# 1973 Ottawa Rough Riders season

The 1973 Ottawa Rough Riders finished the season in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 9–5 record and won the 61st Grey Cup over the Edmonton Eskimos.

## Preseason

| Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| A | Wed, July 4 | vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers | T 10–10 | 0–0–1 | Lansdowne Park | 14,917 |
| B | Wed, July 11 | vs. Edmonton Eskimos | W 25–16 | 1–0–1 | Lansdowne Park | 14,728 |
| C | Thur, July 19 | at Montreal Alouettes | L 14–17 | 1–1–1 | Autostade | 14,207 |
| D | Tue, July 24 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 13–9 | 2–1–1 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 23,884 |

## Regular season
### Standings

Eastern Football Conference :
| Team | GP | W | L | T | PF | PA | Pts |
| Ottawa Rough Riders | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 275 | 234 | 18 |
| Toronto Argonauts | 14 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 265 | 231 | 16 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 273 | 238 | 15 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 304 | 263 | 14 |

### Schedule

| Game | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | Tue, July 31 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | L 9–25 | 0–1 | Lansdowne Park | 23,764 |
| 2 | Wed, Aug 8 | at Toronto Argonauts | L 6–19 | 0–2 | Exhibition Stadium | 33,135 |
| 3 | Mon, Aug 13 | vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats | L 16–25 | 0–3 | Lansdowne Park | 22,087 |
| 4 | Mon, Aug 20 | at Saskatchewan Roughriders | L 12–18 | 0–4 | Taylor Field | 21,032 |
| 5 | Sat, Aug 25 | at Montreal Alouettes | W 30–3 | 1–4 | Autostade | 27,205 |
| 6 | Wed, Sept 5 | vs. BC Lions | W 26–24 | 2–4 | Lansdowne Park | 18,674 |
| 7 | Wed, Sept 12 | at Winnipeg Blue Bombers | W 24–13 | 3–4 | Winnipeg Stadium | 24,385 |
| 8 | Sat, Sept 15 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 21–19 | 4–4 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 33,254 |
| 9 | Sat, Sept 22 | vs. Edmonton Eskimos | W 32–20 | 5–4 | Lansdowne Park | 20,306 |
| 10 | Sun, Sept 30 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | L 15–28 | 5–5 | Lansdowne Park | 26,316 |
| 11 | Mon, Oct 8 | at Hamilton Tiger-Cats | W 16–13 | 6–5 | Ivor Wynne Stadium | 34,050 |
| 12 | Sun, Oct 14 | at Calgary Stampeders | W 32–8 | 7–5 | McMahon Stadium | 18,450 |
| 13 | Sun, Oct 21 | vs. Toronto Argonauts | W 20–19 | 8–5 | Lansdowne Park | 25,328 |
| 14 | Sun, Oct 28 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | W 16–0 | 9–5 | Lansdowne Park | 26,734 |

## Postseason
### Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Results | Results | Venue | Attendance |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Score | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| East Final | Sun, Nov 18 | vs. Montreal Alouettes | W 23–14 | 1–0 | Lansdowne Park | 19,793 |
| Grey Cup | Nov 25 | Edmonton Eskimos | W 22–18 | 2–0 | Exhibition Stadium | 36,653 |

### Grey Cup

Edmonton quarterback Tom Wilkinson was accused of using an unnatural head motion to draw the defence offside. Ottawa General Manager Frank Clair lobbied league officials to watch Wilkinson carefully at the line of scrimmage.
| Teams | 1 Q | 2 Q | 3 Q | 4 Q | Final |
| Edmonton Eskimos | 10 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 18 |
| Ottawa Roughriders | 7 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 22 |

## Player stats
### Passing

| Player | Attempts | Completions | Pct. | Yards | Touchdowns | Interceptions |
| Rick Cassata | 177 | 94 | 53.1 | 1255 | 4 | 6 |

### Rushing

| Player | Rushes | Yards | Average | Touchdowns | Long |
| Art Green | 54 | 223 | 4.1 | 2 | 14 |

## Awards and honours

* CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Gerry Organ (K)
* CFL's Coach of the Year – Jack Gotta
* Grey Cup Most Valuable Player, Charlie Brandon (DE)
* Dick Adams, Defensive Back, CFL All-Star
* Jerry Campbell, Linebacker, CFL All-Star
* Al Marcelin, Defensive Back, CFL All-Star
* Rudy Sims, Defensive Tackle, CFL All-Star