1953 Idaho Vandals football team

The 1953 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the 1953 college football season. The Vandals were led by third-year head coach Raymond "Babe" Curfman and were members of the Pacific Coast Conference. Home games were played on campus at Neale Stadium in Moscow, with two games in Boise at old Bronco Stadium at Boise Junior College.

1953 Idaho Vandals football
ConferencePacific Coast Conference
1953 record1–8 (0–3 PCC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home stadiumNeale Stadium
1953 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 5 UCLA $ 6 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
No. 19 Stanford 5 –1 –1  6 –3 –1
USC 4 –2 –1  6 –3 –1
California 2 –2 –2  4 –4 –2
Washington State 3 –4 –0  4 –6 –0
Oregon State 3 –5 –0  3 –6 –0
Washington 2 –4 –1  3 –6 –1
Oregon 2 –5 –1  4 –5 –1
Idaho 0 –3 –0  1 –8 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Led on the field by quarterback George Eidam, Idaho compiled a 1–8 record and were winless in their three PCC games.

The Vandals suffered another loss in the Battle of the Palouse with neighbor Washington State, falling 13–30 at Neale Stadium on October 17.[1][2] It ran the winless streak against the Cougars to 27 games, a record of 0–25–2 since taking three straight in 1923–25; the Vandals broke the streak the next year in Pullman under new head coach Skip Stahley.[3]

In the rivalry game with Montana at Missoula two weeks earlier, the Vandals ran their winning streak over the Grizzlies to three and retained the Little Brown Stein.[4] Idaho scored twenty unanswered points to win 20–12,[5] in their sole victory of the season.[6][7][8][9]

Curfman made headlines in 1953 as his overmatched Vandals struggled in conference play in the PCC,[10] and was under fire from alumni and boosters after a disappointing season.[6][7][8][9] Following his resignation in December,[11][12][13] he was hired as the business manager for the Spokane Indians minor league baseball team in January 1954.[14]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendance
September 187:00 pmat San Jose State
L 6–3412,000
September 267:00 pmat Utah
L 0–2117,361
October 3at Montana*
W 20–12
October 101:00 pmvs. Brigham Young*
L 14–20  8,600
October 172:00 pmWashington State
L 13–3010,880
October 242:00 pmOregon State
  • Neale Stadium
  • Moscow, Idaho [22]
L 0–19  9,200
November 71:30 pmat Oregon
L 6–2510,000
November 141:30 pmPacific (CA)*
L 0–33  3,000
November 211:00 pmvs. Utah State*
L 7–19  5,000
  • One game was played on Friday (opener, night game at San Jose State)

All-conference

No Vandals were on the All-PCC team; fullback Flip Kleffner was named to the second team and center Mel Bertrand was honorable mention.[31][32][33]

NFL Draft

One senior from the 1953 Vandals was selected in the 1954 NFL Draft:[34]

PlayerPositionRound  Pick  Franchise
Mel BertrandC29th349      Detroit Lions      

One junior was selected in the 1955 NFL Draft:[35]

PlayerPositionRound  Pick  Franchise
Burdette HessG15th178San Francisco 49ers

References
  1. Boni, Bill (October 18, 1953). "Muscle, manpower and ability beat Vandals". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
  2. "Berry paces Cougars to 30-13 victory of feisty Vandals". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 18, 1953. p. 10.
  3. Boni, Bill (October 24, 1954). "Idaho thumps WSC, 10-0". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
  4. "Clicking Vandal ground, air attack stops Montana 20-12". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 4, 1953. p. 8.
  5. Weston, Don (October 4, 1953). "Vandals bump Montana 20-12". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). United Press. p. 2D.
  6. "Idaho alumni ask Curfman be replaced at grid helm". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). November 21, 1953. p. 8.
  7. "Replace Curfman is now demand of Idaho 'Lums". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. November 21, 1953. p. 10.
  8. "Coaching job action awaits January meet". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 24, 1953. p. 2.
  9. "Idaho regents meet in January; Babe Curfman's position unsettled". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). November 23, 1953. p. 15.
  10. "Vandal gridders rated too 'pure'". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 20, 1953. p. 3B.
  11. "Curfman and three aides resign posts at Idaho". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). December 21, 1953. p. 21.
  12. "'Circumstances' force Curfman's resignation". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). December 22, 1953. p. 12.
  13. "Idaho plans thorough search for coach; Curfman out". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. December 22, 1953. p. 12.
  14. May, Danny (January 29, 1954). "Indians sign Curfman as business manager". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 8.
  15. "Veteran Idaho team opposes San Jose in opener tonight". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. September 18, 1953. p. 10.
  16. "Spartans rake Vandals 34-6". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. September 19, 1953. p. 8.
  17. "Utah is two-touchdown favorite over Vandals". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). September 26, 1953. p. A-3.
  18. "Utah clubs Idaho 21-0". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. September 27, 1953. p. 8.
  19. Miller, Hack (September 28, 1953). "Utes meet Hawaii". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 2-B.
  20. "BYU downs Vandals 20-14". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 11, 1953. p. 9.
  21. "Vandal fumbles hand BYU 20-14 win in Boise tilt". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. October 11, 1953. p. 1, sports.
  22. Boni, Bill (October 25, 1953). "303-minute drought finally ends as OSC tops Idaho, 19-0". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
  23. Strite, Dick (November 6, 1953). "Webfoots, Vandals slate Saturday contest here". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 2B.
  24. Strite, Dick (November 8, 1953). "Webfoots defeat Vandal eleven 25-6". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1C.
  25. "Shaw leads Oregon past Vandals 25-6". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 8, 1953. p. 11.
  26. O'Brien, Jerry (November 15, 1953). "New COP passing star helps sink weakened Idaho 33-0". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. p. 10.
  27. Boni, Bill (November 15, 1953). "COP aces Vandals, 33-0, before thin Dad's Day crowd". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1, sports.
  28. "Vandals lose another man". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 21, 1953. p. 8.
  29. "Utah State smothers impotent Idaho, 19-7". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. November 22, 1953. p. 2, sports.
  30. Miller, Hack (November 23, 1953). "Aggies point for COP grid tangle". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. 2-B.
  31. "Four Northern stars named on All-Coast". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. November 23, 1953. p. 14.
  32. Myers, Bob (November 23, 1953). "Stanford air line operators dominate All-Coast eleven". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 8.
  33. "Berry, Kleffner make second team All-Coast". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 23, 1953. p. 6.
  34. "1954 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  35. "1955 NFL Draft". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  36. "Football: All-Conference Awards" (PDF). College of Idaho Athletics. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
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