NW

Freshman baseball player Randy Dean walked on to the football team and became the starting QB as well as a school record-setting punter, TE Scott Yelvington caught fifty passes and led the Big Ten in receptions, and RB Greg Boykin rushed for a school record 1105 yards. Yet the 'Cats could score a paltry ten touchdowns in their eleven games which finished at 3-8. With the scoring defense last in the conference, despite All Big Ten S Pete Shaw's 101 tackles, the recipe for disaster was present. After the 69-0 stomping by Michigan, the team seemed to come apart and lost every subsequent game. Student apathy was balanced by the dissent of alumni and boosters and the university president was not supportive towards making any changes in admissions or academic standards, leaving NU with a perpetual lack of depth. The Wildcats suffered through '75 with the same purple helmet with white "NU" logo that was introduced in 1968, but they changed to a white mask which made for a beautiful contrasting look on the helmet. 1976 was a disappointment to RB Greg Boykin who had a truncated season due to injury but still became the school's all-time rushing leader with the 537 yards he added to his previous stats. TE Scott Yelvington completed his career as the battery mate to QB Dean. The fifth ranked offense was much better than the defense which finished last in points yielded in the conference despite the work of MG Paul Maly and S Pete Shaw who went on to a stellar NFL career with the Chargers and Giants. Michigan State was the only victory in a 1-10 season.