The 1974 Central Michigan Chippewas football team was an

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 ...

team that represented

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

during the

1974 NCAA Division II football season The 1974 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level, began in September and concluded with the Division II Championship on De ...

. In their eighth season under head coach

Roy Kramer Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise t ...

, the Chippewas compiled a 12–1 record, losing the opening game to

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ash ...

and then winning 12 straight games. In

postseason The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

play, they defeated Boise State 20–6 at

Perry Shorts Stadium Kramer/Deromedi Field at Kelly/Shorts Stadium is an American football stadium in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. It serves as the home field for the Central Michigan University Chippewas. The stadium opened in 1972 and holds 30,255 spectators, making i ...

in a Division II quarterfinal,

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

in the

Pioneer Bowl The Pioneer Bowl was the name of some December college football bowl games played in two different eras. Between 1971 and 1982, the game was contested 10 times in Texas as an NCAA College Division regional final, or as a playoff game for Divisio ...

(semifinal) in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

in the

Camellia Bowl Camellia Bowl can refer to one of three college football bowl games: * Camellia Bowl (1948) The Camellia Bowl was a post-season major college football bowl game played at McNaspy Stadium in Lafayette, Louisiana, on December 30, 1948, between t ...

to win the Division II championship. The team was also later voted number one in the AP's "College Division" poll. The 1974 Chippewas held 11 of their 13 opponents to 14 or fewer points and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 450 to 127. The team played its home games in

Mount Pleasant, Michigan Mount Pleasant is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in Central Michigan, the city is the county seat of Isabella County. The population was 21,688 as of the 2020 United States census. It is surrounded by Union Township but is politic ...

, with attendance of 93,236 in six home games. The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Mike Franckowiak with 1,262 passing yards (81 of 149 passing), running back Walt Hodges with 1,463 rushing yards (251 carries), and Matt Means with 848 receiving yards (55 receptions). Hodges' 1,463 rushing yards was a Central Michigan record at that time. Franckowiak received the team's most valuable player award. After the 1974 season, Central Michigan jumped to Division I and joined the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

. In 2004, the 1974 team was inducted as a group into the Central Michigan University Hall of Fame.

Schedule

Roster

NFL Draft

The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.

References

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...

Central Michigan Chippewas football seasons NCAA Division II Football Champions NCAA Small College Football Champions

Central Michigan Chippewas football The Central Michigan Chippewas are a college football program in Division I FBS, representing Central Michigan University (CMU). CMU has the 30th highest overall winning percentage of programs playing in NCAA Division I. The Chippewas have pla ...

{{collegefootball-1970s-season-stub

Schedule

Roster

NFL Draft

See also

References