1973 Kansas Jayhawks football team

The 1973 Kansas Jayhawks football team represented the University of Kansas in the Big Eight Conference during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. In their third season under head coach Don Fambrough, the Jayhawks compiled a 7–4–1 record (4–2–1 against conference opponents), tied for second place in the conference, lost to NC State in the 1973 Liberty Bowl, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 253 to 220.^[1][2] They played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.

The team's statistical leaders included David Jaynes with 2,349 passing yards, Delvin Williams with 788 rushing yards and Emmett Edwards with 840 receiving yards.^[3] Jaynes set six conference passing records and was named the Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year.^[4] Don Goode and John Bryant were the team captains.^[2] Quarterback David Jaynes, became the first and as of the 2022 voting, the only Jayhawk to be a Heisman Trophy finalist, finishing in 4th place in the voting receiving 65 first place votes.

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 15	Washington State*		Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS		W 29–8	39,687–39,750
September 22	at Florida State*		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 28–0	19,240–19,934
September 29	Minnesota*		Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS		W 34–19	30,205
October 6	at No. 9 Tennessee*		Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN		L 27–28	42,842–43,716	[5]
October 13	Kansas State	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS (rivalry)		W 25–18	51,574
October 20	at No. 11 Nebraska	No. 18	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)		L 9–10	76,322–76,498
October 27	at Iowa State	No. 17	Clyde Williams Field Ames, IA		W 22–20	32,662–33,440
November 3	Oklahoma State		Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS		T 10–10	37,226
November 10	Colorado	No. 18	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	ABC	W 17–15	31,717
November 17	at No. 3 Oklahoma	No. 18	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK		L 20–48	60,961–64,122
November 24	No. 19 Missouri	No. 20	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS (Border War)		W 14–13	44,062
December 17	vs. No. 16 NC State*	No. 19	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)		L 18–31	50,011	[6]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game