1974 National Champion Football Team to Serve as CMU's Grand Marshals on Homecoming
6/13/2024 3:00:00 PM | Football, General, Our Stories
University to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1974 football national championship; Chippewas also will celebrate 100th annual Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 12 vs. Ohio.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A once-in-a-lifetime team that provided a lifetime of memories.
That was the 1974 Central Michigan University football team, led by legendary coach Roy Kramer.
That '74 team along with Kramer and his top assistant and a CMU Chippewa legend in his own right, Herb Deromedi, will serve as Grand Marshals of Central Michigan Homecoming in October.
The Chippewas are set to play Ohio on Oct. 12 on CMU's 100th Homecoming. It also marks the 50th anniversary of the '74 football team that finished 12-1 and captured the Division II national championship.
That title helped launch CMU Athletics as it stepped up to NCAA Division I and joined the Mid-American Conference the following year.
With Kramer calling the shots and Deromedi by his side, the '74 Chippewas capped a remarkable and oh-so memorable season with a 54-14 drubbing of Delaware in the national title game in Sacramento, Calif.
That completed a three-game playoff run, during which CMU outscored its opponents, 109-34. For the season, the Chippewas rolled up 450 points while holding their foes to 127. CMU posted two shutouts, and seven times held an opponent to a touchdown or less.
Among the many blowouts was a 42-6 shellacking of Western Michigan, marking the first time CMU had beaten the Broncos during Kramer's tenure, which began in 1967.
Offensively, the Chippewas twice cracked the 50-point barrier, and four other times scored at least 40 points. Running back Walt Hodges rushed for 1,463 yards, a total that ranks fifth on the CMU all-time single-season list, and his 3,886 career yards rank second in school history.
Four members of that team, quarterback Mike Franckowiak, defensive linemen Rick Newsome and John Wunderlich, and defensive back Tom Ray, received All-America honors.
The Chippewas opened the '74 season with a 21-14 loss to Kent State, then reeled off 12 consecutive wins. The entire squad was inducted into the CMU Marcy Weston Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004, marking the 30th anniversary of its championship.
Three players and two coaches associated with that team -- Kramer, Deromedi, Franckowiak, Newsome and Wunderlich -- are in the prestigious Hall of Fame as individuals.
Deromedi succeeded Kramer as the Chippewas' head coach in 1978. During the combined 27 years that Kramer and Deromedi led CMU football, the Chippewas went 193-87-12.
Kramer went on to serve as the director of athletics at Vanderbilt and later as commissioner of the Southeastern Conference. He was inducted last year into the College Football Hall of Fame, joining Deromedi who was inducted in 2007.
That was the 1974 Central Michigan University football team, led by legendary coach Roy Kramer.
That '74 team along with Kramer and his top assistant and a CMU Chippewa legend in his own right, Herb Deromedi, will serve as Grand Marshals of Central Michigan Homecoming in October.
The Chippewas are set to play Ohio on Oct. 12 on CMU's 100th Homecoming. It also marks the 50th anniversary of the '74 football team that finished 12-1 and captured the Division II national championship.
That title helped launch CMU Athletics as it stepped up to NCAA Division I and joined the Mid-American Conference the following year.
With Kramer calling the shots and Deromedi by his side, the '74 Chippewas capped a remarkable and oh-so memorable season with a 54-14 drubbing of Delaware in the national title game in Sacramento, Calif.
That completed a three-game playoff run, during which CMU outscored its opponents, 109-34. For the season, the Chippewas rolled up 450 points while holding their foes to 127. CMU posted two shutouts, and seven times held an opponent to a touchdown or less.
Among the many blowouts was a 42-6 shellacking of Western Michigan, marking the first time CMU had beaten the Broncos during Kramer's tenure, which began in 1967.
🏆 1974 National Champion @CMU_Football team to serve as @CMUniversity Homecoming Grand Marshals!@CMUAthletics to celebrate the 5⃣0⃣th anniversary of the 1974 national title this fall!
— CMU Athletics (@CMUAthletics) June 13, 2024
📰 https://t.co/VG8TP5PMuc#FireUpChips 🔥⬆️🏈 pic.twitter.com/AJ8OTijUaw
Offensively, the Chippewas twice cracked the 50-point barrier, and four other times scored at least 40 points. Running back Walt Hodges rushed for 1,463 yards, a total that ranks fifth on the CMU all-time single-season list, and his 3,886 career yards rank second in school history.
Four members of that team, quarterback Mike Franckowiak, defensive linemen Rick Newsome and John Wunderlich, and defensive back Tom Ray, received All-America honors.
The Chippewas opened the '74 season with a 21-14 loss to Kent State, then reeled off 12 consecutive wins. The entire squad was inducted into the CMU Marcy Weston Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004, marking the 30th anniversary of its championship.
Three players and two coaches associated with that team -- Kramer, Deromedi, Franckowiak, Newsome and Wunderlich -- are in the prestigious Hall of Fame as individuals.
Deromedi succeeded Kramer as the Chippewas' head coach in 1978. During the combined 27 years that Kramer and Deromedi led CMU football, the Chippewas went 193-87-12.
Kramer went on to serve as the director of athletics at Vanderbilt and later as commissioner of the Southeastern Conference. He was inducted last year into the College Football Hall of Fame, joining Deromedi who was inducted in 2007.
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