CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1973 Texas

8–⁠3 (7–⁠0 Southwest Conference), coached by Darrell Royal, finished No. 14 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Texas in 1973, game by game: lost at Miami 15–20; won vs. Texas Tech 28–12; won vs. Wake Forest 41–0; lost vs. No. 6 Oklahoma 13–52; won at Arkansas 34–6; won vs. Rice 55–13; won at SMU 42–14; won vs. Baylor 42–6; won vs. TCU 52–7; won at Texas A&M 42–13; lost vs. No. 12 Nebraska 3–19+45−39Lost 15–20 at Miami-5MiamiWon 28–12 vs. Texas Tech+16Texas TechWon 41–0 vs. Wake Forest+41Wake ForestLost 13–52 vs. No. 6 Oklahoma-39No. 6 OklahomaWon 34–6 at Arkansas+28ArkansasWon 55–13 vs. Rice+42RiceWon 42–14 at SMU+28SMUWon 42–6 vs. Baylor+36BaylorWon 52–7 vs. TCU+45TCUWon 42–13 at Texas A&M+29Texas A&MLost 3–19 vs. No. 12 Nebraska-16No. 12 Nebraska
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 21atMiamiL 15–⁠2067%
Sep 29vsTexas TechW 28–⁠1269%
Oct 6vsWake ForestW 41–⁠089%
Oct 13vs6OklahomaL 13–⁠5239%
Oct 20atArkansasW 34–⁠657%
Oct 27vsRiceW 55–⁠1386%
Nov 3atSMUW 42–⁠1460%
Nov 10vsBaylorW 42–⁠688%
Nov 17vsTCUW 52–⁠787%
Nov 22atTexas A&MW 42–⁠1370%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs12NebraskaCotton BowlL 3–⁠1947%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Nebraska 19–⁠3 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 14 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 29th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 126 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 3
  2. Wk 2: 4
  3. Wk 3: 6
  4. Wk 4: 14
  5. Wk 5: 13
  6. Wk 6: 13
  7. Wk 8: 19
  8. Wk 9: 19
  9. Wk 10: 13
  10. Wk 11: 11
  11. Wk 12: 11
  12. Wk 13: 9
  13. Wk 14: 8
  14. Final: 14

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.

Southwest Conference champions7–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman voteRoosevelt Leaks, third

2 consensus All-AmericansBill Wyman, C; Roosevelt Leaks, RB

Record
8–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 14 peak No. 3
Points
367–⁠162
Coach
Darrell Royal
Elo
1709 +43 this season
SP+ rating
23.0 No. 10 of 123; offense No. 9, defense No. 34
SRS
25.9 No. 9 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Fred Akers
Defensive coordinator
Mike Campbell
Offense
Wishbone
Defense
4–⁠4

Drafted in 1974

The 1974 draft
Rd 6Bill Wyman CNew York Jets

All-Southwest Conference

7 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

  • Bruce HerbertOGAP-2; UPI-2
  • Bill RutherfordDEAP-2; UPI-2
  • David JohnstonLBAP-2
  • Wade JohnsonLBUPI-2
  • Glen GaspardLBUPI-2

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

1973 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas7–⁠08–⁠314
Texas Tech6–⁠111–⁠111
Rice4–⁠35–⁠6
SMU3–⁠3–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
Arkansas3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Texas A&M3–⁠45–⁠6
TCU1–⁠63–⁠8
Baylor0–⁠72–⁠9

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