# 1973 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

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.
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.
Total attendance for the season was 245,706, which averaged to 40,951. The season high for attendance was against Nebraska.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 15 | at No. 3 Ohio State | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | L 7–56 | 86,005 |
| September 22 | North Dakota* | Memorial StadiumMinneapolis, MN | W 41–14 | 35,477 |
| September 29 | at Kansas* | Memorial StadiumLawrence, KS | L 19–34 | 30,205 |
| October 6 | No. 2 Nebraska* | Memorial StadiumMinneapolis, MN (rivalry) | L 7–48 | 56,782 |
| October 13 | Indiana | Memorial StadiumMinneapolis, MN | W 24–3 | 37,710 |
| October 20 | at Iowa | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA (rivalry) | W 31–23 | 55,137 |
| October 27 | No. 4 Michigan | Memorial StadiumMinneapolis, MN (Little Brown Jug) | L 7–34 | 44,435 |
| November 3 | at Northwestern | Dyche StadiumEvanston, IL | W 52–43 | 30,081 |
| November 10 | Purdue | Memorial StadiumMinneapolis, MN | W 34–7 | 36,890 |
| November 17 | at Illinois | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL | W 19–16 | 34,438 |
| November 24 | Wisconsin | Memorial StadiumMinneapolis, MN (rivalry) | W 19–17 | 34,412 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game |||||

## Game summaries
### At Ohio State

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Minnesota | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Ohio State | 14 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 56 |
at Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
* Date: September 15
* Game weather: 74 °F (23 °C)
* Game attendance: 86,005
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
OSU – Champ Henson 2-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 10:24. Ohio State 7–0. Drive:
OSU – Cornelius Greene 4-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 8:44. Ohio State 14–0. Drive:
Second quarter
MINN – John King 1-yard run (Steve Goldberg kick), 12:59. Ohio State 14–7. Drive:
OSU – Archie Griffin 93-yard kickoff return (Blair Conway kick), 12:45. Ohio State 21–7.
OSU – Champ Henson 2-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 0:51. Ohio State 28–7. Drive:
OSU – Brian Baschnagel 5-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 0:00. Ohio State 35–7. Drive:
Third quarter
OSU – Neal Colzie 78-yard punt return (Blair Conway kick), 5:36. Ohio State 42–7.
Fourth quarter
OSU – Champ Henson 1-yard run (Blair Conway kick), 10:39. Ohio State 49–7. Drive:
OSU – Billy Ezzo 55-yard pass from Greg Hare (Blair Conway kick), 1:51. Ohio State 56–7. Drive:
Top passers
MINN – John Lawing – 5/9, 31 yards, INT
OSU – Greg Hare – 2/2, 64 yards, TD
Top rushers
MINN – John King – 17 rushes, 51 yards, TD
OSU – Archie Griffin – 15 rushes, 129 yards
Top receivers
MINN – Keith Fahnhorst – 3 receptions, 23 yards
OSU – Billy Ezzo – 1 reception, 55 yards, TD :

### At Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Minnesota | 6 | 16 | 2 | 7 | 31 |
| Iowa | 14 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 23 |

### At Northwestern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Minnesota | 7 | 14 | 21 | 10 | 52 |
| Northwestern | 7 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 43 |

### Purdue

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Purdue | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| • Minnesota | 17 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 34 |