1973 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

The 1973 Arizona State Sun Devils football team represented Arizona State University in the 1973 NCAA Division I football season and outscored its opponents 519 to 171. Led by 16th-year head coach Frank Kush, the Sun Devils stayed home and won the Fiesta Bowl to finish at 11–1 and ninth in the final AP poll.

1973 Arizona State Sun Devils football
WAC champion
Fiesta Bowl champion
Fiesta Bowl, W 28–7 vs. Pittsburgh
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 10
APNo. 9
Record11–1 (6–1 WAC)
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorLarry Kentera (3rd season)
Captains
Home stadiumSun Devil Stadium
Seasons
← 1972
1974 →
1973 Western Athletic Conference football standings
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

Schedule

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DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 15at Oregon*No. 13W 26–2040,100[1]
September 22Washington State*No. 13W 20–951,252[2]
September 29Colorado StateNo. 13
  • Sun Devil Stadium
  • Tempe, AZ
W 67–1450,984[3]
October 6at New MexicoNo. 12W 67–2421,139[4]
October 13San Jose State*No. 11
  • Sun Devil Stadium
  • Tempe, AZ
W 28–350,827[5]
October 20BYUNo. 12
  • Sun Devil Stadium
  • Tempe, AZ
W 52–1247,137[6]
October 27at Oregon State*No. 11W 44–1420,188[7]
November 3at UtahNo. 8L 31–3622,135[8]
November 10WyomingNo. 14
  • Sun Devil Stadium
  • Tempe, AZ
W 47–049,880[9]
November 17at UTEPNo. 13W 54–137,400[10]
November 24ArizonaNo. 13
W 55–1951,383[11]
December 21vs. Pittsburgh*No. 10
W 28–750,878[12]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[13]

Game summaries

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Arizona

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1 234Total
Arizona 6 1300 19
• Arizona St 16 121314 55
  • Date: November 24
  • Location: Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, Arizona
  • Game attendance: 51,383

Arizona State clinches a share of WAC title and third straight trip to the Fiesta Bowl. Morris Owens went over 1,000 yards receiving for the season while both Woody Green and Benny Malone surpassed the same mark in rushing yardage.[14]

Roster

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1973 Arizona State Sun Devils football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
QB 11 Danny White Sr
RB 22 Woody Green Sr
WR 24 Morris Owens Jr
RB 32 Benny Malone Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

[15]

Awards and honors

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  • All-Americans: HB Woody Green - Consensus - Football Coaches of America, Sporting News, Time, UPI (second), AP (second), Walter Camp, QB Danny White - Football Writers, Time, UPI (second), AP (second), NEA
  • All-WAC: OT Steve Gunther, OG John Houser, QB/P Danny White, HB Woody Green, DE Sam Johnson, DE Larry Shorty, LB Bob Breunig, DB Mike Haynes, K Danny Kush (honorable mention), DB Bo Warren (honorable mention), DB Kory Schuknecht (honorable mention), RS Morris Owens (honorable mention), C Ed Kindig (honorable mention), DT Deke Ballard (honorable mention), DT Neal Skarin (honorable mention), MG Sal Olivo (honorable mention), LB James Baker (honorable mention)

[16]

NFL draft

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Four Sun Devils were selected in the 1974 NFL draft, which lasted seventeen rounds (442 selections).

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Woody Green Running back 1st 16 Kansas City Chiefs
Benny Malone Running back 2nd 47 Miami Dolphins
Danny White Quarterback 3rd 53 Dallas Cowboys
Monroe Eley ^ Running back 5th 128 Atlanta Falcons
^ Eley last played for ASU in 1971; he was in the Canadian Football League (1972–74) with the BC Lions.

[17][18][19]

References

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  1. ^ "Air game beats Oregon". The Columbian. September 16, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "WSU loses to Arizona State". The Bellingham Herald. September 23, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Explosive again, Devils romp, 67–14". The Arizona Republic. September 30, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Arizona State bombs Lobos again, 67–24". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. October 7, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Sun Devils bury SJS". The Daily Breeze. October 14, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Devils thump Cougars, 52–12". The Sunday Oregonian. October 21, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Beavers fall 44–14". The Sacramento Bee. October 28, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Arizona State errors aid 36–31 Utah upset". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. November 4, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Devils ambush Wyoming 47–0". Scottsbluff Star-Herald. November 11, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Sun Devil ground game overwhelms UTEP, 54–13". The Arizona Daily Star. November 18, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Arizona State takes WAC crown, 55–19". Albuquerque Journal. November 25, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Fiesta time a big disappointment". The Pittsburgh Press. December 22, 1973. Retrieved October 8, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "1973 NCAA Football Statistics (Arizona State)". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  14. ^ "ASU rolls past Arizona." Eugene Register-Guard. 1973 Nov 25.
  15. ^ "The lineups: Arizona State - OSU". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 27, 1973. p. 2B.
  16. ^ 2012 Arizona State football media guide.
  17. ^ "Odom goes in 5th round". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). UPI. January 30, 1974. p. D1.
  18. ^ "Several area stars taken in grid draft". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). Associated Press. January 31, 1974. p. 2D.
  19. ^ "1974 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.