From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1972 Tampa Spartans football team

American college football season

Field	Value
year	1972
team	Tampa Spartans
sport	football
conference	Independent
record	10–2
head_coach	Earle Bruce
hc_year	1st
stadium	Tampa Stadium
champion	Tangerine Bowl champion
bowl	[Tangerine Bowl](1972-tangerine-bowl)
bowl_result	W 21–18 vs. [Kent State](1972-kent-state-golden-flashes-football-team)

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.

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".

Schedule

|{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = l |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = l |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w |{{CFB schedule entry | w/l = w

References

(February 3, 1972). "Tampa hires coach". [[Palm Beach Post]].
(September 10, 1972). "Tampa topples Toledo with shocking 21–0 win". The Bradenton Herald.
(September 17, 1972). "Tampa doesn't need sunshine". The Saginaw News.
(September 24, 1972). "Tampa is inspired by key turnover". Tallahassee Democrat.
(October 1, 1972). "Kansas State tames Tampa". Great Bend Tribune.
(October 8, 1972). "Louisville miniback Howard Stevens propels unbeaten Cards to 17–14 win". The Paducah Sun-Democrat.
. ["Final 1972 Cumulative Football Statistics Report (Southern Illinois)"](https://stats.ncaa.org/team/659/stats/13168). *[[National Collegiate Athletic Association]]*.
(October 15, 1972). "Tampa rebounds". The Orlando Sentinel.
(October 22, 1972). "Behind at half, Tampa smashes past Drake, 24–7". The Orlando Sentinel.
(November 5, 1972). "Tampa overpowers rival Rattlers". The Palm Beach Post-Times.
(November 12, 1972). "Tampa's early touchdown holds up, Miami falls". Fort Pierce Tribune.
(November 19, 1972). "Dubose sparks Tampa past Bowling Green". The Miami Herald.
(November 26, 1972). "Tampa Spartans crush Vandy 30–7". Fort Myers News-Press.
(December 30, 1972). "QBs spark Tampa in Tangerine". The San Francisco Examiner.
. ["Schedule/Results (1972 Tampa)"](https://stats.ncaa.org/teams/251761). *[[National Collegiate Athletic Association]]*.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1972-ncaa-college-division-independents-football-season tampa-spartans-football-seasons citrus-bowl-champion-seasons 1972-in-sports-in-florida

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1972 Tampa Spartans football team — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report