1971 Stanford Indians football team American college football season
The 1971 Stanford Indians football team represented Stanford University during the 1971 NCAA University Division football season . Led by ninth-year head coach John Ralston , the Indians were 8–3 in the regular season and repeated as Pacific-8 Conference champions at 6–1.
The previous season , the Indians won the Pac-8 title and upset undefeated Ohio State in the Rose Bowl behind Heisman Trophy -winning quarterback Jim Plunkett , the first overall pick in the 1971 NFL draft .
With the core of the "Thunder Chickens" defense returning, led by Jeff Siemon and Pete Lazetich , and an offense under the steady leadership of fifth-year senior quarterback Don Bunce , the Indians defended the conference title and upset fourth-ranked Michigan in the Rose Bowl .[ 1] [ 2]
Shortly after their New Year's Day victory, Ralston resigned to become head coach and general manager of the Denver Broncos in the National Football League .[ 3] [ 4] [ 5] A few weeks later, offensive coordinator Mike White was hired as head coach at rival California , his alma mater, and Stanford promoted defensive assistant Jack Christiansen to head coach.[ 6] [ 7] [ 8]
This was the final season with the "Indians" nickname, which was changed to "Cardinals" for 1972 , and reduced to the singular "Cardinal" in 1982 .
Schedule
Date Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source September 11 at Missouri * No. 19 W 19–0
September 18 at Army * No. 13 W 38–3
September 25 Oregon No. 13 W 38–17[ 9]
October 2 No. 19 Duke * No. 10 Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA L 3–961,000 [ 10]
October 9 at No. 11 Washington No. 19 W 17–660,777
October 16 at USC No. 15 W 33–1865,375
October 23 Washington State No. 10 Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA L 23–2452,250
October 30 at Oregon State No. 17 W 31–2429,230
November 6 UCLA No. 12 Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA W 20–970,205
November 13 San Jose State * No. 10 Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry ) L 12–13
November 20 California No. 18 W 14–086,000
January 1, 1972 vs. No. 4 Michigan * No. 16 NBC W 13–12103,154
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
Roster
1971 Stanford Cardinal football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Pos.
#
Name
Class
RB
33
Jackie Brown
Sr
QB
13
Don Bunce
RSr
G
66
Lee Fair
Jr
G
63
Younger Klippert
Jr
OT
75
Bill Meyers
Sr
SE
45
Miles Moore
Jr
TE
84
Bill Scott
Jr
OT
74
Tim Shallich
Sr
C
58
Dennis Sheehan
Sr
FB
38
Hillary Shockley
Sr
FL
26
John Winesberry
So
Defense
Special teams
Pos.
#
Name
Class
PK
14
Rod Garcia
So
P
25
Steve Murray
Jr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
[ 6] [ 11] [ 12]
NFL draft
Six Stanford players were selected in the 1972 NFL draft
[ 13]
References
^ Blackman, Frank (December 29, 1999). "Bowled over by the '70s" . The San Francisco Examiner . Retrieved June 14, 2012 .
^ "Stanford Game-by-Game Results; 1971–1975" . College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2012 .
^ "Stanford's Ralston Broncos coach" . Sarasota Herald Tribune . (Florida). Associated Press. January 6, 1972. p. 1D.
^ "Five-year pro deal to Ralston" . Spokesman-Review . (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 6, 1972. p. 23.
^ King, Errol (January 6, 1972). "Ralston's talking Super Bowl" . Deseret News . (Salt Lake City, Utah). UPI. p. C1.
^ a b "Christiansen accepts job at Stanford" . Wilmington Morning Star . (North Carolina). UPI. January 22, 1972. p. 16.
^ "White decides on Cal; Tribe gets Christiansen" . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon). Associated Press. January 22, 1972. p. 1B.
^ "Christiansen Stanford's coach, White goes to Cal" . Lodi News-Sentinel . (California). UPI. January 22, 1972. p. 7.
^ "Ducks impressed with Stanford" . The Bulletin . (Bend, Oregon). UPI. September 27, 1971. p. 11.
^ "Blue Devils upset Stanford, 9–3" . The Rocky Mount Telegram . October 3, 1971. Retrieved January 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "OSU-Stanford lineups" . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon). October 30, 1971. p. 2B.
^ "Bowl lineups: Rose Bowl" . Milwaukee Sentinel . January 1, 1972. p. 4, part 2.
^ "1972 NFL Draft Listing" . Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved June 14, 2012 .
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
Pacific Coast AAWU Pacific-8 Pacific-10 Pac-12 National championships in bold