1953 Idaho Vandals football team

The 1953 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1953 college football season. The Vandals were led by third-year head coach Raymond A. Curfman and were members of the Pacific Coast Conference. Home games were played on campus at Neale Stadium in Moscow, with two games in Boise at old Bronco Stadium at Boise Junior College.

1953 Idaho Vandals football
Conference	Pacific Coast Conference
Record	1–8 (0–3 PCC)
Head coach	Raymond A. Curfman (3rd season)
Home stadium	Neale Stadium
Seasons ← 1952 1954 →

1953 Pacific Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 UCLA $	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. 19 Stanford	5	–	1	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
USC	4	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
California	2	–	2	–	2			4	–	4	–	2
Washington State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Oregon State	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Washington	2	–	4	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Oregon	2	–	5	–	1			4	–	5	–	1
Idaho	0	–	3	–	0			1	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Led on the field by quarterback George Eidam, Idaho compiled a 1–8 record and were winless in their three PCC games.

The Vandals suffered another loss in the Battle of the Palouse with neighbor Washington State, falling, 30–13, at Neale Stadium on October 17.^[1][2] It ran the winless streak against the Cougars to 27 games, a record of 0–25–2 since taking three straight from 1923 to 1925; the Vandals broke the streak the next year in Pullman under new head coach Skip Stahley.^[3]

In the rivalry game with Montana at Missoula two weeks earlier, the Vandals ran their winning streak over the Grizzlies to three and retained the Little Brown Stein.^[4] Idaho scored twenty unanswered points to win 20–12,^[5] in their sole victory of the season.^[6][7][8][9]

Curfman made headlines in 1953 as his overmatched Vandals struggled in conference play in the PCC,^[10] and was under fire from alumni and boosters after a disappointing season.^[6][7][8][9] Following his resignation in December,^[11][12][13] he was hired as the business manager for the Spokane Indians minor league baseball team in January 1954.^[14]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 18	7:00 pm	at San Jose State*	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	L 6–34	12,000	[15][16]
September 26	7:00 pm	at Utah*	Ute Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	L 0–21	17,361	[17][18][19]
October 3		at Montana*	Dornblaser Field Missoula, MT (Little Brown Stein)	W 20–12		[4][5]
October 10	1:00 pm	vs. BYU*	old Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	L 14–20	8,600	[20][21]
October 17	2:00 pm	Washington State	Neale Stadium Moscow, ID (Battle of the Palouse)	L 13–30	10,880	[1][2]
October 24	2:00 pm	Oregon State	Neale Stadium Moscow, ID	L 0–19	9,200	[22][23]
November 7	1:30 pm	at Oregon	Hayward Field Eugene, OR	L 6–25	10,000	[24][25][26]
November 14	1:30 pm	Pacific (CA)*	Neale Stadium Moscow, OD	L 0–33	3,000	[27][28]
November 21	1:00 pm	vs. Utah State*	old Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	L 7–19	5,000	[29][30][31]
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Pacific time

Coaching staff

• Chuck Gottfried, line
• Dixie B. White, backs
• Mack Flenniken, ends
• Clem Parberry, freshmen

All-conference

No Vandals were on the All-PCC team; fullback Flip Kleffner was named to the second team and center Mel Bertrand was honorable mention.^[32][33][34]

NFL Draft

One senior from the 1953 Vandals was selected in the 1954 NFL draft:^[35]

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Mel Bertrand	C	29th	349	Detroit Lions

One junior was selected in the 1955 NFL draft:^[36]

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Burdette Hess	G	15th	178	San Francisco 49ers

• Often incorrectly listed as a UI Vandal, tackle Norm Hayes (1954 draft, #217) played at the College of Idaho in Caldwell.^[37]

References

1. Boni, Bill (October 18, 1953). "Muscle, manpower and ability beat Vandals". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
2. "Berry paces Cougars to 30-13 victory of feisty Vandals". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 18, 1953. p. 10.
3. Boni, Bill (October 24, 1954). "Idaho thumps WSC, 10-0". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
4. "Clicking Vandal ground, air attack stops Montana 20-12". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 4, 1953. p. 8.
5. Weston, Don (October 4, 1953). "Vandals bump Montana 20-12". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). United Press. p. 2D.
6. "Idaho alumni ask Curfman be replaced at grid helm". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). November 21, 1953. p. 8.
7. "Replace Curfman is now demand of Idaho 'Lums". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. November 21, 1953. p. 10.
8. "Coaching job action awaits January meet". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 24, 1953. p. 2.
9. "Idaho regents meet in January; Babe Curfman's position unsettled". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). November 23, 1953. p. 15.
10. "Vandal gridders rated too 'pure'". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 20, 1953. p. 3B.
11. "Curfman and three aides resign posts at Idaho". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). December 21, 1953. p. 21.
12. "'Circumstances' force Curfman's resignation". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). December 22, 1953. p. 12.
13. "Idaho plans thorough search for coach; Curfman out". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. December 22, 1953. p. 12.
14. May, Danny (January 29, 1954). "Indians sign Curfman as business manager". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 8.
15. "Veteran Idaho team opposes San Jose in opener tonight". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. September 18, 1953. p. 10.
16. "Spartans rake Vandals 34-6". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. September 19, 1953. p. 8.
17. "Utah is two-touchdown favorite over Vandals". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). September 26, 1953. p. A-3.
18. "Utah clubs Idaho 21-0". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. September 27, 1953. p. 8.
19. Miller, Hack (September 28, 1953). "Utes meet Hawaii". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 2-B.
20. "BYU downs Vandals 20-14". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 11, 1953. p. 9.
21. "Vandal fumbles hand BYU 20-14 win in Boise tilt". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. October 11, 1953. p. 1, sports.
22. "Withrow sparks OSC to 19-0 win over Idaho". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). United Press. October 25, 1953. p. 1C.
23. Boni, Bill (October 25, 1953). "303-minute drought finally ends as OSC tops Idaho, 19-0". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
24. Strite, Dick (November 6, 1953). "Webfoots, Vandals slate Saturday contest here". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 2B.
25. Strite, Dick (November 8, 1953). "Webfoots defeat Vandal eleven 25-6". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
26. "Shaw leads Oregon past Vandals 25-6". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 8, 1953. p. 11.
27. O'Brien, Jerry (November 15, 1953). "New COP passing star helps sink weakened Idaho 33-0". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. p. 10.
28. Boni, Bill (November 15, 1953). "COP aces Vandals, 33-0, before thin Dad's Day crowd". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
29. "Vandals lose another man". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 21, 1953. p. 8.
30. "Utah State smothers impotent Idaho, 19-7". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. November 22, 1953. p. 2, sports.
31. Miller, Hack (November 23, 1953). "Aggies point for COP grid tangle". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 2-B.
32. "Four Northern stars named on All-Coast". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. November 23, 1953. p. 14.
33. Myers, Bob (November 23, 1953). "Stanford air line operators dominate All-Coast eleven". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 8.
34. "Berry, Kleffner make second team All-Coast". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 23, 1953. p. 6.
35. "1954 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
36. "1955 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 22, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
37. "Football: All-Conference Awards" (PDF). College of Idaho Athletics. Retrieved November 14, 2017.

External links

• Gem of the Mountains: 1954 University of Idaho yearbook – 1953 football season
• Go Mighty Vandals – 1953 football season
• Official game program: Idaho at Utah – September 26, 1953
• Idaho Argonaut – student newspaper – 1953 editions