Yale Bulldogs (1966)

The latest dip into the bag-o-random gives us the 1966 Yale Bulldogs, a historically significant team for uniform-related reasons.

The Team: This was a fairly middling bunch, going 4-5 overall, 3-4 in the Ancient Eight. The Bulldogs' three Ivy wins were all against teams with the same record or worse in the standings (Brown, Penn, Columbia); the losses were all to teams that finished higher. Dartmouth, Harvard and Princeton all shared the Ivy title that year.

A Yale Daily News photo from Yale's season-ending 17-0 loss to Harvard.

The Players: Good news: This team had two all-time legends in quarterback Brian Dowling and running back Calvin Hill. Bad news: They were sophomores and did not play regularly. Dowling played mostly in the season opener — a 16-0 win over UConn — and tossed two TD passes. Pete Doherty was the starter in '66 and threw for 978 yards and 11 TDs. Hill ran for 369 yards in a time-share with Don Barrows (396 yards), Jim Fisher (262) and Chris Kule (147). Bob Kenney led receivers with 37 catches for 414 yards and four TDs.

A 1966 press photo of Brian Dowling, sans facemark.

The Coach: Carm Cozza was in the second season of his 31-year run in New Haven. A product of the Miami (Ohio) school of coaching legends, Cozza played quarterback for another pair of famed coaches, Ara Parseghian and Woody Hayes. Cozza was an assistant under John Pont at Yale and became the head man when Pont left for Indiana (where he guided the Hoosiers to their only Rose Bowl berth). Cozza, meanwhile, won 179 games and 10 Ivy titles.

The Uniforms: This was the season Yale placed the famed "Y" on the helmets, which remains there to this day. From 1997-2011, the Y had a double outline before the plain letter returned in 2012. The rest of the uniform was plain as plain can be; navy jerseys with white numbers and white pants with two navy stripes down the side. Except for some minor changes here and there, this look lasted through 1995.

The Fallout: Dowling took over as QB in 1967 and led the Bulldogs to Ivy titles in 1967 and '68, never losing a game (well, unless you count the '68 Harvard tie as a loss). Hill ended his Yale career with 1,512 rushing yards, 858 receiving yards ... and 298 passing yards. Yale won a third straight title without Dowling and Hill in '69.

Don't go to Benderly Kimberdict for betting tips.