1977 Navy Midshipmen football team

The 1977 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. Navy competed as an independent with no conference affiliation. The team was led by fifth-year head coach George Welsh.[2][3]

1977 Navy Midshipmen football
Conference	Independent
1977 record	5–6
Head coach	George Welsh (5th season)
Home stadium	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium

1977 NCAA Division I independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Notre Dame		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 5 Penn State		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
Colgate		–		–				10	–	1	–	0
North Texas State *		–		–				10	–	1	–	0
No. 16 San Diego State		–		–				10	–	1	–	0
Tennessee State		–		–				8	–	1	–	1
No. 14 Florida State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Pittsburgh		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
East Carolina		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
Army		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Louisville		–		–				7	–	4	–	1
Boston College		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Cincinnati		–		–				5	–	4	–	2
Georgia Tech		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Northwestern State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
William & Mary		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Hawaii		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Navy		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				5	–	7	–	0
Utah State		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Villanova		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Illinois State		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Virginia Tech		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
Indiana State		–		–				3	–	7	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Richmond		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Tulane		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Air Force		–		–				2	–	8	–	1
Holy Cross		–		–				2	–	8	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
North Texas State (originally 9–2) awarded a forfeit win after Mississippi State was found to be using an ineligible player.[1] Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 10	The Citadel	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 21–2
September 17	Connecticut	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 38–7
September 25	at Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	L 7–14	101,800
October 1	at Duke	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	L 16–28
October 8	Air Force	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)	W 10–7
October 15	at Pittsburgh	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	L 17–34
October 22	William & Mary	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 42–17
October 29	at Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (rivalry)	L 10–43	59,075
November 5	Syracuse	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	L 34–45
November 12	Georgia Tech	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	W 20–16
November 26	vs. Army	JFK Stadium Philadelphia, PA (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy/Army–Navy Game)	L 14–17	81,091
Homecoming

Personnel

1977 Navy Midshipmen football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT 65 Jerome Barker So OG 77 Rick Bott So RB Steve Callahan TE Rich Cellon QB Randy Farley OG 62 Tom Fieldman So C Ray Fritsch RB Joe Gattuso (C) Sr TE 83 Carl Hendershot So WR Sandy Jones FB 33 Larry Klawinski So OG Steve Kremer WR John Kurkowski QB 15 Bob Lesczynski Jr OT Jim Lippard WR 80 Phil McConkey Jr RB Leon Miller QB 18 Bob Powers So OT 75 Kevin Ryan Sr RB 23 Mike Sherlock Fr OT 61 John Taylor So RB Dave Walker	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 73 Steve Chambers Fr LB Bob DeStefany S Mike Galpin (C) Sr LB 63 Mike Kronzer Fr DB 32 Pat McCormick Sr DT 76 John Merrill So DB 66 Charlie Meyers So DL A.B. Miller DB 49 Gregg Milo So DE 88 Hugh Nixon So LB 55 Tom Paulk So DL Pfunandre Redvict DL Ed Reid DB John Sturges DE 84 Charlie Thornton So DL Tom Thompson DB Bob Wilson DB 36 Chuck Zingler So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 10 Bob Tata Jr	Head coach George Welsh Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Air Force Falcons at Navy Midshipmen

	1	2	3	4	Total
Air Force	0	7	0	0	7
Navy	0	7	0	3	10

at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland

• Date: October 8
• Game weather: Rain
• [4]

Game information
Air Force Navy Joe Gattuso Jr. 143 Rush Yds

Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP AFA NAVY 2 4 Air Force Paul Williams 6-yard touchdown reception from Dave Ziebart, Terry Harris kick good 7 0 2 88 Navy Paul Klawinski 5-yard touchdown run, Bob Tata kick good 7 7 4 0:41 Navy 25-yard field goal by Bob Tata 7 10 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 7 10

References

1. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/years/1977-standings.html
2. "Football History" (PDF). United States Naval Academy. p. 194. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
3. "Navy Yearly Results (1975-1979)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
4. New York Times. 1977 Oct 09. Retrieved 2019-Jan-22.