Boston University Terriers (1965)

Since we're knee-deep into the offseason and there's not much else to talk about, let's grab a team out of a plastic bag and a season from the ol' random number generator and see what we get.

Boston University, 1965. Not a bad selection.

The Team: The Terriers went 5-3-1 in its final season as a University Division team, technically the equivalent of today's FBS, before dropping down to the College Division (where today's FCS, D-II and D-III were all lumped together) in 1966. Don't get too excited; nothing on BU's '65 schedule would be considered on the level of 'Bama or Georgia today. Only Rutgers (a 30-0 win) plays in Power Five conference today. Anyway, BU had its best record since 1957.

The BU Terriers hit the field in 1965. I'm pretty sure
I've run these pictures from BU's yearbook before, but hey, I've
watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" more than once, too.

The Players: This one is hard since 1) stats aren't handy; 2) BU was independent and thus didn't have any all-conference players; 3) BU doesn't make its yearbooks available online except for a few on e-yearbooks.com. But let's give it a shot. Tight end Bobby Nichols played two seasons with the Boston Patriots; defensive back Dick Farley spent two seasons with the San Diego Chargers; sophomore Tom Thornton became the starting quarterback in midseason; and halfback Dave LaRoche (not the baseball player) scored three touchdowns in the aforementioned 30-0 rout of Rutgers.

The Coach: Warren Schmakel coached BU from 1964-68, going 26-28-2. He later served as the Terriers' athletic director and was scout for the San Francisco 49ers.

Warren Schmakel, left, as BU's athletic director in  this 1971 photo
from Digital Commonwealth. At center is men's basketball coach Ron Mitchell
and at right is assistant AD Charlie Luce.

The Uniforms: BU unveiled new helmets, switching to red lids after wearing white since the 1940s. For good measure, the Terriers added a vaguely Baylor-esque "BU" on each side; I think I've said before these are among my favorite helmets ever. The jerseys were carry-overs from the early '60s, but added a vaguely Michigan State-esque "BOSTON UNIVERSITY" word mark across the front in '66. (In previous posts, I might have had BU debuting the wordmark in '65; please ignore.)

BU on the road at Temple.

The Fallout: Schmakel stayed through 1968 and beam AD in '70. His successor, Larry Naviaux, led the Terriers to their first, last and only bowl game ... which you can read about here.