Shortly after spring drills in May 1970, head coach
Y C McNease was fired and assistant coach Robbins was promoted.[1][2][3] With quarterbacks Steve Olson and Tom Ponciano running the offense,[4][5] the Vandals were 4–7 overall and 2–2 in the Big Sky.[6] Winless after six games, they won four straight before dropping the finale. Entering the homecoming game on October 24, Idaho had a ten-game losing streak.[7][8][9][10]
In the
Battle of the Palouse, the Vandals suffered a fourth straight loss to neighbor
Washington State of the
Pac-8, falling 44–16 at
Joe Albi Stadium in
Spokane on September 19. After a scoreless first quarter, Idaho led by ten at halftime, but was then outscored 38–0.[11][12] It broke a ten-game losing streak for the Cougars,[13] and was their only win of the season.[14] The game with WSU was not played in 1969 or
1971.[15]
The Vandals' former venue on campus,
Neale Stadium, had been declared structurally unsafe due to soil erosion in the summer of 1969,[16] and its south grandstand burned that November in a suspected arson.[17] Idaho played home games at Rogers Field in Pullman in 1969 and 1970. In April 1970, Rogers Field also burned in a suspected arson,[18][19] which destroyed most of the primary grandstand on the south sideline, including the press box.[20] WSU played its home games in
1970 and
1971 in Spokane at Joe Albi Stadium. Requiring less seating capacity, Idaho continued at Rogers in 1970, with reserved seating switched to the north side and students in the unburned lower section of the south grandstand.[21] The new
Idaho Stadium opened in October
1971.
University division
Through
1977, the Big Sky was a college division (renamed
Division II in 1973) conference for football, except for university division (Division I) member Idaho, which moved down to the new Division I-AA in
1978. Idaho maintained its upper division status in the NCAA by playing university division non-conference opponents (and was ineligible for the college division postseason).
Four Vandals were selected to the all-Big Sky team: wide receiver Terry Moreland, halfback Fred Riley, defensive end Tim Reese, and linebacker Ron Linehan, a repeat pick. No second teamwas selected.[36]
NFL Draft
No Vandals were selected in the
1971 NFL Draft, which lasted seventeen rounds (442 selections).
Three juniors were selected in the
1972 NFL Draft, also seventeen rounds.