1973 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

American college football season

1973 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	7–4 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Cal Stoll (2nd season)
MVP	Steve Neils, Matt Herkenhoff
Captain	Mike Steidl
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1972 1974 →

1973 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Ohio State +	7	–	0	–	1	10	–	0	–	1
No. 6 Michigan +	7	–	0	–	1	10	–	0	–	1
Minnesota	6	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Michigan State	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	4	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Northwestern	4	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Indiana	0	–	8	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Iowa	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	11	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1973 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1973 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second year under head coach Cal Stoll, the Golden Gophers compiled a 7–4 record but were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 295 to 260.^[1]

End Steve Neils and offensive tackle Matt Herkenhoff shared the team's Most Valuable Player award. Neils and end Keith Fahnhorst were named All-Big Ten first team. Offensive guard Darrel Bunge and wide receiver Rick Upchurch were named All-Big Ten second team. Defensive lineman Jeff Gunderson was named Academic All-Big Ten.^[2]

Total attendance for the season was 245,706, which averaged to 40,951. The season high for attendance was against Nebraska.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 15	at No. 3 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio	L 7–56	86,005
September 22	North Dakota*	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis	W 41–14	35,477
September 29	at Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, Kansas	L 19–34	30,205
October 6	No. 2 Nebraska*	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis (rivalry)	L 7–48	56,782
October 13	Indiana	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis	W 24–3	37,710
October 20	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa (rivalry)	W 31–23	55,137
October 27	No. 4 Michigan	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis (Little Brown Jug)	L 7–34	44,435
November 3	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, Illinois	W 52–43	30,081
November 10	Purdue	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis	W 34–7	36,890
November 17	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, Illinois	W 19–16	34,438
November 24	Wisconsin	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis (rivalry)	W 19–17	34,412
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1973 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
OL		Darrel Bunge
OL		Dan Christensen
QB		Tony Dungy
WR		Keith Fahnhorst
QB		Gil Fash
WR		Vince Fuller
OL		Dale Hegland
WR		Dale Henricksen
OT	`72`	Matt Herkenhoff	Sr
RB		Buddy Holmes
RB		John Jones
WR		Mike Jones
RB		John King
QB		John Lawing
RB		Larry Powell
OL		Jeff Selleck
OL		Greg Shoff
OT	`71`	Dave Simonson	Sr
RB	`40`	Rick Upchurch	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB		Ollie Bakken
DB	`22`	Doug Beaudoin	So
DB		Greg Engebos
DB		Orville Gilmore
LB		Paul Glanton
DL		Jeff Gunderson
DE	`97`	Steve Neils	Sr
DB		Todd Randall
DL		Keith Simons
LB		Mike Steldl

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Steve Goldberg

Head coach

Cal Stoll

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2018-03-11

Season summary

At Ohio State

Minnesota Golden Gophers (0–0) at #3 Ohio State Buckeyes (0–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Minnesota	0	7	0	0	7
Ohio State	14	21	7	14	56

at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Date: September 15
Game weather: 74 °F (23 °C)
Game attendance: 86,005
Box Score

Game information

First quarter

OSU – Champ Henson 2-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 10:24. Ohio State 7–0. Drive:
OSU – Cornelius Greene 4-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 8:44. Ohio State 14–0. Drive:

Second quarter

MINN – John King 1-yard run (Steve Goldberg kick), 12:59. Ohio State 14–7. Drive:
OSU – Archie Griffin 93-yard kickoff return (Blair Conway kick), 12:45. Ohio State 21–7.
OSU – Champ Henson 2-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 0:51. Ohio State 28–7. Drive:
OSU – Brian Baschnagel 5-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 0:00. Ohio State 35–7. Drive:

Third quarter

OSU – Neal Colzie 78-yard punt return (Blair Conway kick), 5:36. Ohio State 42–7.

Fourth quarter

OSU – Champ Henson 1-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 10:39. Ohio State 49–7. Drive:
OSU – Billy Ezzo 55-yard pass from Greg Hare (Blair Conway kick), 1:51. Ohio State 56–7. Drive:

Top passers

MINN – John Lawing – 5/9, 31 yards, INT
OSU – Greg Hare – 2/2, 64 yards, TD

Top rushers

MINN – John King – 17 rushes, 51 yards, TD
OSU – Archie Griffin – 15 rushes, 129 yards

Top receivers

MINN – Keith Fahnhorst – 3 receptions, 23 yards
OSU – Billy Ezzo – 1 reception, 55 yards, TD

North Dakota

At Kansas

Nebraska

Indiana

At Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Minnesota	6	16	2	7	31
Iowa	14	3	6	0	23

Date: October 20
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
Game attendance: 55,137

Scoring summary

1	IOWA	Jensen 3-yard run (Kokolus kick)	Iowa 7–0

1	MINN	Powell 46-yard run (kick failed)	Iowa 7–6

1	IOWA	Jensen 54-yard run (Kokolus kick)	Iowa 14–6

2	MINN	Lawing 1-yard run (Henrickson pass from Lawing)	Tie 14–14

2	IOWA	Kokolus 22-yard field goal	Iowa 17–14

2	MINN	Upchurch 3-yard run (Sims pass from Dungy)	Minnesota 22–17

3	IOWA	Fetter 10-yard pass from Ousley (pass failed)	Iowa 23–22

3	MINN	Safety	Minnesota 24–23

4	MINN	Dungy 10-yard run (Goldberg kick)	Minnesota 31–23

Michigan

At Northwestern

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Minnesota	7	14	21	10	52
Northwestern	7	7	14	15	43

Date: November 3
Location: Dyche Stadium • Evanston, Illinois

Scoring summary

1	NW	Craig 18-yard pass from Anderson (Blazevich kick)	Northwestern 7-0

1	MINN	J. Jones 4-yard run (Goldberg kick)	Tie 7-7

2	NW	Craig 19-yard pass from Anderson (Blazevich kick)	Northwestern 14-7

2	MINN	Upchurch 5-yard run (Goldberg kick)	Tie 14-14

2	MINN	Upchurch 5-yard run (Goldberg kick)	Minnesota 21-14

3	NW	Stevens 21-yard pass from Anderson (Blazevich kick)	Tie 21-21

3	MINN	M. Jones 40-yard pass from Lawing (Goldberg kick)	Minnesota 28-21

3	MINN	M. Jones 48-yard pass from Lawing (Goldberg kick)	Minnesota 35-21

3	MINN	Lawing 5-yard run (Goldberg kick)	Minnesota 42-21

3	NW	Key 12-yard run (Blazevich kick)	Minnesota 42-28

4	MINN	Goldberg 35-yard field goal	Minnesota 45-28

4	NW	Harris 13-yard pass from Anderson (Blazevich kick)	Minnesota 45-35

4	MINN	M. Jones 48-yard pass from Lawing (Goldberg kick)	Minnesota 52-35

4	NW	Frederickson 20-yard pass from Anderson (Harris pass from Anderson)	Minnesota 52-43

^[4]

Purdue

	1	2	3	4	Total
Purdue	0	0	7	0	7
• Minnesota	17	10	0	7	34

Date: November 10
Location: Memorial Stadium, Minneapolis
Game attendance: 36,890

Scoring summary

1	MINN	John Lawing 1-yard run (Steve Goldberg kick)	MINN 7-0

1	MINN	Goldberg 32-yard field goal	MINN 10-0

1	MINN	Rick Upchurch 21-yard run (Steve Goldberg kick)	MINN 17-0

2	MINN	John Lawing 1-yard run (Steve Goldberg kick)	MINN 24-0

2	MINN	Steve Goldberg 43-yard field goal	MINN 27-0

3	PUR	Bobrowski 1-yard run (Conner kick)	MINN 27-7

4	MINN	Holmes 1-yard run (Steve Goldberg kick)	MINN 34-7

^[5]

At Illinois

Wisconsin

References

^ "1973 Minnesota Golden Gophers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), pp. 179–182^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Keiser, Jeff (2007), 2007 Media Guide (PDF), p. 160^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Palm Beach Post. 1973 Nov 4.
^ "Gophers Shock Purdue." Palm Beach Post. 1973 Nov 11.

v t e Minnesota Golden Gophers football
Venues	Athletic Park (1892–1898) University of Minnesota Armory (1892–1898) Northrop Field (1899–1923) Memorial Stadium (1924–1981) Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (1982–2008) Huntington Bank Stadium (2009–present)
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