1972 Tampa Spartans football | |
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Tangerine Bowl champion | |
Tangerine Bowl, W 21–18 vs. Kent State | |
Conference | Independent |
Record | 10–2 |
Head coach |
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Home stadium | Tampa Stadium |
The 1972 Tampa Spartans football team represented the University of Tampa in the 1972 NCAA College Division football season. It was the Spartans' 36th season and they competed as an NCAA College Division independent. The team was led by head coach Earle Bruce, in his first and only year, and played their home games at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida. They finished with a record of ten wins and two losses (10–2) and with a victory in the Tangerine Bowl over Kent State, which featured future Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert and future Missouri coach Gary Pinkel (future Alabama coach Nick Saban was injured earlier in the Golden Flashes' season and did not play in the bowl game).
Bruce was hired on February 2, 1972, to serve as the replacement for Bill Fulcher who resigned to become the head coach at Georgia Tech. Bruce departed following the season to become head coach at Iowa State after Johnny Majors was named coach at Pittsburgh. [1]
The Spartans' notable players included John Matuszak, who was selected first overall by the Houston Oilers in the 1973 NFL draft and later won two Super Bowls with the Oakland Raiders; Freddie Solomon, a receiver on two Super Bowl champion teams with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s; and Paul Orndorff, who went on to stardom in the World Wrestling Federation as "Mr. Wonderful".
Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 9 | Toledo | W 21–0 | |||
September 16 | at Northern Michigan |
| W 34–21 | ||
September 22 | Eastern Michigan |
| W 42–0 | ||
September 30 | at Kansas State | L 7–31 | 25,000 | ||
October 7 | Louisville |
| L 14–17 | ||
October 14 | Southern Illinois |
| W 44–0 | 14,125 | [2] |
October 21 | No. 9 Drake |
| W 24–7 | ||
November 4 | Florida A&M |
| W 28–9 | ||
November 11 | Miami (FL) |
| W 7–0 | 22,525 | |
November 18 | Bowling Green |
| W 29–22 | ||
November 25 | Vanderbilt |
| W 30–7 | 11,831 | [3] |
December 29 | vs. Kent State | W 21–18 | 20,062 | ||
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The 1973 Tampa Spartans football team represented the University of Tampa in the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. It was the Spartans' 37th season and they competed as an NCAA Division I independent. The team was led by head coach Dennis Fryzel, in his first year, and played their home games at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida. They finished with a record of eight wins and three losses (8–3). Fryzel was hired on January 3, 1973, to serve as the replacement for Earle Bruce who resigned to become the head coach at Iowa State.
The 1971 Tampa Spartans football team represented the University of Tampa in the 1971 NCAA College Division football season. It was the Spartans' 35th season. The team was led by head coach Bill Fulcher, in his first year, and played their home games at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida. They finished with a record of six wins and five losses (6–5). Fulcher was hired on January 7, 1971, to serve as the replacement for Fran Curci who resigned to become the head coach at Miami.
The 1970 Tampa Spartans football team represented the University of Tampa in the 1970 NCAA College Division football season. It was the Spartans' 34th season and competed as a College Division Independent. The team was led by head coach Fran Curci, in his third year, and played their home games at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida. They finished with a record of ten wins and one loss (10–1).
The 1972 Tangerine Bowl, part of the 1972 bowl game season, took place on December 29, 1972, at the Tangerine Bowl stadium in Orlando, Florida. The competing teams were the Tampa Spartans, that competed as a College Division Independent, and the Kent State Golden Flashes, that competed as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). In the game, Tampa took a 21–0 halftime lead, and then held off a Golden Flashes comeback to win 21–18.
The 1963 Tampa Spartans football team represented the University of Tampa in the 1963 NCAA College Division football season. It was the Spartans' 27th season. The team was led by head coach Fred Pancoast, in his second year, and played their home games at Phillips Field in Tampa, Florida. They finished with a record of four wins, five losses and one tie (4–5–1). Pancoast resigned as the Spartans' head coach on January 20, 1964, to take the position of ends coach at Florida.
The 1968 Tampa Spartans football team represented the University of Tampa in the 1968 NCAA College Division football season. It was the Spartans' 32nd season. The team was led by head coach Fran Curci, in his first year, and played their home games at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida. They finished with a record of seven wins and three losses (7–3). Curci was officially hired as the replacement for Sam Bailey as head coach on January 25, 1968, from the Miami Hurricanes, and he won his first game as head coach on the road against UC Santa Barbara. Other games of note during the season included upsets at Tulane and over Mississippi State, both of the NCAA University Division.