The 1974 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

players chosen by various organizations for All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

teams for the

1974 Big Ten Conference football season The 1974 Big Ten Conference football season was the 79th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1974 NCAA Division I football season. The 1974 Michigan Wolverines football team, und ...

. The teams selected by the Big Ten coaches for the

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

(UPI) were led by

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

with nine first-team selections.

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

placed five players on the coaches' All-Big Ten first team. Running back

Archie Griffin Archie Mason Griffin (born August 21, 1954) is a former American football running back. He played seven seasons in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals. As college football's only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, he is considered one of the grea ...

, who won his first

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

in 1974, was the only player unanimously selected by the coaches as a first-team All-Big Ten player.

Offensive selections

Quarterbacks

Cornelius Greene Cornelius Green (born January 21, 1954) is a former American football quarterback who played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He was the first African American quarterback to start at Ohio State. Early years Green attended Dunbar ...

, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Dennis Franklin Dennis E. Franklin (born August 24, 1953) is a former professional American football player who was drafted by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) in the 1975 NFL Draft. Prior to playing for the NFL he played college footbal ...

, Michigan (AP-2; UPI-2)

Running backs

, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Billy Marek Billy Marek (born c. 1954) is a former American football running back. He played college football for the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1972 to 1975. He gained more than 1,200 rushing yards for three consecutive years from 1973 to 1975. ...

, Wisconsin (AP-1; UPI-1) * Courtney Snyder, Indiana (AP-1; UPI-2) * Levi Jackson, Michigan State (UPI-1) *

Gordon Bell Chester Gordon Bell (born August 19, 1934) is an American electrical engineer and manager. An early employee of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) 1960–1966, Bell designed several of their PDP machines and later became Vice President of Engi ...

, Michigan (AP-2; UPI-2) * Jim Pooler, Northwestern (AP-2) * Rick Upchurch, Minnesota (AP-2) *

Gil Chapman Gil Chapman (born August 23, 1953) is a former American football player, politician and businessman. Chapman became one of the leading scorers in the history of New Jersey high school football while playing for Thomas Jefferson High School in E ...

, Michigan (UPI-2)

Ends/receivers

Larry Burton Lawrence Godfrey Burton (born December 15, 1951) is a former professional American football player and world-class Olympic sprinter, finishing fourth for the United States team in the 200 meter final at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games. He held th ...

, Purdue (AP-1 nd UPI-1 ide receiver *

Doug France Frederick Douglas France Jr. (April 26, 1953 – April 8, 2016) was an American professional football player who was a tackle for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college fo ...

, Ohio State (AP-1 nd UPI-2 ight end *

Jack Novak Clarence John (Jack) Novak (born June 6, 1953 in Kewaunee, Wisconsin) is an American former professional football player who played tight end in the National Football League for the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1975 to 1977. ...

, Wisconsin (UPI-1 ight end *

Brian Baschnagel Brian Dale Baschnagel (born January 8, 1954 in Kingston, New York) is a former American football player. He played wide receiver for the Chicago Bears. Early life Brian Baschnagel's family relocated often due to his father's professional respo ...

, Ohio State (UPI-2 ide receiver * Jack Novak, Wisconsin (AP-2 nd * Steve Yelvington, Northwestern (AP-2 nd

Tackles

Dennis Lick Dennis Allan Lick (born April 26, 1954) is a former American football offensive tackle for the Chicago Bears. Lick played six seasons with the Bears from 1976 to 1981. He was signed out of the University of Wisconsin–Madison A universi ...

, Wisconsin (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Kurt Schumacher Curt Ernst Carl Schumacher, better known as Kurt Schumacher (13 October 1895 – 20 August 1952), was a German politician who became chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1946 and the first Leader of the Opposition in the West ...

, Ohio State (AP-2; UPI-1) * Paul Hiemenz, Northwestern (AP-1; UPI-2) * Steve King, Michigan (AP-2)

Guards

Ralph Perretta Ralph Perretta (born January 30, 1953) is a former professional American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven ...

, Purdue (AP-1; UPI-1) * Dick Mack, Ohio State (UPI-1) *

Terry Stieve Terry Allan Stieve (born March 10, 1954 in Baraboo, Wisconsin) is a retired American football offensive lineman. He was drafted out of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 1976 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. He played for the New ...

, Wisconsin (AP-2; UPI-2) * Revie Sorey, Illinois (AP-2) *

Joe Devlin Joseph or Joe Devlin may refer to: * Joseph Devlin (1871–1934), Irish journalist and nationalist politician * Joe Devlin (American football) (born 1954), American football offensive tackle * Joe Devlin (footballer) (born 1927), retired Scottish ...

, Iowa (UPI-2)

Centers

* Steve Myers, Ohio State (AP-1 uard UPI-1) *

Dennis Franks Dennis John Franks (May 29, 1953 – October 16, 2021) was an American professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). He was a center and played on special teams for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1976 to 1978 and for the D ...

, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-2) * Charles Ane, Michigan State (AP-2)

Defensive selections

Linemen

* Pete Cusick, Ohio State (AP-1 ront 5 UPI-1

ef. tackle EF or ef may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Ef (band), a post-rock band from Sweden * ''Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two.'', a Japanese adult visual novel series by Minori, or its anime adaptations Businesses and organizations * Eagle Forum, an ...

* Tim Davis, Michigan (AP-1 ront 5 UPI-1 iddle guard * Otto Smith, Michigan State (AP-1 ront 5 UPI-1 ef. end * James Taubert, Michigan State (AP-2 ront 5 UPI-1

Van DeCree Van Ness DeCree, from Warren, Ohio, is a former American Football, football defensive end who was a two-time All-American (1973 College Football All-America Team, 1973, 1974 College Football All-America Team, 1974) at Ohio State University. DeCre ...

, Ohio State (AP-2 ront 5 UPI-1 ef. end *

Dan Jilek Daniel Douglas Jilek (December 3, 1953 – March 6, 2002) was an American football player. He played professional football as a linebacker for the Buffalo Bills from 1976 to 1979. He was drafted by the Bills in the fourth round, as the 109th ...

, Michigan (UPI-1 ef. end * Ken Novak, Purdue (AP-1 ront 5 * Jeff Perlinger, Michigan (AP-1 ront 5 * Greg Schaum, Michigan State (AP-2 ront 5 UPI-2

* Keith Simons, Minnesota (AP-2 ront 5 UPI-2

* Jim Cope, Ohio State (UPI-2 ef. end * Arnie Jones, Ohio State (UPI-2 iddle guard * Lynn Heil, Iowa (AP-2 ront 5

Linebackers

* Terrence McClowry, Michigan State (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Steve Strinko Steven Douglas Strinko (born October 5, 1952) is a former American football player. He played as a linebacker for Coach Bo Schembechler at the University of Michigan and was selected as the Most Valuable Player on the 1974 Michigan Wolverines f ...

, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Tom Hicks Thomas Ollis Hicks Sr. (born February 7, 1946), is an American private equity investor and sports team owner living in Dallas, Texas. ''Forbes'' magazine estimated Hicks' wealth at $1 billion in 2009, but it dropped to $700 million in 2010 ...

, Illinois (AP-1; UPI-2) * Ollie Bakken, Minnesota (UPI-2) * Bruce Elia, Ohio State (AP-2) * Rick Jakious, Wisconsin (AP-2) * Donnie Thomas, Indiana (AP-2)

Defensive backs

* Dave Brown, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Neal Colzie Cornelius Connie Colzie, better known as Neal Colzie, (February 28, 1953 – August 20, 2001) was an American football cornerback for the Oakland Raiders (1975–1978), Miami Dolphins (1979), and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1980–1983). He also play ...

, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Don Dufek Donald Patrick Dufek Jr. (born April 28, 1954) is a former American football player who played safety and special teams for eight seasons with the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He had previously played for the Michigan W ...

, Michigan (AP-2; UPI-1) * Earl Douthitt, Iowa (AP-1; UPI-2) * Steve Luke, Ohio State (UPI-1) * Mike Gow, Illinois (AP-2; UPI-2) * Fred Cooper, Purdue (UPI-2) * Tom Graves, Michigan State (AP-2)

Key

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UPI =

, selected by the Big Ten Conference coaches Bold = Consensus first-team selection of both the AP and UPI

References

{{All-Big Ten Conference football teams All-Big Ten Conference All-Big Ten Conference football teams

Offensive selections

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Ends/receivers

Tackles

Guards

Centers

Defensive selections

Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Key

See also

References