College football game
| 1975 Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 39th Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1975 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Cotton Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Dallas, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | QB Tom Shuman (Penn State) S Ken Quesenberry (Baylor) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | McDuff Simpson (SWC; split crew: SWC, ECAC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 68,500 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1975 Cotton Bowl Classic was played between the Baylor Bears and the Penn State Nittany Lions.
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.
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.
Statistics
| Statistics | Penn State | Baylor |
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| 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 |
References
- "50-61.pmd (PDF)" (PDF). Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 6, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
| 1974–75 NCAA football bowl game season | |
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| Cotton Bowl Classic | |
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| History & conference tie-ins |
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| Games |
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| Notes | There was a Cotton Bowl Classic in January and December in 1966, 2015, 2017, 2023, 2025.
The 2015 (December), 2018, 2021, and 2025 (January) editions were College Football Playoff semifinals. |