1975 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

1975 Vanderbilt Commodores football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	7–4 (2–4 SEC)
Head coach	Fred Pancoast (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Richard Trail (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Frank Emanuel (1st season)
Captain	Lonnie Sadler, Tom Galbierz
Home stadium	Dudley Field
Seasons ←  1974 1976  →

1975 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Alabama $	6	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
Florida	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 19 Georgia	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Ole Miss	5	–	1	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Tennessee	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Vanderbilt	2	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
LSU	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Auburn	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	6	–	2
Mississippi State	1	–	4	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
Kentucky	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion Mississippi State later forfeited 4 1975 wins and one tie due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll

The 1975 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University in the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. The team was led by head coach Fred Pancoast, who replaced Steve Sloan. In 1974, Sloan had led Vanderbilt to a bowl game for the first time since 1955, before leaving to become head coach at Texas Tech, the team Vanderbilt had faced in the Peach Bowl to close the season. The Vanderbilt squad finished the season with a record of 7–4, but was not invited to a bowl game. Three of the Commodores's four defeats came by margins of more than 30 points while all seven of their victors were by ten or fewer points.

Vanderbilt defeated Rice, Tulane, Army, Chattanooga, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. The Commodores lost to Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Ole Miss. Vanderbilt started off with three wins and four losses before winning their last four games of the season including the regular season finale against rival Tennessee. Vanderbilt's final record was 7–4 with a mark of 2–4 in the SEC. ^[1]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	Chattanooga *	Dudley Field Nashville, TN	W 17–7	24,108	[2]
September 20	at Rice *	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 9–6	18,000	[3]
September 27	No. 11 Alabama	Dudley Field Nashville, TN	L 7–40	34,000	[4]
October 4	at Tulane *	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA	W 6–3	30,100	[5]
October 11	at No. 18 Florida	Florida Field Gainesville, FL	L 0–35	58,631	[6]
October 18	Georgia	Dudley Field Nashville, TN (rivalry)	L 3–47	20,538	[7]
October 25	at Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (rivalry)	L 7–17	20,310	[8]
November 1	Virginia *	Dudley Field Nashville, TN	W 17–14	21,680	[9]
November 8	Kentucky	Dudley Field Nashville, TN (rivalry)	W 13–3	33,815	[10]
November 15	Army *	Dudley Field Nashville, TN	W 23–14	20,315	[11]
November 29	at Tennessee	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	W 17–14	71,943	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^{[13] [14]}

Roster

1975 Vanderbilt Commodores football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class G 62 Tom Ballman Jr TE 89 Barry Burton Sr WR 1 Martin Cox So QB 10 David Culley So QB 12 Fred Fisher Sr OT 77 Matt Gossage Sr OT 64 David Harber Sr C 50 Bill Holby Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 20 Reggie Calvin So SS 7 Jay Chesley Sr CB 21 Steve Curnette Sr DT 54 Tom Galbierz Sr DT 77 Dennis Harrison So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Fred Pancoast Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Jay Chesley	Defensive back	7	194	San Francisco 49ers

^[15]

References

1. "1975 Vanderbilt game by game results". Archived from the original on September 17, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
2. "Vanderbilt holds, no soap for UTC". The Tennessean. September 14, 1975. Retrieved September 15, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Vanderbilt field goals tip Owls, 9–6". Austin American-Statesman. September 21, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Tide picks Vandy's strings". The Selma Times-Journal. September 28, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Vandy wins again on Adams' FGs". The Tennessean. October 5, 1975. Retrieved October 18, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Florida's Gators rack up 35–0 win". Panama City News-Herald. October 12, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Georgia rolls past Vanderbilt 47–3". Sunday Herald-Leader. October 19, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Ole Miss defeats Vandy behind Ellis". The Macon Telegraph & News. October 26, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Late Cav bid foiled, 17–14". Richmond Times-Dispatch. November 2, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Inspired Vandy tops Kentucky". The Leaf-Chronicle. November 9, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Big interception keys Vanderbilt over Army". Hattiesburg American. November 16, 1975. Retrieved October 28, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Vandy ends UT streak, 17–14". Kingsport Times-News. November 30, 1975. Retrieved May 8, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
13. "1975 Vanderbilt game by game results". Archived from the original on September 17, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
14. 1975 Vanderbilt Commodores Schedule and Results
15. "1976 NFL Draft Listing | Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2009.