The Ottawa Rough Riders’ 1974 Season
Season Summary
- Finished 2nd (in tiebreaker) in the Eastern Conference
- Eastern Conference Semi-final
- Nov. 10, 1974 Won 21 – 19 vs Hamilton
- Eastern Conference Final
- Nov. 17, 1974 Lost 4 – 14 @ Montreal
Ottawa Rough Riders 1974 Full Schedule/Results
Team Roster and Stats
- Roster Turnover from 1973: 11 players
- 1974 Team Roster and Player Participation (CFLdb)
| GP | W | L | T | PTS | PF | PA | Streak | L6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-season | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 110 | 88 | W4 | 4-0-0 |
| Regular Season | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 14 | 261 | 271 | L2 | 3-3-0 |
| Home | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 134 | 134 | L1 | 2-4-0 |
| Visitor | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 127 | 137 | L1 | 3-3-0 |
| Divisional opponent | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 186 | 212 | L2 | 2-4-0 |
| Non-divisional opponent | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 75 | 59 | W2 | 3-2-0 |
Ottawa Rough Riders 1974 Opponent Appearances
| Opponent | Opp. Win % | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Divisional | 0.497 | 2-3-0 (5) | 2-4-0 (6) |
| Non-Divisional | 0.519 | 2-1-0 (3) | 1-1-0 (2) |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4) | 0.438 | ||
| Montreal Alouettes (4) | 0.625 | ||
| Toronto Argonauts (3) | 0.406 | ||
| BC Lions (1) | 0.500 | ||
| Calgary Stampeders (1) | 0.375 | ||
| Edmonton Eskimos (1) | 0.656 | ||
| Saskatchewan Roughriders (1) | 0.563 | ||
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1) | 0.500 |
Coaches
Head Coaches
- George Brancato (March 1, 1974 – Nov. 9, 1984)
- Jack Gotta (Dec. 10, 1969 – Feb. 4, 1974)
1974 Ottawa Rough Riders Attendance
- Capacity: 27,172
- Total: 151,389
- High: 24,649
- Avg: 18,923 (8 out of 8 games)
- Diff from 1973 Avg: -5,820
- Low: 14,396
- Sellouts: 0
- % of Capacity: 69.64
- Diff from League Avg: -4,131
Team Scoring
| 1974 | 1973 +/- | |
|---|---|---|
| Average Combined Score | 33.25 | 3.11  |
| Average Winning Score | 25.57 | 1.46  |
| Average Losing Score | 9.11 | 2.49 |
| Average Home Score | 16.75 | 2.39 |
| Average Visitor Score | 15.88 | 4.27 |
| Average Margin of Victory | 12.43 | 1.54 |
| Average Margin of Loss | 10.78 | 0.62 |
Stadium
- 1974 home stadium: Lansdowne Park
- Capacity: 27,172
- Playing surface: Natural Grass
- Previous stadium change: 1967 – Expansion
Regular Season Scoring Summary by Quarter
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H | V | T | H | V | T | H | V | T | H | V | T | H (PPG) | V (PPG) | T (PPG) | |
| Ottawa | 40 | 26 | 66 | 38 | 58 | 96 | 24 | 14 | 38 | 32 | 29 | 61 | 134 (16.8) | 127 (15.9) | 261 (16.3) |
| Opponent | 16 | 29 | 45 | 39 | 28 | 67 | 41 | 38 | 79 | 38 | 42 | 80 | 137 (17.1) | 134 (16.8) | 271 (16.9) |
Lead/Trailed Record by Quarter
| Home | Visitor | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter | Lead (Record) | Tied (Record) | Trailed (Record) | Lead (Record) | Tied (Record) | Trailed (Record) | Lead (Record) | Tied (Record) | Trailed (Record) |
| After 1st | 6 (4-2-0) | 1 (0-1-0) | 1 (0-1-0) | 5 (2-3-0) | 0 (0-0-0) | 3 (1-2-0) | 11 (6-5-0) | 1 (0-1-0) | 4 (1-3-0) |
| After 2nd | 4 (3-1-0) | 2 (0-2-0) | 2 (1-1-0) | 5 (3-2-0) | 0 (0-0-0) | 3 (0-3-0) | 9 (6-3-0) | 2 (0-2-0) | 5 (1-4-0) |
| After 3rd | 3 (3-0-0) | 1 (0-1-0) | 4 (1-3-0) | 4 (3-1-0) | 0 (0-0-0) | 4 (0-4-0) | 7 (6-1-0) | 1 (0-1-0) | 8 (1-7-0) |
| After 4th | 4 (4-0-0) | 0 (0-0-0) | 4 (0-4-0) | 3 (3-0-0) | 0 (0-0-0) | 5 (0-5-0) | 7 (7-0-0) | 0 (0-0-0) | 9 (0-9-0) |
Ottawa Rough Riders 1974 Player Awards and Nominations
1974 Most Outstanding
- Player — Rhome Nixon (Team Nominee)
- Defensive Player — Wayne Smith (Division Finalist)
- Offensive Lineman — Charlie Brandon (Team Nominee)
- Canadian Player — Jim Foley (Team Nominee)
- Rookie — Peter Crepin (Team Nominee)
Ottawa Rough Riders 1974 Draft Picks
| Round–Pick (Overall) | [Via] | Player (Position) | College/Program |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–8 (8) | [EDM] | Dave Hadden (RB) | Queen's |
| 1–9 (9) | Bob Rushton (LB) | Otterbein | |
| 3–9 (27) | Billy Robinson (QB) | Saint Mary's | |
| 5–9 (45) | Tom Balfe (DT) | Wilfrid Laurier | |
| 6–9 (54) | Jeff Cope (DB) | Simon Fraser | |
| 7–9 (63) | Doug Ridding (LB) | Otterbein | |
| 8–9 | Pass | ||
| 9–9 | Pass |
Ottawa Rough Riders 1974 All-Star Selections
5 All-Canadian Selections
| WR | Rhome Nixon |
| DE | Wayne Smith* |
| MLB | Jerry “Soupy” Campbell |
| DB | Al Marcelin |
| DB | Dick Adams |
9 All-Division Selections
| RB | Art Green |
| WR | Rhome Nixon |
| C | Bob McKeown |
| DT | Rudy Sims |
| DE | Wayne Smith |
| MLB | Jerry “Soupy” Campbell |
| DB | Rod Woodward (Tie) |
| DB | Dick Adams |
| DB | Al Marcelin |
* – indicates unanimous selection
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Ottawa Rough Riders 1974 Schedule
| Week | Game | Details (EDT | Result | Attendance | TV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 4 | Wed. July 3
|
OTT 29 @ CGY 20 | W | 18,000 | |
| B | 7 | Fri. July 5
|
OTT 26 @ EDM 25 | W | ||
| 10 | Wed. July 10
|
BC 27 @ OTT 28 | W | 12,223 | ||
| D | 18 | Thu. July 18
|
WPG 16 @ OTT 27 | W | 12,424 | |
| 1 | 22 | Thu. July 25
|
OTT 3 @ TOR 19 | L | 21,456 | |
| 2 | 26 | Wed. July 31
8:00 PM |
OTT 17 @ MTL 20 | L | 15,732 | CBC |
| 3 | 29 | Tue. Aug. 6
8:00 PM |
HAM 25 @ OTT 30 | W | 19,133 | CTVE |
| 4 | 33 | Tue. Aug. 13
8:00 PM |
MTL 14 @ OTT 27 | W | 24,649 | CBC |
| 5 | 37 | Mon. Aug. 19
|
OTT 6 @ EDM 23 | L | 21,966 | |
| 41 | Thu. Aug. 22
|
OTT 9 @ BC 4 | W | 26,803 | ||
| 7 | 47 | Mon. Sept. 2
|
OTT 10 @ HAM 11 | L | 28,050 | |
| 8 | 51 | Sat. Sept. 7
|
HAM 16 @ OTT 10 | L | 18,612 | |
| 9 | 57 | Sat. Sept. 14
|
CGY 16 @ OTT 9 | L | 14,396 | |
| 10 | 61 | Thu. Sept. 19
|
OTT 29 @ TOR 12 | W | 32,081 | |
| 63 | Sun. Sept. 22
|
SSK 6 @ OTT 24 | W | 16,048 | ||
| 11 | 68 | Sun. Sept. 29
|
TOR 19 @ OTT 7 | L | 18,902 | |
| 12 | 72 | Sun. Oct. 6
|
OTT 33 @ HAM 21 | W | 26,055 | |
| 13 | 75 | Sat. Oct. 12
|
WPG 10 @ OTT 27 | W | 15,500 | |
| 14 | 82 | Sun. Oct. 20
|
MTL 28 @ OTT 0 | L | 24,149 | |
| 16 | 89 | Sat. Nov. 2
|
OTT 20 @ MTL 27 | L | 16,311 | |
| P1 | 93 | Sun. Nov. 10
1:00 PM |
HAM 19 @ OTT 21 | W | 14,786 | CBC |
| P2 | 95 | Sun. Nov. 17
1:00 PM |
OTT 4 @ MTL 14 | L | 20,531 | CTV |