[EDIT 11/30/2023: Introducing the "football" label]
[EDIT 12/31/2023: Changing title]
[EDIT 2/9/2024: Changing title again]
Every three weeks, I will post a newly expanded version of the retrospective from 2013-14. This is the first in an 18-part series, featuring not just the greatest hits, but the greatest misses. What follows is a generous sampling of the season that ended with the bowl games of 1973 and '74.
Notre Dame defeats Alabama 24-23 in the Sugar
Bowl. The AP declares the 11-0 Fighting Irish champions, but the coaches' poll
sticks with the 11-1 Crimson Tide.
Penn State defeats LSU 16-9 in the Orange
Bowl. Nittany Lions halfback John Cappelletti wins the Heisman Trophy as
well as its less prestigious parallel, the Maxwell Award. The consensus
All-American running back has 1,522 yards on 286 rushes and 17 rushing
touchdowns.
Ohio State wins the Rose Bowl 42-21 against USC.
The Buckeyes actually tie for the Big Ten championship with archrival Michigan,
but a 6-4 vote among the conference schools' athletic directors determines Ohio
State will play in Pasadena. Wolverines coach Bo Schembechler says
"petty jealousies were involved."
Buckeyes offensive tackle John Hicks wins the Outland
Trophy for best interior lineman and the Lombardi Award for best overall lineman. Hicks is also the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.
Alabama's Bear Bryant is named Coach of the Year by
the American Football Coaches Association. The FWAA gives Johnny Majors
of Pittsburgh that honor, as the Panthers improved from 1-10 in '72 to
6-5-1, including a Fiesta Bowl loss to Arizona State, in '73.
Tom Osborne coaches Nebraska for the first of
what will prove to be 25 years (finishing the initial campaign with a 19-3 Cotton Bowl win against Texas). The Cornhuskers go 9-2-1, as they had the year
before, having slipped from going undefeated in '70 and '71.
Barry Switzer begins his 17 years as Oklahoma
head coach. Steve Davis begins a three-season, 32-1-1 run as Sooners QB.
This is the first season as Pitt head coach for Majors
and the first of four years on the Panthers for running back Tony Dorsett,
both of whom will help the team win a national title in 1976.
The consensus All-American quarterback is Dave Jaynes
of Kansas with 196 completions for 2,349 yards and 14 touchdowns. His marks in the Big 8 (172 completions, 2,131 yards, 13 touchdowns) are tops in the conference.
The passing leader and total offense leader is Jesse Freitas of San Diego State (Pacific Coast Athletic Association, 9-1-1) with 227 completions in 11 games. He throws for 2,293 yards and 21 touchdowns, and his total offense is 2,901 yards.
Jay Miller of 5-6 Western Athletic Conference member Brigham
Young University gets 22 catches in a game Nov. 3 against New Mexico.
This is a record that will stand until 1994. Miller is the receptions leader
for the season with 100 in 11 games. He has 1,181 yards and 8 TDs.
During the Texas-Texas A&M game Nov. 22,
Aggies center Ricky Seeker isn't on the field when he's needed with
seconds to go before halftime. Seeker expected the team to try a field goal and
use a different center for that, but he was wrong. Texas leads 21-7 at halftime
and wins 42-13.
Florida State goes 0-11, with its players having been subjected to
"The Room" prior to spring practice. Head coach Larry Jones
would have players do drills and fight as they bent to avoid chicken wire just
four feet above the floor. Twenty-eight players quit the team, and at the end
of it all, FSU is on probation and Jones is no longer the head coach.
This is the University of Kentucky's first year at
Commonwealth Stadium.
In the College Division (as opposed to the University
Division), the first-ever Division II champions are the Bulldogs of Louisiana Tech. The
first-ever Division III champions are the Tigers of Wittenberg University.
In the Senior Bowl, a postseason all-star game, Lynn Swann of USC (Pac-8 leader with 37 receptions) catches the winning touchdown pass for the North. The Pittsburgh Steelers will pick the consensus All-American in the first round of the '74 draft.
From passer rating to pantyhose commercials, the NFL in 1973 is coming Nov. 17.
