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1975 Cotton Bowl Classic

Field	Value
game_name	Cotton Bowl Classic
subheader	39th Cotton Bowl Classic
image	Cotton Bowl Classic 1975.png
date_game_played	January 1
year_game_played	1975
football_season	1974
home_name_short	Baylor
home_nickname	Bears
home_record	8–3
home_coach	Grant Teaff
home_conference	SWC
home_rank_AP	12
home_rank_coaches	12
home_1q	7
home_2q	0
home_3q	7
home_4q	6
visitor_name_short	Penn State
visitor_nickname	Nittany Lions
visitor_record	9–2
visitor_coach	Joe Paterno
visitor_conference	Independent
visitor_rank_AP	7
visitor_rank_coaches	6
visitor_1q	0
visitor_2q	3
visitor_3q	14
visitor_4q	24
type	bg
us_network	CBS
stadium	Cotton Bowl
city	Dallas, Texas
MVP	QB Tom Shuman (Penn State)
S Ken Quesenberry (Baylor)
referee	McDuff Simpson (SWC;
split crew: SWC, ECAC)
attendance	67,500–68,500

S Ken Quesenberry (Baylor) split crew: SWC, ECAC)

The 1975 Cotton Bowl Classic was played between the Baylor Bears and the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Background

Baylor did the Miracle on the Brazos, winning the Southwest Conference championship for the first time since 1924, doing so after starting the season 0–2 by going 8–1 the rest of the way. They only lost one conference game (to A&M, who had two), but their most memorable win was against Texas, in which they came back from a 24–7 halftime deficit and beat the Longhorns for the first time in 17 years. This was Baylor's first Cotton Bowl Classic. The Nittany Lions were making their third appearance and second in the decade.

Game summary

Steve Beaird gave the Bears the lead when he scored on a 4-yard touchdown run as the first quarter ended. Penn State retaliated with a Chris Bahr field goal with 1:09 left to narrow the lead to 7–3 at halftime. The Nittany Lions scored first with a Tom Donchez touchdown run. Baylor scored back with a Ricky Thompson touchdown catch from Neal Jeffrey. But Penn state scored on a Jimmy Cefalo catch from Tom Shuman as the Nittany Lions led 17–14 going into the fourth quarter. Things started to fall apart for the Bears in the fourth quarter. Jimmy Cefalo scored on a touchdown run to increase the lead. Bahr added in a field goal, and Mike Johnson intercepted a pass which led to a Shuman touchdown run. Running out of time, Thompson caught a touchdown pass from Mark Jackson with :14 left, missing the conversion. To add insult to injury, Joe Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, making it 41–20 as the final seconds ticked off, giving Penn State their second Cotton Bowl Classic win.

Attendance for the game was estimated between 67,500 and 68,500.

Statistics

Statistics	Penn State	Baylor
First downs	23	20
Yards rushing	265	138
Yards passing	226	175
Total yards	491	313
Punts-Average	2-36.5	6-34.0
Fumbles-Lost	3-2	4-0
Interceptions	0	2
Penalties-Yards	8-70	7-45

In popular culture

This game was referenced in the January 31st, 1999 episode of the TV show Family Guy titled “Death has a Shadow” where Peter Griffin attempted to make amends with his wife Lois by dropping money onto the field. The announcers mistakenly made the claim that a similar event happened during this bowl game, although no such event transpired.

References

"50-61.pmd (PDF)".
Campbell, Dave. (January 2, 1975). "Baylor Finds Nittany Lions Hard to Handle: 41-20". [[Waco Tribune-Herald]].
(January 2, 1975). "Bear dreams falter, Lions win, 41–20". The Paris News.
. ["Cotton Bowl Classics History; 39th Classic, 1975"](https://www.cottonbowl.com/sports/classics/roster/39th-classic-1975/231). *[[Cotton Bowl Classic]]*.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1974–75-ncaa-football-bowl-games cotton-bowl-classic baylor-bears-football-bowl-games penn-state-nittany-lions-football-bowl-games january-1975-sports-events-in-the-united-states 1975-in-sports-in-texas

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