1973 BC Lions season

The 1973 BC Lions finished in third place in the Western Conference with a 5–9–2 record. They beat the Calgary Stampeders in the final game of the regular season to make the playoffs. However, the Lions would lose to Saskatchewan in the Western Semi-Final 33–13.

1973 BC Lions season
Head coach	Eagle Keys
Home field	Empire Stadium
Results
Record	5–9–2
Division place	3rd, West
Playoff finish	Lost Western Semi-Final
Uniform

In April, the Lions traded star fullback Jim Evenson to Ottawa. This would result in more carries for sophomore Johnny Musso, star running back from University of Alabama, who the Lions outbid the Chicago Bears of the NFL in 1972. Musso didn't disappoint as he ran for 1029 yards in 1973, had 475 yards receiving and scored 10 touchdowns.

Third year starting quarterback Don Moorhead split time with back-up Karl Douglas as the Lions tried to find the solution to their stagnant offence which produced only 16.3 points per game. In aggregate, both quarterbacks could only generate eight touchdowns through the air all season.

Sophomore linebacker Ray Nettles won the Schenley award for Most Outstanding Defensive Player and was the only Lion named to the CFL all-star team.

Linebacker Greg Findlay retired after 12 seasons and 178 games for the Lions.

Offseason

CFL Draft

Rd	Pick	Player	Position	School

Preseason

Date	Opponent	Score	Result

Regular season

Season standings

Western Football Conference

Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Edmonton Eskimos	16	9	5	2	329	284	20
Saskatchewan Roughriders	16	10	6	0	360	287	20
BC Lions	16	5	9	2	261	328	12
Calgary Stampeders	16	6	10	0	214	368	12
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	16	4	11	1	267	315	9

[1]

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
1	July 31	vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders	21–5	Loss	0–1
2	Aug 8	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	38–19	Loss	0–2
3	Aug 14	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	30–11	Win	1–2
4	Aug 22	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	23–19	Win	2–2
5	Aug 28	vs. Calgary Stampeders	9–2	Win	3–2
6	Sept 3	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	44–24	Loss	3–3
7	Sept 5	at Ottawa Rough Riders	26–24	Loss	3–4
8	Sept 11	vs. Montreal Alouettes	10–7	Loss	3–5
9	Sept 18	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	33–13	Loss	3–6
10	Sept 23	at Calgary Stampeders	13–12	Loss	3–7
11	Sept 29	vs. Toronto Argonauts	22–22	Tie	3–7–1
12	Oct 7	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	24–9	Loss	3–8–1
13	Oct 13	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	27–13	Loss	3–9–1
14	Oct 20	at Edmonton Eskimos	14–14	Tie	3–9–2
15	Oct 28	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	22–17	Win	4–9–2
16	Nov 3	vs. Calgary Stampeders	15–7	Win	5–9–2

[2]

Playoffs

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
BC Lions	?	?	?	?	13
Saskatchewan Roughriders	?	?	?	?	33

Offensive leaders

Player	Passing yds	Rushing yds	Receiving yds	TD
Don Moorhead	2005	283	0	0
Karl Douglas	1020	88	0	1
Johnny Musso		1029	475	10
Lou Harris		482	416	6
Monroe Eley		373	338	3
Jim Young		49	719	3
Lefty Hendrickson		0	631	3

Awards and records

• CFL's Most Outstanding Lineman Award – Ray Nettles (LB)

1973 CFL All-Stars

• LB – Ray Nettles, CFL All-Star

References

1. "CFL.ca". Archived from the original on 2009-07-22. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
2. "British Columbia Lions All-Time Canadian Football League (CFL) Records". Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2009-03-08.