1972 Stanford Cardinals football team

The 1972 Stanford Cardinals football team represented Stanford University in the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. Following the departure of head coach John Ralston for the Denver Broncos in early January,[1][2][3] defensive backs coach Jack Christiansen was promoted to head coach.[4][5][6] Stanford finished at 6–5, but were 2–5 in Pacific-8 Conference play, tied for sixth.

1972 Stanford Cardinals football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
1972 record	6–5 (4–4 Pac-8)
Head coach	Jack Christiansen (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Robert A. Jones
Defensive coordinator	Norb Hecker
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium (c. 85,500, grass)

1972 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 USC $	7	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
No. 15 UCLA	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
No. 19 Washington State	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Washington	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
California	3	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Oregon	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Stanford	2	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Oregon State	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The school changed its nickname from "Indians" to "Cardinals" in March after objections from Native American students and a vote by the student senate.[7][8][9][10]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
September 16	San Jose State*		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	W 44–0
September 23	at Duke*	No. 19	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	W 10–6
September 30	No. 20 West Virginia*	No. 19	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 41–35
October 7	No. 1 USC	No. 15	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	L 21–30
October 14	No. 12 Washington	No. 17	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 24–0
October 21	at Oregon	No. 13	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	L 13–15
October 28	Oregon State		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	W 17–11
November 4	at No. 8 UCLA		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 23–28
November 11	at Washington State	No. 20	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	L 13–27
November 18	at California		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA (75th Big Game)	L 21–24
December 2	at Hawaii*		Honolulu Stadium Honolulu, HI	W 39–7
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

1972 Stanford Cardinal football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR Don Alvarado OL Mike Askea QB Mike Boryla RB Scott Boughton OL Chuck Cordes WR Eric Cross OL Lee Fair WR Reggie Ishman RB Doug Jena OL Younger Klipper RB Scott Laidlaw RB Vic Lamanuzzi WR Miles Moore QB, P Dave Ottmar OL Bill Reid OL Keith Rowen RB Reggie Sanderson TE Bill Scott TE Glen Stone RB John Winesberry	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB John Blanchard DB Dennis Bragonier DL Roger Cowan DL Jim Ferguson DB John Ferguson DL Peter Hansel DB Charles McCloud LB Jim Merlo LB Pat Moore DB Gary Murray DB, K Steve Murray DL Pierre Perreault LB Dennis Peterson DB Randy Poltl DL Barry Reynolds DL Roger Stillwell	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Rod Garcia	Head coach Jack Christiansen Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Washington

See also: 1972 Washington Huskies football team

Washington Huskies at Stanford Cardinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	0	0	0	0	0
Cardinals	7	14	3	0	24

at Stanford Stadium • Stanford, California

• Date: October 14, 1972
• Game attendance: 56,000

Game information
First quarter STAN – Cross 23 yard pass from Boryla (Garcia kick). Stanford 7–0. Drive: Second quarter STAN – Alvarado 30 yard pass from Boryla (Garcia kick). Stanford 14-0. Drive: STAN – M. Moore 13 yard pass from Murray (Garcia kick). Stanford 21-0. Drive: Third quarter STAN – Garcia 32 yard field goal. Stanford 24-0. Drive: Fourth quarter No scoring plays.

Source[11][12]

California

See also: 1972 California Golden Bears football team and The Big Game (Football)

Stanford Cardinals at California Golden Bears

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	7	7	0	7	21
Golden Bears	0	3	8	13	24

at Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, California

• Date: November 18, 1972
• Game attendance: 68,000
• Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Nov 19.

Game information

First quarter STAN – Eric Cross 24-yard pass from Mike Boryla (Steve Murray kick). Stanford 7–0. Drive: Second quarter CAL – Ray Wersching 29-yard field goal. Stanford 7–3. Drive: STAN – Gordon Riegel 71-yard interception return (Steve Murray kick). Stanford 14–3. Third quarter CAL – Syl Youngblood 4-yard run (pass good). Stanford 14–11. Drive: Fourth quarter CAL – Syl Youngblood 6-yard run (Ray Wersching kick). Cal 18–14. Drive: STAN – Reggie Sanderson 3-yard run (Rod Garcia kick), 3:42. Stanford 21–18. Drive: CAL – Steve Sweeney 7-yard pass from Vince Ferragamo, 0:00. Cal 24–21. Drive: 64 yards. Top rushers CAL – Steve Kemnitzer – 15 rushes, 60 yards

References

1. "Stanford's Ralston Broncos coach". Sarasota Herald Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. January 6, 1972. p. 1D.
2. "Five-year pro deal to Ralston". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 6, 1972. p. 23.
3. King, Errol (January 6, 1972). "Ralston's talking Super Bowl". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). UPI. p. C1.
4. "Christiansen accepts job at Stanford". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). UPI. January 22, 1972. p. 16.
5. "White decides on Cal; Tribe gets Christiansen". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 22, 1972. p. 1B.
6. "Christiansen Stanford's coach, White goes to Cal". Lodi News-Sentinel. (California). UPI. January 22, 1972. p. 7.
7. "Indians are no more as Stanford name". Lodi News-Sentinel. (California). UPI. March 4, 1972. p. 8.
8. "What is the history of Stanford's mascot and nickname?". Stanford Athletics. July 7, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
9. Wascher, Jim (March 3, 1972). "Senate abolishes mascot". The Stanford Daily. (California). p. 10.
10. "The Removal of the Indian Mascot at Stanford". Stanford Native American Cultural Center. Archived from the original on 2009-06-20. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
11. "Cards dump Huskies, 24-0". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 15, 1972. p. 6C.
12. "Stanford beats UW with Sixkiller hurt". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. October 15, 1972. p. 2, sports.