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 (small college)
AP	No. 5 (small college)
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 Idaho was classified as Division I.[1] All the other teams were classified as Division II. 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.^[2] Invited to the inaugural eight-team Division II playoffs, BSC hosted a 53–10 quarterfinal win over South Dakota.^[3] In the semifinals, the Broncos lost 38–34 to Louisiana Tech in the Pioneer Bowl in Texas,^[4] giving up a touchdown in the final seconds and finished at 10–3.^[5][6]

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

^[24]

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:^[7][14]

NFL draft

Three Broncos were selected in the 1974 NFL draft, which lasted 17 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

^[25][26]