1973 California Golden Bears football team

The 1973 California Golden Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Berkeley in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. In their second year under head coach Mike White, the Golden Bears compiled a 4–7 record (2–5 against Pac-8 opponents), finished in a tie for fifth place in the Pac-8, and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 380 to 245.^[1][2]

1973 California Golden Bears football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Record	4–7 (2–5 Pac-8)
Head coach	Mike White (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Roger Theder
Captains	Kevin O'Dorisio Fred Weber
Home stadium	California Memorial 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 team's statistical leaders included Vince Ferragamo with 1,014 passing yards (Steve Bartkowski added 910 passing yards), Chuck Muncie with 801 rushing yards, and Wesley Walker with 361 receiving yards.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15		at No. 6 Alabama*	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	L 0–66	71,119	[4][5]
September 22	1:30 p.m.	Illinois*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	L 7–27	22,000
September 29	11:00 a.m.	at Army*	Michie Stadium West Point, NY	W 51–6	40,982
October 6	1:35 p.m.	Washington	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 54–49	28,000
October 13	1:30 p.m.	at Oregon	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	L 10–41	28,700
October 20	1:30 p.m.	Oregon State	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 24–14	24,123
October 27	3:00 p.m.	at No. 13 UCLA	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	L 21–61	35,492
November 3	1:30 p.m.	No. 9 USC	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	L 14–50	48,000
November 10	1:33 p.m.	San Jose State*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 19–9	12,000
November 17	1:31 p.m.	at Washington State	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	L 28–31	13,082
November 24	1:35 p.m.	at Stanford	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (Big Game)	L 17–26	67,000
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

^[6][7]

Game summaries

Washington

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington	7	7	7	28	49
• California	14	23	7	10	54

• Date: October 6
• Location: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, CA

Scoring summary

1		CAL	Muncie 7-yard run (VanderMeer kick)	CAL 7-0
1		WASH	Waters 9-yard run (King kick)	Tied 7-7
1		CAL	Muncie 1-yard run (VanderMeer kick)	CAL 14-7
2		CAL	Strickland 1-yard run (VanderMeer kick)	CAL 21-7
2		CAL	Shaughnessy 75-yard pass from Bartkowski (VanderMeer kick)	CAL 28-7
2		CAL	Safety	CAL 30-7
2		CAL	Strickland 52-yard pass from Bartkowski (VanderMeer kick)	CAL 37-7
2		WASH	Brown 5-yard pass from Rowland (King kick)	CAL 37-14
3		CAL	Muncie 5-yard run (VanderMeer kick)	CAL 44-14
3		WASH	Fitzpatrick 1-yard run (King kick)	CAL 44-21
4		WASH	Brown 3-yard pass from Rowland (King kick)	CAL 44-28
4		WASH	Conley 17-yard pass from Rowland (King kick)	CAL 44-35
4		CAL	Bailey 48-yard run (VanderMeer kick)	CAL 51-35
4		CAL	VanderMeer 27-yard field goal	CAL 54-35
4		WASH	Waters 28-yard pass from Rowland (King kick)	CAL 54-42
4		WASH	McDonald 9-yard pass from Rowland (King kick)	CAL 54-49

Cal gained 625 yards of total offense, the second best in school history. Steve Bartkowski came off the bench when Vince Ferragamo was shaken up with the Golden Bears ahead 21–7.^[8]

Oregon State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Oregon St	0	7	7	0	14
• California	9	7	0	8	24

• Date: October 20
• Location: Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California
• Game attendance: 24,000

Scoring summary

1	4:36	CAL	Muncie 1-yard run (kick failed)	California 6–0
1	1:14	CAL	VanderMeer 27-yard field goal	California 9–0
2	5:33	ORST	Maurer 1-yard run (Kuloos kick)	California 9–7
2	1:44	CAL	Leathers 27-yard pass from Bartkowski (VanderMeer kick)	California 16–7
3	8:38	ORST	Maurer 2-yard run (Kuloos kick)	California 16–14
4	13:21	CAL	Strickland 1-yard run (two-point conversion good)	California 24–14

^[9]

Roster

1973 California Golden Bears football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OT Ted Albrecht Fr QB 10 Steve Bartkowski Jr QB 15 Vince Ferragamo So RB Chuck Muncie So WR Steve Rivera So RB Howard Strickland WR Wesley Walker Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB Herman Edwards So DE 95 Jeff Sevy Jr DE 86 Dave Frey Sr DT 90 Bob Swenson Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK Ron VanderMeer	Head coach Mike White Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt