas A&M 14 |
| Sep 28, 1974 | Texas Tech 26, 6Texas 3 |
| Nov 9, 1974 | Georgia 17, 6Florida 16 |
| Sep 21, 1974 | Texas A&M 21, 7LSU 14 |
| Sep 28, 1974 | Missouri 9, 7Arizona State 0 |
| Nov 9, 1974 | NC State 12, 7Penn State 7 |
| Sep 21, 1974 | Navy 7, 8Penn State 6 |
Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.
The AP poll, week by week
Climbed
- Auburnunranked → No. 8
- Miami (OH)unranked → No. 10
- Michigan Stateunranked → No. 12
- Baylorunranked → No. 14
- Floridaunranked → No. 15
Fell
- LSUNo. 9 → unranked
- UCLANo. 12 → unranked
- PittsburghNo. 13 → unranked
- Arizona StateNo. 15 → unranked
From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.
National leaders
| Passing yards | Steve Bartkowski (California) | 2,580 yds |
|---|---|---|
| Passing touchdowns | Craig Kimball (BYU) | 23 TD |
| Passer rating | Steve Joachim (Temple) | 150.1 |
| Rushing yards | Archie Griffin (Ohio State) | 1,695 yds |
| Rushing touchdowns | Keith Barnette (Boston College) | 22 TD |
| Yards per carry | Gralyn Wyatt (Texas) | 7.8 |
| Receptions | Dwight McDonald (San Diego State) | 86 catches |
| Receiving yards | Willie Miller (Colorado State) | 1,193 yds |
| Yards per catch | Tracy Dickson (West Texas A&M) | 26.8 |
| Receiving touchdowns | Steve Largent (Tulsa) | 14 TD |
| Points | Keith Barnette (Boston College) | 134 pts |
| Points per game | Billy Marek (Wisconsin) | 12.7 |
| Total offense | Gene Swick (Toledo) | 2,450 yds |
| Total offense per game | Steve Joachim (Temple) | 222.7 |
| Punt return average | John Provost (Holy Cross) | 18.3 |
| Kickoff return average | Anthony Davis (USC) | 42.5 |
The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.
Conference champions
Division I
- Atlantic Coast Conference
- Maryland
- Big Eight
- Oklahoma
- Big Sky
- Boise State
- Big Ten
- Michigan and Ohio State (shared)
- Mid-American Conference
- Miami (OH)
- Missouri Valley Conference
- Tulsa
- Pac-8
- USC
- Pacific Coast Athletic Association
- San Diego State
- Southeastern Conference
- Alabama
- Southern Conference
- VMI
- Southland Conference
- Louisiana Tech
- Southwest Conference
- Baylor
- Western Athletic Conference
- BYU
Division II and below
- Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- Norfolk State
- Conference Carolinas
- Elon
- Eastern Football Conference
- Central Connecticut
- Great Plains Athletic Conference
- Northern Colorado
- Gulf South Conference
- Jacksonville State
- Indiana Collegiate Conference
- Butler
- Metropolitan Intercollegiate Conference
- Long Island University
- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
- South Carolina State
- North Central Conference
- North Dakota, North Dakota State and South Dakota (shared)
- Northern California Athletic Conference
- UC Davis
- Ohio Valley Conference
- Eastern Kentucky
- Southwestern Athletic Conference
- Alcorn State and Grambling (shared)
- Yankee Conference
- Maine and Massachusetts (shared)
From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.
Consensus All-Americans
- WRPeter Demmerle, Notre Dame
- TEBennie Cunningham, Clemson
- OTKurt Schumacher, Ohio State
- OTMarvin Crenshaw, Nebraska
- OGKen Huff, North Carolina
- OGGerry DiNardo, Notre Dame
- OGJohn Roush, Oklahoma
- CSteve Myers, Ohio State
- QBSteve Bartkowski, California
- RBArchie Griffin, Ohio State
- RBJoe Washington, Oklahoma
- RBAnthony Davis, USC
- DTRandy White, Maryland
- DEPat Donovan, Stanford
- DEJimmy Webb, Mississippi State
- DELeroy Cook, Alabama
- DTMike Hartenstine, Penn State
- DTLouie Kelcher, SMU
- MGRubin Carter, Miami
- LBRod Shoate, Oklahoma
- LBRichard Wood, USC
- LBKen Bernich, Auburn
- LBWoodrow Lowe, Alabama
- SDave Brown, Michigan
- DBPat Thomas, Texas A&M
- DBJohn Provost, Holy Cross
Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1974 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1974 All-America teams page.
The 1974 awards
Every awardPlayer of the year
- HeismanArchie Griffin, RB, Ohio State
- MaxwellSteve Joachim, QB, Temple
- Walter CampArchie Griffin, RB, Ohio State
Bowls and playoff
Scoreboard| Dec 16, 1974 | Tennessee 7, 10Maryland 3Liberty Bowl |
| Dec 21, 1974 | 15Miami (OH) 21, Georgia 10Tangerine Bowl |
| Dec 23, 1974 | 13NC State 31, Houston 31Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl |
| Dec 28, 1974 | Mississippi State 26, North Carolina 24Sun Bowl |
| Dec 28, 1974 | Oklahoma State 16, 17BYU 6Fiesta Bowl |
| Dec 28, 1974 | Vanderbilt 6, Texas Tech 6Peach Bowl |
| Dec 30, 1974 | 6Auburn 27, 11Texas 3Gator Bowl |
| Dec 31, 1974 | 8Nebraska 13, 18Florida 10Sugar Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1975 | 9Notre Dame 13, 2Alabama 11Orange Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1975 | 7Penn State 41, 12Baylor 20Cotton Bowl |
| Jan 1, 1975 | 5USC 18, 3Ohio State 17Rose Bowl |