1972 BC Lions season

1972 BC Lions season
Head coach	Eagle Keys
Home field	Empire Stadium
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	5th, West
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Uniform

The 1972 BC Lions finished in fifth place in the Western Conference with a 5–11 record and failed to make the playoffs.

After Paul Brothers was traded to Ottawa late in the 1971 season and Tom Wilkinson was released, sophomore pivot Don Moorhead became the Lions' starting quarterback. While Moorhead threw for 2606 yards, he also threw 17 interceptions and the offence continued to struggle at only 15.9 points per game.

The lone bright spot on offence was receiver Jim Young. He led the league with 1362 yards receiving and won his second Schenley as Outstanding Canadian. Young was a CFL all-star along with rookie linebacker Ray Nettles, for whom the Lions outbid the Miami Dolphins of the NFL in the off-season.

For the first season since the 1950s, the team wore orange jerseys at home. The new jerseys had northwestern stripes on each arm.

Offseason

CFL Draft

Rd	Pick	Player	Position	School

Preseason

Date	Opponent	Score	Result

Regular season

Season standings

Western Football Conference

Team	GP	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pts
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	16	10	6	0	401	300	20
Edmonton Eskimos	16	10	6	0	380	368	20
Saskatchewan Roughriders	16	8	8	0	330	283	16
Calgary Stampeders	16	6	10	0	331	394	12
BC Lions	16	5	11	0	254	380	10

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
1	Aug 1	at Edmonton Eskimos	34–22	Loss	0–1
2	Aug 8	vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats	19–17	Win	1–1
3	Aug 14	at Calgary Stampeders	19–14	Loss	1–2
4	Aug 17	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	39–7	Loss	1–3
5	Aug 25	at Edmonton Eskimos	29–7	Loss	1–4
6	Sept 7	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	42–7	Loss	1–5
7	Sept 12	vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders	24–13	Loss	1–6
8	Sept 17	at Montreal Alouettes	22–17	Loss	1–7
9	Sept 20	at Toronto Argonauts	23–9	Win	2–7
10	Sept 26	vs. Ottawa Rough Riders	20–17	Loss	2–8
11	Oct 3	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	26–24	Win	3–8
12	Oct 8	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	24–14	Loss	3–9
13	Oct 14	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	22–16	Win	4–9
14	Oct 21	vs. Calgary Stampeders	19–17	Loss	4–10
15	Oct 28	at Calgary Stampeders	28–3	Loss	4–11
16	Nov 4	vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders	26–14	Win	5–11

Offensive leaders

Player	Passing yds	Rush yds	Receiving yds	TD
Don Moorhead	2606	330	0	1
Jim Young		0	1362	11
Jim Evensen		961	329	9
Monroe Eley		517	507	1
Johnny Musso		405	556	3

Awards and records

• CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award – Jim Young (WR)

1972 CFL All-Stars

• WR – Jim Young, CFL All-Star
• LB – Ray Nettles, CFL All-Star