The 1953 Idaho Vandals football team represented the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The University ...

in the

1953 college football season The 1953 college football season finished with the Maryland Terrapins capturing the AP, INS, and UPI national championship after Notre Dame held the top spot for the first nine weeks. The No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners defeated Maryland in the Orange ...

. The

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...

were led by third-year head coach

Raymond A. Curfman Raymond A. "Babe" Curfman (June 16, 1915 – April 5, 1993) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Las Cruces (now New Mexico State Agg ...

and were members of the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

. Home games were played on campus at

Neale Stadium Neale Stadium was an outdoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. Opened in 1937 for college football, it was used for over three decades, through the 1968 football s ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, with two games in

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area's ...

at old Bronco Stadium at Boise Junior College. Led on the field by quarterback George Eidam, Idaho compiled a record and were winless in their three PCC games. The Vandals suffered another loss in the

Battle of the Palouse The Battle of the Palouse refers to an athletic rivalry in the northwest United States, between the Vandals of the University of Idaho and Cougars of Washington State University. The two land-grant universities are less than apart on the rur ...

with neighbor

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, falling, 30–13, at Neale Stadium on October 17. It ran the winless streak against the Cougars to 27 games, a record of since taking three straight from 1923 to 1925; the Vandals broke the streak the next year in Pullman under new head coach Skip Stahley. In the

rivalry game Pairs of schools, colleges and universities, especially when they are close to each other either geographically or in their areas of specialization, often establish a college rivalry with each other over the years. This rivalry can extend to both ...

with

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

two weeks earlier, the Vandals ran their winning streak over the Grizzlies to three and retained the

Little Brown Stein The Little Brown Stein is a rivalry trophy awarded to the winner of the college football game between the University of Idaho Vandals and the University of Montana Grizzlies. The trophy is, as the name implies, a large stein mug with the results ...

. Idaho scored twenty unanswered points to win 20–12, in their sole victory of the season. Curfman made headlines in 1953 as his overmatched Vandals struggled in conference play in the PCC, and was under fire from alumni and boosters after a disappointing season. Following his resignation in December, he was hired as the business manager for the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

minor league baseball team in January 1954.

Schedule

Coaching staff

* Chuck Gottfried, line *

Dixie B. White Dixie B. White (February 7, 1917 – October 24, 1990) was an American football coach. He was the fourth head football coach at University of Louisiana at Monroe, Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe, Louisiana and he held that position for ei ...

, backs *

Mack Flenniken George M. "Mack" Flenniken (January 24, 1905 – May 26, 1956) was an American football player and coach. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the Chicago Cardinals in 1930 and the New York Giants in 1931. Flenniken ...

, ends * Clem Parberry, freshmen

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.

NFL Draft

One senior from the 1953 Vandals was selected in the

1954 NFL Draft The 1954 National Football League Draft was held on January 28, 1954, at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. This was the eighth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery. With the previous seven winners i ...

: One junior was selected in the

1955 NFL Draft The 1955 NFL season, 1955 National Football League NFL draft, draft was held January 27–28, 1955 at the Warwick New York Hotel, Warwick Hotel in New York City. This was the ninth year that the List of first overall National Football League Dra ...

: * Often incorrectly listed as a UI Vandal, tackle Norm Hayes (1954 draft, #217) played at the

College of Idaho The College of Idaho (C of I) is a private liberal arts college in Caldwell, Idaho. Founded in 1891, it is the state's oldest private liberal arts college and has an enrollment of over 1,000 students. The college's alumni include eight Rhode ...

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, East ...

References

External links

''Gem of the Mountains:'' 1954 University of Idaho yearbook
– 1953 football season
Go Mighty Vandals
– 1953 football season
Official game program: Idaho at Utah
– September 26, 1953

– student newspaper – 1953 editions {{Idaho Vandals football navbox

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Idaho Vandals football seasons

Idaho Vandals football The Idaho Vandals are the college football team that represents the University of Idaho and plays its home games at the Kibbie Dome, an indoor facility on campus in Moscow, Idaho. Idaho is a member of the Big Sky Conference in the Football Cham ...