1973 Boise State Broncos football team

The 1973 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State College during the 1973 NCAA Division II football season, the sixth season of Bronco football (at the four-year level) and the first in the newly reorganized Division II. The Broncos were in their fourth year as members of the Big Sky Conference (and NCAA) and played their home games on campus at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho.

1973 Boise State Broncos football
Big Sky champion
Division II Semifinal - Pioneer Bowl, L 34–38 vs. Louisiana Tech
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8 (D-II)
AP	No. 5 (D-II)
Record	10–3 (6–0 Big Sky)
Head coach	Tony Knap (6th season)
Home stadium	Bronco Stadium
Seasons ← 1972 1974 →

1973 Big Sky Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Boise State $^	6	–	0	–	0			10	–	3	–	0
Montana State	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Idaho	3	–	2	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Northern Arizona	2	–	3	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Montana	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Weber State	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Idaho State	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from AP small college poll

Led by sixth-year head coach Tony Knap, the Broncos were 9–2 in the regular season and undefeated in conference (6–0) to win their first Big Sky title.^[1] Invited to the inaugural eight-team Division II playoffs, BSC hosted a 53–10 quarterfinal win over South Dakota.^[2] In the semifinals, the Broncos lost 38–34 to Louisiana Tech in the Pioneer Bowl in Texas,^[3] giving up a touchdown in the final seconds and finished at 10–3.^[4][5]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15	2:30 pm	at Idaho		Idaho Stadium Moscow, ID (rivalry)	W 47–24	17,104	[6][7]
September 22	7:30 pm	Montana State	No. 10	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	W 27–17	14,521	[8]
September 29	7:30 pm	Portland State*	No. 10	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	W 64–7	12,408	[9]
October 6	7:30 pm	at Weber State	No. 8	Wildcat Stadium Ogden, UT	W 34–7	11,586	[10][11][12]
October 13	9:15 pm	at UNLV*	No. 5	Las Vegas Stadium Whitney, NV	L 19–24	12,458	[13][14]
October 20	1:00 pm	Northern Arizona	No. 11	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	W 21–6	10,112	[15]
October 27	7:30 pm	Montana	No. 11	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	W 55–7	12,852	[16]
November 3	1:00 pm	at Nevada*	No. 9	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV (rivalry)	L 21–23	3,111	[17]
November 10	8:00 pm	at Idaho State	No. 11	ASISU Minidome Pocatello, ID	W 21–17	12,000	[18]
November 17	1:30 pm	No. 4 Cal Poly*	No. 10	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	W 42–10	13,885	[19]
November 24	7:30 pm	at UC Davis*	No. 8	Toomey Field Davis, CA	W 32–31	4,300	[20][21][22]
December 1	12:30 pm	No. 10 South Dakota*	No. 7	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID (Division II Quarterfinal)	W 53–10	14,358	[2]
December 8	11:30 am	vs. No. 3 Louisiana Tech*	No. 7	Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, TX (Division II Semifinal—Pioneer Bowl)	L 34–38	13,000	[3][4]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^[23]

Roster

1973 Boise State Broncos football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 12 Jim McMillan Jr QB 15 Ron Autele Sr RB 21 Harry Riener Sr RB 22 Chester Grey Jr RB 40 John Smith So RB 42 Ron Emry So C 54 John Klotz Sr RT 60 Charlie Russell Sr LG 61 Glenn Sparks So RG 63 Dan Dixon Sr LT 76 Al Davis Sr WR 81 Don Hutt (C) Jr WR 89 Dick Donohue Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 14 Greg Frederick (C) So FS 25 Pat King Sr CB 29 Rolly Woolsey Jr SS 43 Jim Meeks Jr RLB 45 Loren Schmidt Jr MLB 51 Ron Davis Jr LLB 82 Claude Tomasini Jr RDT 71 Vaa Afoa Jr LDT 73 Blessing Bird Sr DL 78 Ron Franklin Jr LDE 83 Mark Goodman Sr RDE 87 Ken Mills Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 29 Rolly Woolsey Jr P 39 Gary Gorrell So	Head coach Tony Knap (6th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Steve Buratto (DB, OLB) Charlie Dine (DL, MLB) Dave Nickel (OL) Adam Rita (WR) Doug Woolsey (OB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Source:^[6][13]

NFL Draft

Three Broncos were selected in the 1974 NFL draft, which lasted seventeen rounds (442 selections).

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Don Hutt	Wide receiver	9th	213	Los Angeles Rams
Dan Dixon	Guard	13th	313	Houston Oilers
Al Davis	Guard	17th	433	Atlanta Falcons

Source:^[24][25]

References

1. "Boise State Broncos -- College Football (NCAA)". college-football-results.com. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
2. "Boise St. smears South Dakota". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. December 2, 1973. p. 19.
3. "Boise in semis". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. December 8, 1973. p. 17.
4. "Late TD tops Boise". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. December 9, 1973. p. 19.
5. DeLassus, David (2016). "Boise State Yearly Results". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on May 30, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
6. Payne, Bob (September 15, 1973). "Idaho, Boise resume war". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 14.
7. "Happiness is Boise State". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. September 17, 1973. p. 15.
8. "Autele leads Boise victory". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. September 23, 1973. p. 2, sports.
9. "Boise State, 64-7". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 30, 1973. p. 6C.
10. Blodgett, Gary R. (October 6, 1973). "WSC gridders set for tough Boise". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. D3.
11. "Boise State whips Weber". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. October 7, 1973. p. 21.
12. Blodgett, Gary R. (October 8, 1973). "Awesome Broncos swamp Weber". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. D2.
13. "Game program: UNLV Rebels vs. Boise State Broncos". University of Nevada, Las Vegas. University Libraries. October 13, 1973. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
14. "Las Vegas upsets Boise 24-19". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 14, 1973. p. 16.
15. "Mustangs struggle". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. October 21, 1973. p. 21.
16. Shelledy, Jay (October 28, 1973). "Boise St. runs over Grizzlies". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 20.
17. "'Cats romp but UN nips Boise". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 4, 1973. p. 13.
18. "Boise nabs title". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 11, 1973. p. 14.
19. "Boise riddles Cal Poly, 42-10". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 18, 1973. p. 20.
20. "Boise earns NCAA berth by edging Davis 32-31". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 25, 1973. p. 19.
21. "Boise awaits bowl tilt". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 26, 1973. p. 18.
22. "How they fared". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 26, 1973. p. 18.
23. "Record book (football)" (PDF). Boise State University Athletics. 2016. p. 70. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 15, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
24. "Odom goes in 5th round". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). UPI. January 30, 1974. p. D1.
25. "Several area stars taken in grid draft". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). Associated Press. January 31, 1974. p. 2D.

External links

• Bronco Football Stats – 1973
• BSC Arbiter – student newspaper – 1973 editions