1973 Utah Utes football team

The 1973 Utah Utes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. In their sixth and final season under head coach Bill Meek, the Utes compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 4–2 against conference opponents, placing third in the WAC. Home games were played on campus at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.

1973 Utah Utes football
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	7–5 (4–2 WAC)
Head coach	Bill Meek (6th season)
Defensive coordinator	Jim LaRue (6th season)
Home stadium	Robert Rice Stadium
Seasons ← 1972 1974 →

1973 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 9 Arizona State +	6	–	1	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
Arizona +	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Utah	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
BYU	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
New Mexico	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Wyoming	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Colorado State	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
UTEP	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Five weeks after the season ended, in early 1974, Meek resigned.^[1] Defensive line coach Tom Lovat, a 35-year-old alumnus from Bingham, was retained for the interim for recruiting continuation and was promoted later that month.^[2][3][4][5]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 15	at No. 20 Texas Tech*	Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX	L 22–29	38,554
September 22	UTEP	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	W 82–6
September 29	at Oregon*	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	W 35–17	31,500
October 6	at No. 16 UCLA*	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 16–66	32,697
October 13	Wyoming	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	W 50–16
October 20	at San Jose State*	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	W 28–21
October 27	at Arizona	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	L 21–42	34,219
November 3	No. 8 Arizona State	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT	W 36–31
November 10	at New Mexico	University Stadium [Albuquerque, NM	W 36–35
November 17	Utah State*	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT (rivalry)	W 31–28	27,842
November 24	BYU	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT (rivalry)	L 22–46
December 1	at No. 11 (small) Hawaii*	Honolulu Stadium Honolulu, HI	L 6–7	15,662
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[6][7]

Roster

1973 Utah Utes football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 19 Don Van Galder Sr RB 22 Ike Spencer Jr FL 25 Steve Odom Sr TE 45 Willie Armstead Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 72 Gary Keller Sr DT 79 Ron Rydalch Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Bill Meek (6th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Jim LaRue (DC) Gene Dahlquist Tom Lovat Jeff Fries Dale Johnson Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

^[1][8]

NFL Draft

Four Utes were selected in the 1974 NFL Draft, which lasted 17 rounds (442 selections).

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL team
Steve Odom	Wide receiver	5	116	Green Bay Packers
Ron Rydalch	Defensive tackle	8	197	New York Jets
Gary Keller	Defensive tackle	13	337	Minnesota Vikings
Don Van Galder	Quarterback	14	361	Washington Redskins

^[9][10]

References

1. Miller, Hack (January 5, 1974). "Search on for U. coach". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 6A.
2. "Ute brass braced for applications". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). January 7, 1974. p. B9.
3. Ferguson, George (January 25, 1974). "Lovat, Riehlman top Ute list". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. D1.
4. "Lovat gets Utah's grid post". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). January 26, 1974. p. 6A.
5. Rock, Brad (January 24, 1997). "Lovat, like U. football, moved to better days". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. D1.
6. (PDF). University of Utah. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
7. . College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
8. "Oregon-Utah lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). September 29, 1973. p. 4B.
9. "Odom goes in 5th round". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). UPI. January 30, 1974. p. D1.
10. "Several area stars taken in grid draft". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). Associated Press. January 31, 1974. p. 2D.