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1973 Iowa State

4–⁠7 (2–⁠5 Big Eight), coached by Earle Bruce.

Schedule and results

Iowa State in 1973, game by game: won vs. Idaho 48–0; lost at Arkansas 19–21; lost vs. No. 18 Colorado 16–23; won at BYU 26–24; lost at Kansas State 19–21; lost vs. No. 17 Kansas 20–22; lost at No. 3 Oklahoma 17–34; lost at No. 11 Nebraska 7–31; won vs. No. 14 Missouri 17–7; won vs. No. 18 Oklahoma State 28–12; lost at San Diego State 28–41+48−24Won 48–0 vs. Idaho+48IdahoLost 19–21 at Arkansas-2ArkansasLost 16–23 vs. No. 18 Colorado-7No. 18 ColoradoWon 26–24 at BYU+2BYULost 19–21 at Kansas State-2Kansas StateLost 20–22 vs. No. 17 Kansas-2No. 17 KansasLost 17–34 at No. 3 Oklahoma-17No. 3 OklahomaLost 7–31 at No. 11 Nebraska-24No. 11 NebraskaWon 17–7 vs. No. 14 Missouri+10No. 14 MissouriWon 28–12 vs. No. 18 Oklahoma State+16No. 18 Oklahoma StateLost 28–41 at San Diego State-13San Diego State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 22vsIdahoW 48–⁠080%
Sep 29atArkansasL 19–⁠2151%
Oct 6vs18ColoradoL 16–⁠2346%
Oct 13atBYUW 26–⁠2447%
Oct 20atKansas StateL 19–⁠2147%
Oct 27vs17KansasL 20–⁠2250%
Nov 3at3OklahomaL 17–⁠3412%
Nov 10at11NebraskaL 7–⁠3114%
Nov 17vs14MissouriW 17–⁠744%
Nov 24vs18Oklahoma StateW 28–⁠1245%
Dec 1atSan Diego StateL 28–⁠4128%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to San Diego State 41–⁠28; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Eight.

In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1973.

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
2–⁠5 tied for 6th in Big Eight
AP final
Unranked
Points
245–⁠236
Coach
Earle Bruce
Elo
1540 +5 this season
SP+ rating
13.0 No. 27 of 123; offense No. 30, defense No. 44
SRS
13.3 No. 22 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jim Weaver
Defensive coordinator
Marv Braden
Captains
Larry Hunt and Keith Krepfle

Drafted in 1974

The 1974 draft
Rd 2Matt Blair LBMinnesota Vikings
Rd 4Ike Harris WRSt. Louis Cardinals
Rd 5Keith Krepfle TEPhiladelphia Eagles

All-Big Eight

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

  • Mike StrachanBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Lawrence HuntLBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1973 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1973 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oklahoma7–⁠010–⁠0–⁠13
Nebraska4–⁠2–⁠19–⁠2–⁠17
Kansas4–⁠2–⁠17–⁠4–⁠118
Missouri3–⁠48–⁠417
Oklahoma State2–⁠3–⁠25–⁠4–⁠2
Colorado2–⁠55–⁠6
Kansas State2–⁠55–⁠6
Iowa State2–⁠54–⁠7

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.