The 1970 Tampa Spartans football team represented the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...

in the

1970 NCAA College Division football season The 1970 NCAA College Division football season was the 15th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the NCAA College Division level. Conference and program changes Conference ch ...

. It was the Spartans' 34th season and competed as a College Division Independent. The team was led by head coach

Fran Curci Fran Curci (born June 11, 1938) is a former American football player and coach. He was an All-American quarterback at the University of Miami in 1959. He served as head coach at the University of Tampa from 1968 to 1970, the University of Miami ...

, in his third year, and played their home games at

Tampa Stadium Tampa Stadium (nicknamed The Big Sombrero and briefly known as Houlihan's Stadium) was a large open-air stadium (maximum capacity about 74,000) located in Tampa, Florida, which opened in 1967 and was significantly expanded in 1974–75. The faci ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. They finished with a record of ten wins and one loss (10–1). Three Tampa players were recognized on the 1970 Little All-America college football team. Running back

Leon McQuay Leon McQuay (March 19, 1950 – November 29, 1995) was an American football running back. College career McQuay played college football with the now disbanded University of Tampa Spartans (from 1968 to 1970.) He was the second black athlete t ...

received first-team honors, tackle John Morring received second-team honors, and defensive tackle Sammy Gellerstedt received third-team honors. The Spartans opened the season with a 45–12 victory , and in the win

ran for 177 yards for Tampa in the win. In their second game, Tampa

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

20–0 in what was the Cowboys' first loss since 1966. After victories at and against , the Spartans traveled to play at

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

on a Friday evening in their fifth game of the season. Against the Hurricanes, Tampa had one of the bigger upsets of the season with their 31–14 win. Former Miami quarterback Lew Pytel started for the Spartans, and the upset was considered unlikely to happen as Miami played in the University Division and the Spartans played in the lower College Division. After their upset at Miami, Tampa was ranked as the No. 1 team in the College Division, returned home and defeated Xavier 33–10 to remain undefeated. The Spartans then won a pair of games in Louisiana against

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

and before they returned home for the final three games of the season. In their 68–7 blowout victory over , McQuay was the star as he rushed for 213 yards and had three touchdowns. Against Vanderbilt, Tampa was required to suspend five players, that included three starters on the defense, to comply with

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

rules for transfer players as the Spartans played as an Independent. Without several of their defensive starters, Tampa lost their lone game of the season against the Commodores 28–36 before 35,893 fans. The Spartans then closed the season with a 49–7 win over and claimed the final No. 2 ranking. After the end of the season, on December 19, Curci was hired by Miami to serve as their new head coach.

Schedule

References

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Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

Tampa Spartans football seasons

Tampa Spartans football The Tampa Spartans football program was an intercollegiate American football team for the University of Tampa (UT) located in Tampa, Florida, that began play in 1933. The program competed against other small college programs in the forerunner of ...