1975 Idaho Vandals football team

The 1975 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. The Vandals were led by second-year head coach Ed Troxel and were members of the Big Sky Conference, then in Division II. They played their home games at the Kibbie Dome, an indoor facility on campus in Moscow, Idaho.

1975 Idaho Vandals football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	4–5–2 (2–2–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Ed Troxel (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Dennis Erickson (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Veer[1]
Defensive coordinator	Andy Christoff (2nd season)
Base defense	5–2[2]
Captains	Bill Keilty (FS) Steve Duncanson (TE) Mike Kramer (RG) John Yarno (C)[1][3]
Home stadium	Kibbie Dome
Seasons ← 1974 1976 →

1975 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 6 Boise State $^	5	–	0	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
Idaho State	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Montana State	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Idaho	2	–	2	–	2			4	–	5	–	2
Montana	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Weber State	1	–	4	–	1			1	–	9	–	1
Northern Arizona	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II AP Poll

Season

With quarterbacks Dave Comstock and Ken Schrom running the veer offense,^[1][4][5] the Vandals were 4–5–2 overall and 2–2–2 in the Big Sky.^[6][7]

In the Battle of the Palouse, the Vandals suffered an eighth straight loss to neighbor Washington State of the Pac-8, falling 84–27 at Martin Stadium in Pullman on November 15. The score was 56–14 at the half and 77–27 after three quarters.^[8][9][10] The Cougars went winless in the Pac-8 in 1975 and were 3–8 overall.

This was the first year the Vandals played home games indoors; the Kibbie Dome's arched roof and end walls were constructed in ten months following the 1974 season. Opened in October 1971, it was an unlit outdoor venue known as new Idaho Stadium for four seasons, the last three with artificial turf. Its predecessor Neale Stadium was also without lights, so this was the first season of night football games on campus. The Vandals lost the opener to Idaho State on September 27,^[11] and tied Boise State in the dedication game two weeks later.^[12][13]

Notable players and coaches

Junior center John Yarno was selected in fourth round of the 1977 NFL draft played six seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. Although quarterback Schrom was projected as the starter for 1976 as a redshirt junior, he opted to pursue professional baseball after the 1976 baseball draft.^[14] A pitcher, he was a major leaguer for seven seasons and an all-star as a reliever in 1986.

Dennis Erickson, age 28, completed his second year as offensive coordinator, then left for Fresno State; he returned to the UI program in 1982 as head coach.

Division I

Through 1977, the Big Sky was a Division II conference for football, except for Division I member Idaho, which moved down to I-AA in 1978. Idaho maintained its upper division status in the NCAA by playing Division I non-conference opponents (and was ineligible for the Division II postseason).

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	5:30 pm	at Arkansas State*	Indian Stadium Jonesboro, AR	L 6–23	10,122	[15]
September 20	2:30 pm	at Northern Arizona	Lumberjack Stadium Flagstaff, AZ	W 22–12	10,000
September 27	8:00 pm	No. 6 Idaho State	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (rivalry)	L 14–29	14,079	[11]
October 4	7:30 pm	at No. 14 (D-I) Arizona State*	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	L 3–29	44,262	[16]
October 11	1:30 pm	No. 4 Boise State	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID (rivalry)	T 31–31	16,250	[12][13][17][18]
October 18	12:30 pm	at No. 13 Montana	Dornblaser Field Missoula, MT (Little Brown Stein)	L 3–14	7,800
October 25	8:15 pm	at UNLV*	Las Vegas Stadium Las Vegas, NV	W 39–7	12,451	[19][20]
November 1	8:00 pm	Montana State	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	W 41–23	13,425
November 8	12:30 pm	at Weber State	Wildcat Stadium Ogden, UT	T 40–40	3,866
November 15	1:30 pm	at Washington State*	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA (Battle of the Palouse)	L 27–84	17,300	[8]
November 22	8:00 pm	Northern Illinois*	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	W 25–24	7,345
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Roster

1975 Idaho Vandals football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 10 Ken Schrom So QB, P 12 Rocky Tuttle Fr QB 14 Dave Comstock Sr SE 18 Kirk Allen Fr F, P 22 Bob Cheek Fr RB 23 Monty Nash Sr RB 25 Robert Brooks So RB 30 Tim Lappano Fr RB 40 Robert Taylor So FB 44 J.C. Chadband Sr FB 45 Kevin McAfee Jr C 56 John Yarno (C) Jr RG 51 Mike Kramer (C) Sr RT 62 John Adams Sr OL 65 Joe Dahlin So LG 68 Clarence Hough Jr OL 74 Dave Wiggum So OL 76 Greg Kittrell Jr LT 78 Wil Overgaard Jr TE 80 Mike Hagadone Fr TE 82 Steve Duncanson (C) Sr SE 83 Tim Coles Sr TE 84 Rick Mayfield Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class FS, PK 11 Bill Keilty (C) Sr CB 26 Greg Coman So CB 27 Chuck Love Sr SS 37 Barry Hopkins Jr CB 42 Bill Clark Jr CB 43 Brian Charles So LB 54 Bob Cafferty Fr DE 55 Jeff Phister Jr LB 58 Kjel Kiilsgaard Jr LB 59 John Kirtland Jr DE 60 Rick Sullivan Jr LB 61 Mike Siva Sr LB 66 Ken Petticolas Jr NG 67 Dave Gallick Sr DT 72 Joe Pellegrini So DL 73 Tom Eilertson So DT 75 Lynn Rice So DT 77 Craig Crnick Sr DE 81 Doug Fisher Sr DE 85 Chris Tormey   Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 7 Chuck Filippini Jr	Head coach Ed Troxel Coordinators/assistant coaches Dennis Erickson (OC) Andy Christoff (DC) John McMahon (OL) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:^{[1][3][19][21][22][23][24]}

All-conference

Four Vandal seniors were named to the Big Sky all-conference team: quarterback Dave Comstock, fullback J.C. Chadband, tight end Steve Duncanson, and defensive back Bill Keilty. Chadband and Duncanson were repeat selections and were chosen unanimously. The second team included center John Yarno, tackle Wil Overgaard, split end Tim Coles, and linebacker Mike Siva.^[5][25]

Comstock was the runner-up for conference MVP, a single vote behind running back John Smith of Boise State.^[5][26]

NFL Draft

One Vandal senior was selected in the 1976 NFL draft, which lasted seventeen rounds (487 selections).

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Craig Crnick	DE	13th	367	Oakland Raiders

References

1. Payne, Bob (September 7, 1975). "Troxel sees Idaho in thick of chase". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. D6.
2. "Troxel claims defense key at Idaho". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. September 7, 1977. p. 42.
3. "Rosters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). September 27, 1975. p. 12.
4. "Probable offensive lineups". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. September 27, 1975. p. 9.
5. "Four Vandals make all Big Sky team". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 26, 1975. p. 2B.
6. "Idaho finishes with a smile". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. November 24, 1975. p. A13.
7. Emerson, Paul (November 25, 1975). "Idaho football close to winning". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
8. Barrows, Bob. "WSU turns Battle of Palouse in 84-27 rout". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
9. Missildine, Harry (November 16, 1975). "Cougars clobber Vandals". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. D1.
10. Brown, Bruce (November 17, 1975). "Runaway Cougs want UW victory". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Idaho. p. 17.
11. Emerson, Paul (September 28, 1975). "Early ISU burst brings down roof on Vandal debut". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 1B.
12. Roche, Kevin (October 12, 1975). "Kibbie Dome dedication: sideshow for a 31-31 tie". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 12A.
13. Payne, Bob (October 12, 1975). "Vandals, Boise battle to tie". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. D1.
14. Barrows, Bob (October 25, 1980). "Ken Schrom glad he switched to baseball". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 5B.
15. Emerson, Paul (September 14, 1975). "Arkansas State overcomes errors, beats Vandals 23-6". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
16. "Kush's kicks lead Arizona St., 29–3". Press-Telegram. October 5, 1975. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
17. Drosendahl, Glenn (October 11, 1975). "Idaho bucking Broncos in dome dedication game". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
18. Drosendahl, Glenn (October 12, 1975). "Idaho-Boise St. brawl ends with 31-31 tie". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
19. "Game program: UNLV Runnin' Rebels vs. University of Idaho Vandals". University of Nevada, Las Vegas. University Libraries. October 25, 1975. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
20. "Idaho routs Las Vegas". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 26, 1975. p. 1B.
21. "Vandals leave this morning for Arkansas". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). September 12, 1975. p. 1B.
22. "Rosters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 15, 1975. p. 12.
23. "Rosters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 22, 1975. p. 15.
24. "Keilty, Comstock receive top Idaho awards". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). December 3, 1975. p. 4B.
25. "Chadband Comstock on Big Sky". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. November 26, 1975. p. 16.
26. Drosendahl, Glenn (December 1, 1975). "Life as a Vandal QB". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.

External links

• Gem of the Mountains: 1976 University of Idaho yearbook – 1975 football season
• Idaho Argonaut – student newspaper – 1975 editions
• Official game program: Idaho at Washington State – November 15, 1975
• Postcard of Kibbie Dome interior – opening night – September 27, 1975