1970 Idaho Vandals football team

The 1970 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. The Vandals were led by first-year head coach Don Robbins and were members of the Big Sky Conference, then in the college division of the NCAA. Without a usable stadium on their Moscow campus for a second year, they played their home games at Rogers Field at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.

1970 Idaho Vandals football
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Record4–7 (2–2 Big Sky)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBobby Thompson (2nd season)
Defensive coordinatorRay Fulton (1st season)
Base defense5–2
Captains
  • Steve Olson (QB)
  • Ron Davis (TE)
  • Tim Reese (DE)
Home stadiumRogers Field
(Pullman, Washington)
1970 Big Sky Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
Montana $ 5 –0 –010 –1 –0
Boise State 2 –1 –08 –3 –0
Idaho State 3 –2 –05 –5 –0
Weber State 3 –3 –05 –5 –1
Idaho 2 –2 –04 –7 –0
Montana State 1 –5 –02 –8 –0
Northern Arizona 0 –3 –02 –8 –0
  • $ – Conference champion

Season

Shortly after spring drills in May 1970, head coach Y C McNease was fired and assistant coach Robbins was promoted.[1][2][3] With quarterbacks Steve Olson and Tom Ponciano running the offense,[4][5] the Vandals were 4–7 overall and 2–2 in the Big Sky.[6] Winless after six games, they won four straight before dropping the finale. Entering the homecoming game on October 24, Idaho had a ten-game losing streak.[7][8][9][10]

In the Battle of the Palouse, the Vandals suffered a fourth straight loss to neighbor Washington State of the Pac-8, falling 44–16 at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane on September 19. After a scoreless first quarter, Idaho led by ten at halftime, but was then outscored 38–0.[11][12] It broke a ten-game losing streak for the Cougars,[13] and was their only win of the season.[14] The game with WSU was not played in 1969 or 1971.[15]

The Big Sky added two teams this season, but the Vandals played neither. The new rivalry with Boise State began in 1971 and Idaho did not schedule Northern Arizona until 1975.

The Vandals' former venue on campus, Neale Stadium, had been declared structurally unsafe due to soil erosion in the summer of 1969,[16] and its south grandstand burned that November in a suspected arson.[17] Idaho played home games at Rogers Field in Pullman in 1969 and 1970. In April 1970, Rogers Field also burned in a suspected arson,[18][19] which destroyed most of the primary grandstand on the south sideline, including the press box.[20] WSU played its home games in 1970 and 1971 in Spokane at Joe Albi Stadium. Requiring less seating capacity, Idaho continued at Rogers in 1970, with reserved seating switched to the north side and students in the unburned lower section of the south grandstand.[21] The new Idaho Stadium opened in October 1971.

University division

Through 1977, the Big Sky was a college division (renamed Division II in 1973) conference for football, except for university division (Division I) member Idaho, which moved down to the new Division I-AA in 1978. Idaho maintained its upper division status in the NCAA by playing university division non-conference opponents (and was ineligible for the college division postseason).

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 1212:30 pmat Air Force*
L 7–4525,000[22]
September 191:30 pmat Washington State*
L 16–4427,200[11][12]
September 261:30 pmPacific (CA)*
L 10–1710,000[23]
October 37:00 pmat Idaho State
L 14–3512,500[24]
October 101:30 pmMontana
L 26–444,600[25]
October 171:30 pmat Oregon*
L 13–4921,300[26][27]
October 241:30 pmPortland State*dagger
  • Rogers Field
  • Pullman, WA
W 17–166,700[9][10]
October 3112:00 pmat Montana State
W 37–244,500[28]
November 712:30 pmWeber State
  • Rogers Field
  • Pullman, WA
W 27–174,500[29][30]
November 1412:30 pmat Utah State*
W 42–1410,000[31]
November 2111:30 amat Tulsa*
L 17–308,500[32][33][34]

Roster
1970 Idaho Vandals football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
QB 10 Tom Ponciano Jr
QB 11 Steve Olson (C) Sr
QB 12 Bruce Cole  So
QB 18 Pete Glindeman Jr
RB 20 Fred Riley Jr
WR 21 Jess Vernier
RB 22 Robert Williams Jr
RB 24 Jim Ingles
WR 25 Terry Moreland
RB 31 Mike Wiscombe Sr
WR 37 Kelly Cooke
RB 40 Randy Peterson So
RB Steve Ball
WR,TE 45 Jim Wilund Jr
C 50 Ken Muhlbeier So
LG 51 John Durhan Sr
OL 52 Larry Bosma So
OL 54 John Davis
OL 59 Daryl Hanauer So
OL 68 Jim Wymer Sr
RT 70 Richard Beaver Jr
OL 72 Bob Myklebust
RG 73 Faustin Riley Jr
OL 74 Dave Crnich So
OL 75 Rich Kushlan Jr
OL 76 Bill Fluke
LT 77 Bruce Langmade Sr
OL 78 Andy Kupp Jr
OL 79 Joe Kristoff
TE, P 80 Ron Davis (C) Sr
TE 82 Darrell Burchfield So
TE 86 Jerry Domzalski
WR 89 Jack Goddard Jr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
S 12 John Hathaway Jr
S 26 Steve Holdren Jr
CB 27 Pat Sprute Jr
S 34 Bob Miller Jr
DB, P 36 Kurt Karlsson
LB 38 Jesse Craig Sr
CB 42 Kelly Courage So
CB 44 Kirby Cook
LB 53 Rand Marquess So
LB 55 Ron Roberts Sr
DL 56 Mark Busch So
DL 57 Steve Vest
LB 58 Ralph Sletager So
LB 61 Ron Linehan Jr
DL 62 Frank Shaner
DT 65 Bill Cady Jr
NG 67 Steve Barker Jr
DT 69 Brock Jackley Sr
DT 71 Mike Newell So
DE 81 Tom Jarman Jr
DE 85 Rick Simmons
DL 87 Neil Stevens
DE 88 Tim Reese (C) Sr
DL Hank Boomer
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
PK 7 Ricardo Castillo Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt
Source:[35]

All conference

Four Vandals were selected to the all-Big Sky team: wide receiver Terry Moreland, halfback Fred Riley, defensive end Tim Reese, and linebacker Ron Linehan, a repeat pick. No second team was selected.[36]

NFL Draft

No Vandals were selected in the 1971 NFL Draft, which lasted seventeen rounds (442 selections).

Three juniors were selected in the 1972 NFL Draft, also seventeen rounds.

PlayerPositionRoundOverallFranchise
Fred RileyWR6th146Atlanta Falcons
Andy KuppG10th241New Orleans Saints
Ron LinehanLB17th428Pittsburgh Steelers

References
  1. "McNease fired from Vandal football coaching job". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. May 16, 1970. p. 12.
  2. "Whits, Idaho Idaho pick new grid bosses". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. May 16, 1970. p. 13.
  3. "Robbins picked to coach Idaho". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. May 17, 1970. p. 12.
  4. "Washington State-Idaho football special: rosters". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. September 19, 1970. p. 1, special.
  5. "Soph quarterback presses Idaho vets". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. September 18, 1970. p. 26.
  6. "Recruiting needs seen for Vandals". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. November 23, 1970. p. 41.
  7. "Vandals hoping to avoid record 11th straight loss". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. October 24, 1970. p. 8.
  8. "Idaho eyes 1st victory". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. September 19, 1970. p. 13.
  9. Payne, Bob (October 25, 1970). "Vandals win first – and they earned it". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 1, sports.
  10. Bacharach, Sam A. (October 25, 1970). "Idaho ends 10-game loss skein with win over Portland State". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 15.
  11. Missildine, Harry (September 20, 1970). "Cougars roar back, swamp Vandals". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 1, sports.
  12. Brown, Bruce (September 21, 1970). "Next foes are tough". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. p. 17.
  13. "WSU Cougars, Idaho Vandals set for "Battle of the Palouse"". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. September 19, 1970. p. 8.
  14. Missildine, Harry (November 22, 1970). "Sonny Six dazzles Cougars". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 1, sports.
  15. Missildine, Harry (September 19, 1970). "Battle of Palouse matches explosive offenses at Albi". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 14.
  16. "Idaho stadium unsafe for use". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. August 6, 1969. p. 41.
  17. "Late night fire destroys portion of Neale Stadium on Idaho campus". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. November 24, 1969. p. 16.
  18. "Fast blaze ruins Pullman stadium". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. April 6, 1970. p. 1.
  19. "WSU fire may be arson". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. April 6, 1970. p. 1.
  20. "Fire in Rogers Field stands". Washington State University Libraries. April 5, 1970. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  21. "Rogers Field seating set for Vandals". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. September 25, 1970. p. 23.
  22. Payne, Bob (September 13, 1970). "Air Force blitzes Vandals". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 1, sports.
  23. Payne, Bob (September 27, 1970). "Pacific beats Idaho late". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 1, sports.
  24. Bacharach, Sam A. (October 4, 1970). "ISU Bengals whip Vandals 35-14". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 12.
  25. Bacharach, Sam A. (October 11, 1970). "Vandals fall 44-26 to tough Montana". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 12.
  26. cawood, Neil (October 18, 1970). "Ducks bomb Vandals as UO records tumble". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1B.
  27. Payne, Bob (October 18, 1970). "Oregon's offense surely too much". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 1, sports.
  28. Payne, Bob (November 1, 1970). "Vandals have pleasant day with Montana State victory". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 1, sports.
  29. Everson, Joe (November 8, 1970). "Vandals post third in a row". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 4, sports.
  30. Wakely, Dan (November 9, 1970). "2nd-half effort wins for Idaho". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. p. 13.
  31. Payne, Bob (November 15, 1970). "Fast start helps Idaho rip Aggies". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 1, sports.
  32. Connors, Bill (November 22, 1980). "TU Disciplines Vandals, 30-17". Tulsa World. Tulsa, Oklahoma. p. S1. Retrieved January 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  33. Connors, Bill (November 22, 1980). "McGill Goes 97 to Clinch 5th Victory (continued)". Tulsa World. Tulsa, Oklahoma. p. S11. Retrieved January 19, 2023 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  34. Payne, Bob (November 22, 1970). "Ill wind, Tulsa too much". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. p. 1, sports.
  35. "Bengals vs. Vandals: probable lineups". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). September 19, 1970. p. 14.
  36. "Four Vandals selected as Sky stars". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). November 27, 1970. p. 13.
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