The 1975 College All-Star Game
In
the last complete game of the series, coach John McKay and the 1975
All-Stars nearly ambushed the Pittsburgh Steelers. The champions of the
NFL did not take the lead in scoring until the last four minutes of the
game. But as it turned out, the professional champions did win for the
30th time over their college opponents 21 to 14. On August 1, in front
of a crowd of 54,562, the All-Stars met the Steelers at Chicago’s
Soldier Field for the second to the last time as it was becoming
inevitable that the series would not last much longer. The game that
night, however, showed that the talent and ability of a group of senior
college players could indeed match the best that the National Football
League had to offer. The ‘75 All-Star team included Emmett Edwards of
Kansas, Russ Francis of Oregon, Dennis Harrah of Miami, Florida, Steve
Bartkowski of California, Walter Payton of Jackson State, Randy White of
Maryland, Richard Wood of Southern California and Neal Colzie of Ohio
State.
The All-Stars began the scoring the first time they had the ball. With
the brilliant passing of Steve Bartkowski they went 79 yards in 4 plays
scoring when Bartkowski hit Pat McInally of Harvard with a 28-yard pass
in the right corner of the end zone. Unfortunately, McInally suffered a
fractured left fibula on the play and was taken to the hospital. Steve
Mike-Mayer kicked the point after. Early in the second quarter, after an
87-yard drive, Pittsburgh tied the score with a 5-yard pass from Terry Bradshaw
to Randy Grossman. Roy Gerela kicked the extra point. Then, with 3:26
remaining in the half, the All-Stars took the lead again on an 88-yard
record-breaking punt return by
Virgil Livers of Western Kentucky.
Mike-Mayer again kicked the PAT making the score 14-7.
Neither team was able to score in the third quarter and Pittsburg coach
Chuck Noll brought in quarterback Joe Gilliam in the fourth period to
generate some offense (Bradshaw had been sacked six times). Gilliam came
through. With the running of Reggie Harrison and Rocky Bleier, the
Steelers drove from the All-Star 42-yard line to the 6. Then, on a third
and goal situation, Gilliam threw a 6-yard pass to Bleier who scored.
Gerela’s PAT evened the score at 14-14. After the Steel Curtain forced
the All-Stars to punt, Gilliam completed two passes to move Pittsburgh
to within striking distance. Gilliam then completed a 15-yard pass to
Frank Lewis for the game’s final score with 4:16 left to go. Gerela’s
point after brought the score to 21-14 and the Steelers came away with a
win and their reputations intact.