When I was a young kid, John Jefferson from Dallas Roosevelt High School was something of a legend. This was the first season that I started following college football recruiting and John Jefferson was one of the Blue Chippers and along with Earl Campbell from Tyler, Texas, he was one of the very best of the best. The state of Texas and also powerhouse Oklahoma were all about running the football and the Wishbone offense in 1974. Jefferson was a fast and acrobatic wide receiver and he obviously wanted to play somewhere that threw the football, which meant leaving the state of Texas.
Those were different times and even the least conservative of offenses didn’t throw the ball anywhere near what they do today. John Jefferson surprised a lot of people when he signed with the Arizona State Sun Devils on national signing day.
Another, much older player, out of the Dallas/Fort Worth area may have had something to do with Arizona State attracting Jefferson. Pro Football Hall of Fame member Charley Taylor played high school football at a segregated school in Dallas suburb Grand Prairie that is no longer in existence. Since black kids weren’t welcome to play college football at southern schools in the 1950s and 1960s, Charley Taylor graduated high school in 1959 and signed with Arizona State. That may have had some influence on John Jefferson’s decision, or it may not have. Arizona State just allowed young
black kids to show their stuff back when the southern schools did not.
John Jefferson was big time. He was about as big as they came in 1974.
In spite of playing in the now defunct Western Athletic Conference, Arizona State was also big time. Coached by Frank Kush, the Sun Devils had won 5 WAC championships in a row starting in 1969. In 1970, Arizona State finished unbeaten at 11-0. The following season, with future Dallas Cowboy quarterback Danny White as their sophomore starter, the Sun Devils finished 10-1. With White the following two seasons they finished with 10-2 and 11-1 records. By the time they signed their recruiting class that included Jefferson, the Sun Devils had posted a 43-4 record over the previous 4 seasons.
The 1974 Arizona State football recruiting class not only included John Jefferson, but also the All American boy Bruce Hardy. Bruce Hardy AA boy
Hardy was probably one of the most highly recruited players in the country and was expected to throw the ball to Jefferson.
1974 was a transitional year between the talented bunch led by Danny White and the next heralded group that were freshmen this season. The Sun Devils took some losses including the worst one of all, to their in-state rival, Arizona.
Hardy got in a little at quarterback, but Jefferson more than lived up to the billing coming in and catching 30 passes to lead the team in receptions.
Then, along came 1975 and a glorious season in the history of Arizona State University football.
Bruce Hardy outgrew the quarterback position, basically, and moved to tight end which was better for him in the long run because he went on to a 12 year NFL career with the Miami Dolphins. Hardy only caught 10 passes in his first season in his new position.
John Jefferson was definitely proving himself once again with a team leading 52 receptions.
The Sun Devils started their 1975 season off with the Washington Huskies. They beat Washington pretty easily, 35-12, but this was the first season of legendary Husky coach Don James and they weren’t really very good yet.
Then, they beat a really awful TCU, 33-10. The game was in Fort Worth, Texas, but that probably
didn’t matter because of the Frogs being so terrible. They only won one game all season.
Arizona State began the season unranked, but after starting off with 2 wins, they were 13th in the AP poll.
The Devils impressively shut out Brigham Young, 20-0. Keeping BYU off the scoreboard during the days of Cougar head coach Lavelle Edwards was no easy task, plus they had quarterback Gifford Nielson tossing the ball around. Granted, 1975 was not the greatest of Lavelle Edwards’ BYU teams, but they were always good offensively.
Dennis Sproul and Fred Mortensen split time at quarterback and it was working well enough to keep the ball moving and the defense was playing well.
A really easy team was next up for the Devils with Idaho. The players had nothing to do with who they were scheduled to play, and all they had to do was show up and play hard. Arizona State beat Idaho pretty easily with a 29-3 victory.
Ama due to its sticky nature blocks the channels of body, vitiate viagra 50 mg browse that link now doshas , contaminates tissues, imbalance body functions and cause diseases. However, to obtain the finest results and to get rid of this problem consume Kamdeepak capsule continuously for 3 to 6 months. buying tadalafil online buy viagra usa amerikabulteni.com Still, there is a need to know the factors, affecting men’s erection health. It also improves memory, modulates generic viagra online voice, enhances complexion, improves eye sight, strengthens bones and joints, improves digestion and regularizes bowel movement. Western Athletic Conference games were next up for Arizona State. They struggled a bit with New Mexico winning only by 6 points, 16-10.
But, then, the Sun Devils went on a roll and whipped up on Colorado State, UTEP and Utah.
Strangely, they got a scare from a really bad Wyoming team, coached by future Texas coach Fred Akers, and they only won by a single point, 21-20.
In spite of not being an impressive win, the Sun Devils still improved to 9-0 on the season.
Arizona State had a non-conference game and they beat up Pacific, 55-14.
The Sun Devils were ranked 8th, but, rival and 12th ranked Arizona was up next. Arizona State was 10-0 and Arizona came in with a 9-1 record with their loss coming to a surprising New Mexico. The Wildcats had accomplished one thing that the Sun Devils hadn’t coming in and that was beat a ranked team. Arizona had beaten 13th ranked San Diego State and Arizona State hadn’t played any ranked teams until now.
But, Arizona State fixed that problem by beating Arizona, 24-21, to wrap up another WAC championship. They won 6 out of the past 7 WAC championships and this was a good time to be a Sun Devil.
Frank Kush’s team was ranked 7th in the country, but they weren’t getting a lot of national respect.
Since they were the conference champion, they did land a berth in the Fiesta Bowl against the 6th ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Nebraska had been unbeaten until they played Oklahoma in their big rivalry game and the Sooners shucked them, 35-10. Oklahoma started the 1975 season ranked number 1 and the team was awesome. But, they were shocking upset by the Kansas Jayhawks, 3-23. Going into the Nebraska game, the Huskers had been number 1 and the Sooners number 7. OU upset
Nebraska got the Fiesta Bowl and the Sooners got to play 5th ranked Michigan in the Orange Bowl which Oklahoma won, 14-6.
This was not one of Nebraska’s best teams in spite of the top ranking in the polls. But, they were still pretty good with quarterback Vince Ferragamo and tailbacks Monte Anthony, Tough Tony Davis and John O’Leary. The tailbacks combined for well over 2,000 yards rushing and as usual the Husker ground attack was difficult to slow down.
Arizona State stunned the football world by beating the giant Nebraska, 17-14 to cap off an unbeaten 12-0 season.
The polls game Oklahoma the national championship after the Sooners had been beaten by Kansas and that didn’t sit well at all with Arizona State and it’s players. They felt that they should be national champions which was proven by their big win over Nebraska.
I do respect their opinions and they did deserve recognition, but the Oklahoma Sooners were really good. Yes, they did lose to Kansas in the upset of the year, but this team was loaded. Two of the three Selmon brothers played in the defensive line, along with Jimbo Elrod. Leroy Selmon is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and that doesn’t even cover all the talent the Sooners had running their Wishbone attack.
Arizona State was a great team, but in my opinion Oklahoma would have beaten them. But, who knows for sure and that’s why we are all glad we have some kind of a playoff now.
My guy John Jefferson was a first round draft pick after the 1977 season by the San Diego Chargers and he was every bit the talent everyone thought he would be coming out of Dallas Roosevelt High School. He was known for his spectacular diving catches, and other acrobatic plays.
He was a Pro Bowler 4 years in his 8 year career.
Teammate Mike Haynes was also a first round pick going to the New England Patriots and the cornerback Haynes had an incredible NFL career with 9 pro bowl appearances. Linebacker Larry Gordon was also taken in the first round and by the Miami Dolphins.
Arizona State was not without talent, and they went undefeated, but were they the top team in the nation in 1975?