1973 Colorado Buffaloes football team

The 1973 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado in the Big Eight Conference during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. Led by 11-year head coach Eddie Crowder, the Buffaloes compiled an overall record of 5–6 overall with a mark of 2–5 in conference play, tying for sixth place in the Big 8. Colorado played home games on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.

1973 Colorado Buffaloes football
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Record	5–6 (2–5 Big 8)
Head coach	Eddie Crowder (11th season)
Offensive coordinator	Kay Dalton (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-I
Defensive coordinator	Dan Radakovich (2nd season)
Base defense	5–2
MVP	J. V. Cain
Captains	Randy Geist William McDonald
Home stadium	Folsom Field
Seasons ← 1972 1974 →

1973 Big Eight Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	0	–	1
No. 7 Nebraska	4	–	2	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
No. 18 Kansas	4	–	2	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
No. 17 Missouri	3	–	4	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Oklahoma State	2	–	3	–	2			5	–	4	–	2
Colorado	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Kansas State	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Iowa State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

After rallying to defeat No. 7 Missouri to improve to 5–2, CU dropped its final four games and incurred its first losing season in five years. Also the athletic director since 1965, Crowder stepped down as head coach in December;^[1] he was succeeded in January 1974 by Bill Mallory, the head coach at undefeated Miami University in Ohio.^[2][3][4]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15	at No. 15 LSU*	No. 10	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA		L 6–17	71,239	[5]
September 22	at Wisconsin*	No. 19	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 28–25	58,237
September 29	Baylor*		Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 52–28	48,041	[6]
October 6	at Iowa State	No. 18	Clyde Williams Field Ames, IA		W 23–16	34,868–35,900
October 13	Air Force*	No. 17	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 38–17	50,115
October 20	at No. 3 Oklahoma	No. 16	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		L 7–34	61,826	[7]
October 27	No. 7 Missouri		Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 17–13	51,425	[8]
November 3	at No. 13 Nebraska		Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)		L 16–28	76,555
November 10	at No. 18 Kansas		Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	ABC	L 15–17	31,717
November 17	Oklahoma State		Folsom Field Boulder, CO		L 24–38	50,169
November 24	Kansas State		Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)		L 14–17	46,771
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[9][10][11]

Roster

1973 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 26 Charlie Davis RB 41 Bo Matthews Sr OT 70 Mark Koncar TE 89 J.V. Cain Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 86 Whitney Paul	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Eddie Crowder (11th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster