1973 Stanford Cardinals football team

The 1973 Stanford Cardinals football team represented Stanford University in the Pacific-8 Conference during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. Led by second-year head coach Jack Christiansen, the Cardinals were 7–4 overall (5–2 in Pac-8, third) and played home games on campus at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California. The Pac-8 did not allow a second bowl team until the 1975 season.

1973 Stanford Cardinals football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Record	7–4 (5–2 Pac-8)
Head coach	Jack Christiansen (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Robert A. Jones (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Norb Hecker (2nd season)
Captains	Mike Boryla Randy Poltl
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium
Seasons ← 1972 1974 →

1973 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 8 USC $	7	–	0	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
No. 12 UCLA	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Stanford	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Washington State	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
California	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Oregon	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Washington	0	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15	No. 7 Penn State*	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	ABC	L 6–20	57,000
September 22	at No. 5 Michigan*	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI		L 10–47	80,177	[1]
September 29	San Jose State*	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)		W 23–12
October 6	at Illinois*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 24–0	45,383
October 13	No. 15 UCLA	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		L 13–59	55,000
October 20	at Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA		W 23–14	51,500
October 27	Washington State	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 45–14	48,000
November 3	at Oregon State	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR		W 24–23	17,025
November 10	at No. 8 USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)		L 26–27	63,806
November 17	Oregon	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 24–7	21,000
November 24	California	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (Big Game)		W 26–17	67,000
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Penn State

Michigan

San Jose State

Illinois

UCLA

Washington

1 2 3 4 Total • Stanford 6 7 3 7 23 Washington 0 0 0 14 14 Date: October 20 Location: Husky Stadium, Seattle, Washington Game attendance: 51,500

Scoring summary 1 STAN Garcia 37-yard field goal Stanford 3–0 1 STAN Garcia 38-yard field goal Stanford 6–0 2 STAN Test 10-yard pass from Boryla (Garcia kick) Stanford 13–0 3 STAN Garcia 47-yard field goal Stanford 16–0 4 WASH Phillips 46-yard pass from Rowland (Boyd kick) Stanford 16–7 4 WASH Rowland 1-yard run (Boyd kick) Stanford 16–14 4 STAN Laidlaw 8-yard run (Garcia kick) Stanford 23–14

Source:^[2]

Washington State

Oregon State

USC

Oregon

California

1 2 3 4 Total California 3 0 7 7 17 • Stanford 0 3 10 13 26 Date: November 24 Location: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California Game attendance: 67,000

Scoring summary 1 CAL VanderMeer 41-yard field goal CAL 3-0 2 STAN Garcia 36-yard field goal Tied 3-3 3 CAL Muncie 15-yard run (VanderMeer kick) CAL 10-3 3 STAN Jena 8-yard run (Garcia kick) Tied 10-10 3 STAN Garcia 37-yard field goal STAN 13-10 4 CAL Ferragamo 1-yard run (VanderMeer kick) CAL 17-13 4 STAN Inge 3-yard run (kick failed) STAN 19-17 4 STAN Laidlaw 10-yard run (Garcia kick) STAN 26-17

Junior running back Scott Laidlaw gained 132 yards on 23 carries while Rod Garcia finished his career with 42 field goals, and NCAA record, and 18 for the season, which tied the NCAA record. Stanford played most of the second half without starting quarterback Mike Boryla, who left the game with a bruised throwing arm.^[3]

Roster

1973 Stanford Cardinal football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 12 Mike Boryla (C) Sr WR 47 Tony Hill Fr RB 33 Scott Laidlaw Jr QB 19 Dave Ottmar Sr WR 21 Bill Singler Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 83 Pat Donovan Jr SS 36 Randy Poltl (C) Sr DT 91 Roger Stillwell Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 14 Rod Garcia Sr P 19 Dave Ottmar Sr	Head coach Jack Christiansen (2nd year) Coordinators/assistant coaches David Currey – Offensive back Pete Kettela – Receivers Hudson Houck – Offensive line Norb Hecker – Defensive Coordinator & defensive line Ray Handley – Linebacker George Seifert – Defensive back Bill Moultrie – Special Teams Coordinator Gunther Cunningham – Assistant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

^[4]

All-conference

Main article: 1973 All-Pacific-8 Conference football team

Five Stanford players were named to the All-Pac-8 team: quarterback Mike Boryla, wide receiver Bill Singler, defensive tackle Roger Stillwell, safety Randy Poltl, and kicker Rod Garcia; Singler and Stillwell were juniors.^[5][6]

NFL draft

Six Stanford seniors were selected in the 1974 NFL draft.

References

1. Curt Sylvester (September 23, 1973). "Sweet Revenge! U-M Rips Stanford; 6-TD Parade, 47–10". Detroit Free Press. p. 1E, 9E. Retrieved June 27, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Garcia kick helps Cards whip Huskies". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 21, 1973. p. 2B.
3. "Cards rally behind Laidlaw". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 25, 1973. p. 6D.
4. "The lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). November 3, 1973. p. 2B.
5. "Three Ducks on Pac-8 unit". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). December 2, 1973. p. 3B.
6. "Three Cougars land on All-Pac-8 squad". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). December 3, 1973. p. 17.