The 1975 All-America college football team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1975. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognizes four selectors as "official" for the 1975 season. They are: (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA); (2) the Associated Press (AP) selected based on the votes of sports writers at AP newspapers; (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) selected by the nation's football writers; and (4) the United Press International (UPI) selected based on the votes of sports writers at UPI newspapers. Other selectors included Football News (FN), the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), The Sporting News (TSN), Time magazine, and the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WC).
Three players were unanimously selected by all four official selectors and all five unofficial selectors. They were running back Archie Griffin of Ohio State, defensive linemen Steve Niehaus of Notre Dame and Lee Roy Selmon of Oklahoma.
The 1975 Oklahoma Sooners football team had seven players who received first-team honors. The Oklahoma honorees were Lee Roy Selmon, receiver Tinker Owens, offensive tackle Mike Vaughan, offensive guard Terry Webb, defensive end Jimbo Elrod, middle guard Dewey Selmon, and return specialist Joe Washington. Ohio State followed with five first-team honorees: offensive guard Ted Smith, quarterback Cornelius Greene, running back and Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin, defensive back Tim Fox, and punter Tom Skladany.
Consensus All-Americans The following chart identifies the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans for the year 1975 and displays which first-team designations they received.
Name Position School NumberThis column lists the number of selectors choosing the player as a first-team All-American as follows: official selectors/other selectors/total selectors. Official OtherArchie GriffinRunning backOhio State4/5/9AFCA, FWAA, AP, UPIFN, NEA, TSN, Time, WCSteve NiehausDefensive tackleNotre Dame4/5/9AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPIFN, NEA, TSN, Time, WCLee Roy SelmonDefensive tackleOklahoma4/5/9AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPIFN, NEA, TSN, Time, WCGreg ButtleLinebackerPenn State3/5/8AP, FWAA, UPIFN, NEA, Time, TSN, WCChuck MuncieRunning backCalifornia3/5/8AP, FWAA, UPIFN, NEA, TSN, Time, WCEd SimoniniLinebackerTexas A&M4/3/7AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPIFN, TSN, WCTim FoxDefensive backOhio State3/4/7AFCA, FWAA, UPINEA, TSN, Time, WCRicky BellRunning backUSC4/2/6AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPIFN, WCLeroy CookDefensive endAlabama4/2/6AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPIFN, WCRik BonnessCenterNebraska4/2/6AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPIFN, WCChet MoellerDefensive backNavy4/2/6AFCA, AP, FWAA, UPIFN, WCBob SimmonsOffensive tackleTexas3/3/6AFCA, AP, UPIFN, NEA, WCPat ThomasDefensive backTexas A&M3/3/6AFCA, AP, UPIFN, NEA, WCDennis LickOffensive tackleWisconsin2/4/6AFCA, UPINEA, TSN, Time, WCSteve RiveraWide receiverCalifornia3/2/5AFCA, AP, UPIFN, WCJohn SciarraQuarterbackUCLA3/2/5AFCA, AP, UPINEA, WCDewey SelmonMiddle guardOklahoma3/2/5AFCA, AP, UPIFN, WCRandy JohnsonOffensive guardGeorgia3/1/4AFCA, AP, UPIWCTed SmithOffensive guardOhio State2/2/4AP, FWAAFN, NEAJimbo ElrodDefensive endOklahoma2/1/3AP, UPIWCSammy GreenLinebackerFlorida2/1/3AP, FWAANEALarry SeiversWide receiverTennessee1/1/2APFN
Offense Receivers
Steve Rivera, California Larry Seivers, Tennessee Henry Marshall, Missouri Theo Bell, Arizona Don Buckey, N.C. State Larry Dorsey, Tennessee State Dave Logan, Colorado Tinker Owens, Oklahoma Steve Largent, Tulsa Tony Hill, Stanford
Tight ends
Bennie Cunningham, Clemson Mike Barber, Louisiana Tech Ken MacAfee, Notre Dame Barry Burton, Vanderbilt Don Hasselbeck, Colorado
Tackles
Bob Simmons, Texas Dennis Lick, Wisconsin Rod Walters, Iowa Mark Koncar, Colorado Marvin Powell, USC Mike Vaughan, Oklahoma Brad Oates, BYU Lamar Parrish, Georgia Dan Jiggetts, Harvard
Guards
Randy Johnson, Georgia Ted Smith, Ohio State Ken Jones, Arkansas State Joe Devlin, Iowa Terry Webb, Oklahoma Tom Rafferty, Penn State Randy Cross, UCLA Mickey Marvin, Tennessee Ken Long, Purdue Carl Dean, New Mexico State
Centers
Rik Bonness, Nebraska Pete Brock, Colorado James Files, McNeese State Ray Pinney, Washington Leo Tierney, Georgia Tech
Quarterbacks
John Sciarra, UCLA Craig Penrose, San Diego State Marty Akins, Texas Gene Swick, Toledo Cornelius Greene, Ohio State Jeff Grantz, South Carolina
Running backs
Archie Griffin, Ohio State Ricky Bell, USC Chuck Muncie, California Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh Earl Campbell, Texas Jimmy DuBose, Florida Joe Washington, Oklahoma Gordon Bell, Michigan Louie Giammona, Utah State
Defense
Defensive ends
Leroy Cook, Alabama Jimbo Elrod, Oklahoma Troy Archer, Colorado Bob Martin, Nebraska Jimmy Lisko, Arkansas State Duncan McColl, Stanford Kim Bokamper, San Jose State Randy Cozens, Pittsburgh Nate Toran, Rutgers
Defensive tackles
Leroy Selmon, Oklahoma Steve Niehaus, Notre Dame Ken Novak, Purdue James White, Oklahoma State Mike Dawson, Arizona Edgar Fields, Texas A&M Gary Jeter, USC Nick Buonamici, Ohio State Bob Baumhower, Alabama
Middle guards
Dewey Selmon, Oklahoma Cliff Frazier, UCLA Tim Davis, Michigan Tom Higgins, NC State
Linebackers
Ed Simonini, Texas A&M Greg Buttle, Penn State Sammy Green, Florida Kevin McLain, Colorado State Woody Lowe, Alabama Larry Gordon, Arizona State Ray Preston, Syracuse Reggie Williams, Dartmouth Garth TenNapel, Texas A&M Brian Ruff, The Citadel Phil Heck, California Calvin O'Neal, Michigan Gary Spani, Kansas State Donnie Thomas, Indiana
Defensive backs
Tim Fox, Ohio State Pat Thomas, Texas A&M Chet Moeller, Navy Mike Haynes, Arizona State Don Dufek, Michigan James Hunter, Grambling Kurt Knoff, Kansas Wonder Monds, Nebraska Jim Bolding, East Carolina Lester Hayes, Texas A&M Shafer Suggs, Ball State Danny Reece, USC Bill Armstrong, Wake Forest Tommy Marvaso, Cincinnati
Special teams
Kickers
Chris Bahr, Penn State Bob Berg, New Mexico Dave Lawson, Air Force
Punters
Tom Skladany, Ohio State Rick Engles, Tulsa
Returner
Joe Washington, Oklahoma
Key Bold – Consensus All-American -1 – First-team selection -2 – Second-team selection -3 – Third-team selection
Official selectors
AFCA – American Football Coaches Association AP – Associated Press FWAA – Football Writers Association of America UPI – United Press International
Other selectors
FN – Football News NEA – Newspaper Enterprise Association TSN – The Sporting News Time – Time magazine WC – Walter Camp Football Foundation
See also 1975 All-Atlantic Coast Conference football team 1975 All-Big Eight Conference football team 1975 All-Big Ten Conference football team 1975 All-Pacific-8 Conference football team 1975 All-SEC football team 1975 All-Southwest Conference football team
References