1973 Stanford Cardinals football team

American college football 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

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.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
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
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

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2013)

Michigan

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2013)

San Jose State

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2013)

Illinois

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2013)

UCLA

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2013)

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:

Washington State

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2013)

Oregon State

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2013)

USC

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2013)

Oregon

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2013)

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.

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

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.

NFL draft

Six Stanford seniors were selected in the 1974 NFL draft.

References

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.
"Garcia kick helps Cards whip Huskies". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 21, 1973. p. 2B.
"Cards rally behind Laidlaw". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 25, 1973. p. 6D.
"The lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). November 3, 1973. p. 2B.
"Three Ducks on Pac-8 unit". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). December 2, 1973. p. 3B.
"Three Cougars land on All-Pac-8 squad". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). December 3, 1973. p. 17.

v t e Stanford Cardinal football
Venues	Stanford Field (1905–1921) Stanford Stadium (1921–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games California: Big Game Notre Dame San Jose State: Bill Walsh Legacy Game USC
Culture & lore	Stanford Tree "Come Join the Band" "All Right Now" Stanford Band The Play Stanford Axe T formation 1906–1917 Stanford rugby teams 1894 Chicago game 2007 USC game The Spirit of Stanford Radio KTCT KZSU
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

Categories: