1975 California Golden Bears football team

The 1975 California Golden Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Berkeley in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. In their fourth year under head coach Mike White, the Golden Bears compiled an 8–3 record (6–1 in Pac-8), finished in a tie with UCLA for the Pac-8 championship, and outscored their opponents 330 to 233. The Golden Bears gained 2,522 passing yards and 2,522 rushing yards. The average was 229 total yards per game and the team was ranked number one in total offense.^[1]

1975 California Golden Bears football
Pac-8 co-champion
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 14
Record	8–3 (6–1 Pac-8)
Head coach	Mike White (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Roger Theder
Captains	Chuck Muncie Paul Von der Mehden
Home stadium	California Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1974 1976 →

1975 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 UCLA ^ +	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
No. 14 California +	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Stanford	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	4	–	1
Washington	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
No. 17 USC	3	–	4	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Oregon	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Oregon State	1	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
Washington State	0	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – Selected as Rose Bowl representative Rankings from AP Poll

The team did not participate in the Rose Bowl because during the season it lost to co-champion UCLA.^[2][3] In the first year that the Pac-8 allowed additional bowl games, only fifth-place USC was invited, to the Liberty Bowl.

The team's statistical leaders included Joe Roth with 1,880 passing yards, Chuck Muncie with 1,460 rushing yards, and Steve Rivera with 790 receiving yards.^[2] Roth, a junior college transfer, became the starting quarterback in the season's fourth game, taking over from junior Fred Besana.^[4]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	at Colorado*		Folsom Field Boulder, CO	L 27–34	46,211	^[5]
September 20	No. 20 West Virginia*		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	L 10–28	23,375	^[6]
September 27	at Washington State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	W 33–21	24,500	^[7]
October 4	San Jose State*		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 27–24	32,788	^[4]
October 11	at Oregon		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	W 34–7	18,500	^[8]^[9]
October 18	Oregon State		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 51–24	31,758	^[10]^[11]
October 25	at No. 19 UCLA		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	L 14–28	36,100	^[12]
November 1	No. 4 USC		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 28–14	58,871	^[13]
November 8	Washington	No. 18	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 27–24	43,270	^[14]
November 15	at Air Force*	No. 15	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	W 31–14	35,770	^[15]
November 22	at Stanford	No. 13	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (Big Game)	W 48–15	88,000	^[16]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[17]

Roster

1975 California Golden Bears football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 79 Ted Albrecht Jr QB 11 Fred Besana Jr RB 42 Chuck Muncie Sr WR 7 Steve Rivera Sr QB 12 Joe Roth Jr WR 99 Wesley Walker Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 3 Jim Breech So P 25 Greg Cummins So	Head coach Mike White (4th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

^[18][19]

Game summaries

Stanford

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
California	14	13	0	21	48
Stanford	6	0	0	9	15

at Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California

• Date: November 22
• Game attendance: 88,000

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP California Stanford 1 California Chuck Muncie 7-yard touchdown reception from Joe Roth, Jim Breech kick good 7 0 1 California Chuck Muncie 14-yard touchdown run, Jim Breech kick good 14 0 1 Stanford Tony Hill 38-yard touchdown reception from Guy Benjamin, kick no good 14 6 2 California 48-yard field goal by Jim Breech 17 6 2 California Chuck Muncie 1-yard touchdown run, Jim Breech kick good 24 6 2 California 38-yard field goal by Jim Breech 27 6 4 Stanford Safety 27 8 4 Stanford Jenke 4-yard touchdown reception from Guy Benjamin, Langford kick good 27 15 4 California Chuck Muncie 3-yard touchdown run, Jim Breech kick good 34 15 4 California Walker 46-yard touchdown reception from Chuck Muncie, Jim Breech kick good 41 15 4 California Jones 6-yard touchdown run, Jim Breech kick good 48 15 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 48 15

Cal needed a win and UCLA tie or loss to earn a berth in the Rose Bowl.

Chuck Muncie finished with over 3,000 yards rushing in his career along with 37 touchdowns, 230 points and 4,188 all-purpose yards. By scoring four times, Muncie also tied a single game school record and finished the year with 15 TDs for another Cal mark.

After the game, coach Mike White said "If Chuck Muncie isn't the Heisman Trophy winner, I don't know who is."

^[20]

NFL draft

Two Golden Bears were selected in the 1976 NFL draft.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Chuck Muncie	Running back	1	3	New Orleans Saints
Steve Rivera	Wide receiver	4	100	San Francisco 49ers

^[21]

References

1. Jares, Joe (September 6, 1976). . SI.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
2. "1975 California Golden Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. p. 148. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
3. (PDF). CalBears.com. Cal Golden Bears Athletics. p. 165. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
4. "Roth finds Walker, Cal trips San Jose". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 5, 1975. p. 3B.
5. "Colorado wears Cal down, 34-27". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 14, 1975. p. 3C.
6. "W. Va. shocks overconfident Cal, 28–10". The San Francisco Examiner. September 21, 1975. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. '16 Cougar Football (PDF). Washington State University Athletics. p. 81.
8. Withers, Bud (October 12, 1975). "Ducks make 'one big mess,' 34-7". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1D.
9. Oregon Football 2015 Media Guide (PDF). University of Oregon Athletics. p. 134.
10. Kennedy, Steve (October 19, 1975). "Oregon State goes from bad to worse". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
11. "Year-By-Year Results" (PDF). 2017 Oregon State Football Media Guide Football. Oregon State Athletics. p. 170.
12. Florence, Mal (October 26, 1975). "UCLA Beats Cal, 28-14; Vermeil Cries Foul: UCLA Beats California, 28-14". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 157797276.
13. USC Football 2017 Media Guide (PDF). University of Southern California Athletics. p. 70.
14. 2017 Washington Football Information (PDF). University of Washington Athletics. p. 197.
15. "Cal cruises to easy win over AFA". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 16, 1975. p. 4B.
16. "Muncie bowls over Cards, and wait begins". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. November 23, 1975. p. 3B.
17. 2009 California football information guide
18. "Bears vs. Cougars". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (probable starters, rosters). September 27, 1975. p. 12.
19. "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 11, 1975. p. 1B.
20. "Muncie bowls over Cards, and wait begins." Eugene Register-Guard. 23 Nov 1975
21. . Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.

External links

• Game program: California at Washington State – September 27, 1975