1970 Idaho Vandals football team

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
  • Ron Davis
  • Tim Reese
Home stadiumRogers Field
Seasons
← 1969
1971 →
1970 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Montana $ 5 0 0 10 1 0
Boise State 2 1 0 8 3 0
Idaho State 3 2 0 5 5 0
Weber State 3 3 0 5 5 1
Idaho 2 2 0 4 7 0
Montana State 1 5 0 2 8 0
Northern Arizona 0 3 0 2 8 0
  • $ – Conference champion

The 1970 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho as a member of Big Sky Conference during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. The Vandals were led by first-year head coach Don Robbins. 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.

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.

  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.