The 1973 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1973 Big Ten Conference football season . In their second year under head coach Cal Stoll , the Golden Gophers compiled a 7–4 record but were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 295 to 260.[1]
End Steve Neils and offensive tackle Matt Herkenhoff shared the team's Most Valuable Player award. Neils and end Keith Fahnhorst were named All-Big Ten first team. Offensive guard Darrel Bunge and wide receiver Rick Upchurch were named All-Big Ten second team. Defensive lineman Jeff Gunderson was named Academic All-Big Ten.[2]
Total attendance for the season was 245,706, which averaged to 40,951. The season high for attendance was against Nebraska .[3]
Schedule Date Opponent Site Result Attendance September 15 at No. 3 Ohio State L 7–5686,005 September 22 North Dakota * W 41–1435,477 September 29 at Kansas * L 19–3430,205 October 6 No. 2 Nebraska * Memorial Stadium Minneapolis (rivalry ) L 7–4856,782 October 13 Indiana Memorial Stadium Minneapolis W 24–337,710 October 20 at Iowa W 31–2355,137 October 27 No. 4 Michigan L 7–3444,435 November 3 at Northwestern W 52–4330,081 November 10 Purdue Memorial Stadium Minneapolis W 34–736,890 November 17 at Illinois W 19–1634,438 November 24 Wisconsin Memorial Stadium Minneapolis (rivalry ) W 19–1734,412 *Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
Personnel 1973 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team roster Players Coaches Offense Defense Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Steve Goldberg
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) IneligibleRoster
Season summary
At Ohio State
North Dakota
At Kansas
Nebraska
Indiana
At Iowa 1 2 3 4 Total • Minnesota 6 16 2 7 31 Iowa 14 3 6 0 23
Scoring summary 1 IOWA Jensen 3-yard run (Kokolus kick) Iowa 7–0 1 MINN Powell 46-yard run (kick failed) Iowa 7–6 1 IOWA Jensen 54-yard run (Kokolus kick) Iowa 14–6 2 MINN Lawing 1-yard run (Henrickson pass from Lawing) Tie 14–14 2 IOWA Kokolus 22-yard field goal Iowa 17–14 2 MINN Upchurch 3-yard run (Sims pass from Dungy) Minnesota 22–17 3 IOWA Fetter 10-yard pass from Ousley (pass failed) Iowa 23–22 3 MINN Safety Minnesota 24–23 4 MINN Dungy 10-yard run (Goldberg kick) Minnesota 31–23
Michigan
At Northwestern 1 2 3 4 Total • Minnesota 7 14 21 10 52 Northwestern 7 7 14 15 43
Scoring summary 1 NW Craig 18-yard pass from Anderson (Blazevich kick) Northwestern 7-0 1 MINN J. Jones 4-yard run (Goldberg kick) Tie 7-7 2 NW Craig 19-yard pass from Anderson (Blazevich kick) Northwestern 14-7 2 MINN Upchurch 5-yard run (Goldberg kick) Tie 14-14 2 MINN Upchurch 5-yard run (Goldberg kick) Minnesota 21-14 3 NW Stevens 21-yard pass from Anderson (Blazevich kick) Tie 21-21 3 MINN M. Jones 40-yard pass from Lawing (Goldberg kick) Minnesota 28-21 3 MINN M. Jones 48-yard pass from Lawing (Goldberg kick) Minnesota 35-21 3 MINN Lawing 5-yard run (Goldberg kick) Minnesota 42-21 3 NW Key 12-yard run (Blazevich kick) Minnesota 42-28 4 MINN Goldberg 35-yard field goal Minnesota 45-28 4 NW Harris 13-yard pass from Anderson (Blazevich kick) Minnesota 45-35 4 MINN M. Jones 48-yard pass from Lawing (Goldberg kick) Minnesota 52-35 4 NW Frederickson 20-yard pass from Anderson (Harris pass from Anderson) Minnesota 52-43
[4]
Purdue 1 2 3 4 Total Purdue 0 0 7 0 7 • Minnesota 17 10 0 7 34
Scoring summary 1 MINN John Lawing 1-yard run (Steve Goldberg kick) MINN 7-0 1 MINN Goldberg 32-yard field goal MINN 10-0 1 MINN Rick Upchurch 21-yard run (Steve Goldberg kick)MINN 17-0 2 MINN John Lawing 1-yard run (Steve Goldberg kick) MINN 24-0 2 MINN Steve Goldberg 43-yard field goal MINN 27-0 3 PUR Bobrowski 1-yard run (Conner kick) MINN 27-7 4 MINN Holmes 1-yard run (Steve Goldberg kick) MINN 34-7
[5]
At Illinois
Wisconsin
References 
