1972 Houston Oilers (NFL) |
| 4th place American Football Conference Central Division 1-13-0 .071 |
| Head Coach: Bill Peterson |
| Don Breaux | Offensive Backs |
| Dan Henning | Quarterbacks/Receivers |
| King Hill | Special Assistant |
| Joe Madro | Offensive Line |
| Larry Peccatiello | Linebackers |
| Jacki Simpson | Defensive Backs |
| Jerry Smith | Offensive Line |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sat | 8/5/1972 | A | Dallas Cowboys | 24-26 | L | Irving, TX | Texas Stadium | 65405 | |
| Thu | 8/10/1972 | H | Chicago Bears | 17-20 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 38343 | |
| Sat | 8/19/1972 | H | Green Bay Packers | 20-3 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 46460 | |
| Thu | 8/24/1972 | H | St. Louis Cardinals | 33-24 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 38596 | |
| Mon | 9/4/1972 | A | Minnesota Vikings | 14-26 | L | Bloomington, MN | Metropolitan Stadium | 47900 | |
| Sun | 9/10/1972 | H | New Orleans Saints | 14-14 | T | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 44571 | |
| Sun | 9/17/1972 | A | Denver Broncos | 17-30 | L | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 51656 | |
| Sun | 9/24/1972 | A | Miami Dolphins | 13-34 | L | Miami, FL | Orange Bowl | 77821 | |
| Sun | 10/1/1972 | H | New York Jets | 26-20 | W | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 51423 | |
| Mon | 10/9/1972 | H | Oakland Raiders | 0-34 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 51378 | |
| Sun | 10/15/1972 | A | Pittsburgh Steelers | 7-24 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 42929 | |
| Sun | 10/22/1972 | H | Cleveland Browns | 17-23 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 38113 | |
| Sun | 10/29/1972 | A | Cincinnati Bengals | 7-30 | L | Cincinnati, OH | Riverfront Stadium | 59409 | |
| Sun | 11/5/1972 | A | Cleveland Browns | 0-20 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 61985 | |
| Sun | 11/12/1972 | H | Philadelphia Eagles | 17-18 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 34175 | |
| Sun | 11/19/1972 | H | Green Bay Packers | 10-23 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 41752 | |
| Sun | 11/26/1972 | A | San Diego Chargers | 20-34 | L | San Diego, CA | San Diego Stadium | 46289 | |
| Sun | 12/3/1972 | A | Atlanta Falcons | 10-20 | L | Atlanta, GA | Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium | 58850 | |
| Sun | 12/10/1972 | H | Pittsburgh Steelers | 3-9 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 36528 | |
| Sun | 12/17/1972 | H | Cincinnati Bengals | 17-61 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 32482 | |
Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.
Click on Date to see boxscore.
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Player | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| 88 | Allen Ray Aldridge | RDE | 6-6 | 240 | 27 | Prairie View A&M | 8 | 0 |
| 19 | Willie Alexander | LCB | 6-3 | 192 | 23 | Alcorn State | 14 | 11 |
| 48 | Bob Atkins | RS-LS | 6-3 | 211 | 26 | Grambling State | 14 | 3 |
| 18 | Ed Baker | QB | 6-2 | 198 | 24 | Lafayette | 1 | 0 |
| 81 | Jim Beirne | WR | 6-2 | 200 | 26 | Purdue | 10 | 2 |
| 65 | Elvin Bethea | RDE | 6-3 | 255 | 26 | North Carolina A&T State | 14 | 14 |
| 82 | Ron Billingsley | RDT | 6-8 | 278 | 27 | Wyoming | 5 | 3 |
| 52 | Garland Boyette | MLB | 6-1 | 237 | 32 | Grambling State | 14 | 8 |
| 73 | Leo Brooks | RDT | 6-5 | 256 | 25 | Texas | 12 | 10 |
| 00 | Ken Burrough | WR | 6-3 | 215 | 24 | Texas Southern | 14 | 11 |
| 2 | Skip Butler | K | 6-1 | 200 | 25 | Texas-Arlington | 13 | 0 |
| 63 | Levert Carr | ROT | 6-5 | 258 | 28 | Independence CC; North Central | 14 | 14 |
| 25 | John Charles | RS | 6-1 | 199 | 28 | Purdue | 13 | 11 |
| 26 | Linzy Cole | WR | 5-11 | 170 | 24 | Trinity Valley CC; Texas Christian | 2 | 0 |
| 59 | Phil Croyle | RLB | 6-3 | 223 | 25 | California | 12 | 7 |
| 20 | Rhett Dawson | WR | 6-1 | 180 | 24 | Florida State | 14 | 2 |
| 74 | Gene Ferguson | OT | 6-8 | 300 | 25 | Norfolk State | 1 | 0 |
| 69 | Solomon Freelon | LOG | 6-1 | 250 | 21 | Grambling State | 14 | 2 |
| 66 | Tom Funchess | LOT | 6-5 | 264 | 28 | Jackson State | 14 | 14 |
| 30 | Hoyle Granger | RB | 6-1 | 225 | 28 | Mississippi State | 13 | 5 |
| 61 | Wally Highsmith | LOT | 6-4 | 238 | 29 | Florida A&M | 9 | 0 |
| 79 | Pat Holmes | LDE | 6-5 | 254 | 32 | Texas Tech | 14 | 13 |
| 39 | Robert Holmes | RB | 5-9 | 221 | 27 | Southern University | 6 | 2 |
| 29 | Ken Houston | LS | 6-3 | 196 | 28 | Prairie View A&M | 14 | 14 |
| 51 | Calvin Hunt | C | 6-3 | 244 | 25 | Baylor | 10 | 10 |
| 15 | Al Johnson | RB | 6-0 | 200 | 22 | Cincinnati | 14 | 3 |
| 33 | Benny Johnson | RCB | 5-11 | 175 | 24 | Johnson C. Smith | 14 | 10 |
| 18 | Charlie Joiner | WR | 5-11 | 186 | 25 | Grambling State | 6 | 6 |
| 40 | Lewis Jolley | RB | 5-11 | 210 | 23 | North Carolina | 7 | 0 |
| 85 | Rich Lewis | LLB-RLB | 6-2 | 223 | 22 | Portland State | 10 | 1 |
| 62 | Ralph Miller | ROG | 6-3 | 260 | 24 | Alabama State; California Lutheran | 6 | 2 |
| 22 | Zeke Moore | RCB-LCB | 6-1 | 195 | 29 | Lincoln (Missouri) | 8 | 4 |
| 11 | Mark Moseley | K | 5-11 | 182 | 24 | Texas A&M; Stephen F. Austin State | 1 | 0 |
| 50 | Guy Murdock | C | 6-2 | 245 | 22 | Michigan | 14 | 4 |
| 14 | Kent Nix | QB | 6-1 | 195 | 28 | Texas Christian | 12 | 2 |
| 7 | Dan Pastorini | QB | 6-3 | 205 | 23 | Santa Clara | 14 | 12 |
| 58 | Ron Pritchard | MLB | 6-1 | 236 | 25 | Arizona State | 6 | 6 |
| 89 | Alvin Reed | TE | 6-5 | 232 | 28 | Prairie View A&M | 14 | 14 |
| 60 | Tom Regner | LOG | 6-1 | 255 | 28 | Notre Dame | 14 | 12 |
| 85 | Floyd Rice | LLB | 6-3 | 225 | 23 | Alcorn State | 14 | 13 |
| 56 | Guy Roberts | RLB | 6-1 | 230 | 22 | Maryland | 7 | 3 |
| 18 | Paul Robinson | RB | 6-0 | 199 | 28 | Eastern Arizona JC; Arizona | 8 | 7 |
| 34 | Willie Rodgers | RB | 6-0 | 210 | 23 | Kentucky State | 14 | 3 |
| 77 | Council Rudolph | LDE | 6-3 | 248 | 22 | Kentucky State | 12 | 1 |
| 91 | Greg Sampson | RDT-LDT-LDE | 6-6 | 270 | 22 | Stanford | 14 | 1 |
| 64 | Ron Saul | ROG | 6-2 | 254 | 24 | Michigan State | 13 | 12 |
| 87 | Dave Smith | WR | 6-1 | 205 | 25 | Waynesburg; Indiana (Pennsylvania) | 8 | 7 |
| 78 | Mike Tilleman | LDT | 6-5 | 275 | 28 | Montana | 14 | 14 |
| 42 | Jim Tolbert | LCB | 6-3 | 205 | 28 | Lincoln (Missouri) | 3 | 3 |
| 32 | Ward Walsh | RB | 6-0 | 213 | 24 | Colorado | 6 | 1 |
| 90 | George Webster | RLB | 6-4 | 225 | 27 | Michigan State | 5 | 4 |
| 21 | Fred Willis | RB | 6-0 | 209 | 25 | Boston College | 8 | 7 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 6 | Greg Sampson | DE | Stanford |
| 3 | 56 | Lewis Jolley | RB | North Carolina |
| 3 | 75 | Solomon Freelon | G | Grambling State |
| 6 | 134 | Joe Bullard | DB | Tulane |
| 6 | 136 | Elmer Allen | LB | Mississippi |
| 7 | 162 | Eric Hutchinson | DB | Northwestern |
| 8 | 187 | Guy Roberts | LB | Maryland |
| 9 | 212 | Willie Postler | T | Montana |
| 10 | 240 | Rhett Dawson | WR | Florida State |
| 10 | 259 | Jim Butler | TE | Tulsa |
| 11 | 264 | Ron Evans | T | Baylor |
| 12 | 290 | Willie Rodgers | RB | Kentucky State |
| 13 | 318 | Willie Roberts | DB | Houston |
| 14 | 343 | Gary Crockett | C | Lamar |
| 16 | 396 | Guy Murdock | C | Michigan |
| 17 | 421 | Kelly Cochrane | QB | Miami (Florida) |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 17 | 47 | 46 | 54 | |
| Opponents Totals | 81 | 99 | 73 | 127 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 42:51 | 183 | 80 | 88 | 15 | 59/205 28.8% | 1/4 25.0% | 66 | 581 |
| Opponents Totals | 17:09 | 263 | 147 | 100 | 16 | 87/202 43.1% | / % | 79 | 741 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skip Butler | 0 | 15 | 16 | 93.8 | 12 | 19 | 63.2 | 0 | 51 |
| Ken Burrough | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Paul Robinson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Charlie Joiner | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Dan Pastorini | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Willie Rodgers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Fred Willis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Jim Beirne | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Rhett Dawson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Ward Walsh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Mark Moseley | 0 | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 1 | 2 | 50.0 | 0 | 5 |
| Team Totals | 18 | 17 | 18 | 94.4 | 13 | 21 | 61.9 | 0 | 164 |
| Opponents Totals | 40 | 39 | 40 | 97.5 | 35 | 40 | 87.5 | 1 | 380 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skip Butler | 12 | 19 | 63.2 | 3 | 49 | 3/3 | 3/5 | 3/4 | 3/6 | 0/1 |
| Mark Moseley | 1 | 2 | 50.0 | 0 | 20 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 |
| Team Totals | 13 | 21 | 61.9 | 3 | 49 | 3/3 | 4/6 | 3/4 | 4/7 | 0/1 |
| Opponents Totals | 35 | 40 | 87.5 | 8/8 | 8/9 | 11/13 | 4/8 | 2/2 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Robinson | 86 | 355 | 4.1 | 30t | 3 |
| Fred Willis | 92 | 334 | 3.6 | 43 | 0 |
| Dan Pastorini | 38 | 205 | 5.4 | 17 | 2 |
| Willie Rodgers | 71 | 204 | 2.9 | 14 | 2 |
| Hoyle Granger | 42 | 175 | 4.2 | 14 | 0 |
| Robert Holmes | 43 | 172 | 4.0 | 18 | 0 |
| Ward Walsh | 8 | 36 | 4.5 | 14 | 0 |
| Al Johnson | 11 | 13 | 1.2 | 7 | 0 |
| Charlie Joiner | 2 | 12 | 6.0 | 9 | 0 |
| Ed Baker | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 |
| Kent Nix | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 397 | 1518 | 3.8 | 43 | 7 |
| Opponents Totals | 546 | 2591 | 4.7 | 66t | 23 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Pastorini | 299 | 144 | 144 | 143 | 1711 | 5.7 | 11.9 | 82t | 7 | 2.3 | 12 | 4.0 | 37 | 310 | 1401 | 57.1 |
| Kent Nix | 63 | 33 | 33 | 24 | 287 | 4.6 | 8.7 | 19 | 3 | 4.8 | 6 | 9.5 | 6 | 45 | 242 | 41.0 |
| Ed Baker | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 47 | 4.7 | 11.8 | 18 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 40.0 | 2 | 17 | 30 | 15.4 |
| Fred Willis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 33.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Team Totals | 375 | 181 | 181 | 171 | 2045 | 5.5 | 11.3 | 82t | 10 | 2.7 | 23 | 6.1 | 45 | 372 | 1673 | 48.4 |
| Opponents Totals | 324 | 174 | 174 | 144 | 2315 | 7.1 | 13.3 | 68t | 12 | 3.7 | 6 | 1.9 | 24 | 172 | 2143 | 81.2 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Willis | 36 | 251 | 7.0 | 27 | 2 |
| Ken Burrough | 26 | 521 | 20.0 | 80t | 4 |
| Dave Smith | 20 | 218 | 10.9 | 24 | 0 |
| Alvin Reed | 19 | 251 | 13.2 | 29 | 0 |
| Charlie Joiner | 16 | 306 | 19.1 | 82t | 2 |
| Hoyle Granger | 15 | 74 | 4.9 | 20 | 0 |
| Paul Robinson | 14 | 112 | 8.0 | 24 | 0 |
| Jim Beirne | 7 | 95 | 13.6 | 19 | 1 |
| Rhett Dawson | 6 | 78 | 13.0 | 20 | 1 |
| Willie Rodgers | 6 | 61 | 10.2 | 15 | 0 |
| Robert Holmes | 6 | 32 | 5.3 | 13 | 0 |
| Al Johnson | 6 | 24 | 4.0 | 16 | 0 |
| Ward Walsh | 4 | 22 | 5.5 | 16 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 181 | 2045 | 11.3 | 82t | 10 |
| Opponents Totals | 174 | 2315 | 13.3 | 68t | 12 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Atkins | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 34 | 0 |
| John Charles | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Benny Johnson | 1 | 34 | 34.0 | 34 | 0 |
| Willie Alexander | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 16 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 6 | 93 | 15.5 | 34 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 23 | 319 | 13.9 | 63t | 3 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Pastorini | 82 | 3381 | 41.2 | 63 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| Skip Butler | 3 | 105 | 35.0 | 47 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Team Totals | 85 | 3486 | 41.0 | 63 | 1 | 4 | 299 | 3107 | 37.0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 61 | 2569 | 42.1 | 60 | 2 | 8 | 163 | 2246 | 38.1 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Houston | 25 | 7 | 148 | 5.9 | 33 | 0 |
| Zeke Moore | 7 | 2 | 15 | 2.1 | 19 | 0 |
| Al Johnson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 34 | 10 | 163 | 4.8 | 33 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 31 | 27 | 299 | 9.6 | 85t | 1 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willie Rodgers | 17 | 335 | 19.7 | 32 | 0 | |
| Benny Johnson | 13 | 230 | 17.7 | 29 | 0 | |
| Lewis Jolley | 11 | 267 | 24.3 | 43 | 0 | |
| Al Johnson | 7 | 154 | 22.0 | 28 | 0 | |
| Linzy Cole | 2 | 41 | 20.5 | 21 | 0 | |
| Robert Holmes | 2 | 39 | 19.5 | 21 | 0 | |
| Zeke Moore | 1 | 22 | 22.0 | 22 | 0 | |
| Hoyle Granger | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 54 | 1093 | 20.2 | 43 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 28 | 547 | 19.5 | 78 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Tilleman | 11.0 | |
| Elvin Bethea | 7.0 | |
| Robert Holmes | 2.0 | |
| Allen Ray Aldridge | 1.0 | |
| Leo Brooks | 1.0 | |
| Floyd Rice | 1.0 | |
| (Team) | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 24.0 | 172.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 45.0 | 372.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allen Aldridge | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -25 | 0 | |
| Willie Alexander | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 27 | 0 |
| Bob Atkins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Elvin Bethea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron Billingsley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Garland Boyette | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Leo Brooks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Skip Butler | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hoyle Granger | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pat Holmes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Holmes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Houston | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 0 | |
| Calvin Hunt | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Johnson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |
| Benny Johnson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 0 | |
| Charlie Joiner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rich Lewis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Zeke Moore | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Guy Murdock | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kent Nix | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dan Pastorini | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -10 | 0 | |
| Alvin Reed | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tom Regner | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Willie Rodgers | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dave Smith | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| George Webster | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Fred Willis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 30 | 10 | 20 | 18 | 38 | 36 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 29 | 18 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 0 |
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