CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1971 California

6–⁠5 (4–⁠3 Pac-8), coached by Ray Willsey.

Schedule and results

California in 1971, game by game: lost at No. 7 Arkansas 20–51; won vs. West Virginia 20–10; won vs. San José State 34–10; lost at No. 14 Ohio State 3–35; won vs. Oregon State 30–27; won at Washington State 24–23; won at UCLA 31–24; lost vs. No. 20 USC 0–28; lost vs. No. 20 Washington 7–30; won at Oregon 17–10; lost at No. 18 Stanford 0–14+24−32Lost 20–51 at No. 7 Arkansas-31No. 7 ArkansasWon 20–10 vs. West Virginia+10West VirginiaWon 34–10 vs. San José State+24San José StateLost 3–35 at No. 14 Ohio State-32No. 14 Ohio StateWon 30–27 vs. Oregon State+3Oregon StateWon 24–23 at Washington State+1Washington StateWon 31–24 at UCLA+7UCLALost 0–28 vs. No. 20 USC-28No. 20 USCLost 7–30 vs. No. 20 Washington-23No. 20 WashingtonWon 17–10 at Oregon+7OregonLost 0–14 at No. 18 Stanford-14No. 18 Stanford
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11at7ArkansasL 20–⁠5128%
Sep 18vsWest VirginiaW 20–⁠1044%
Sep 25vsSan José StateW 34–⁠1079%
Oct 2at14Ohio StateL 3–⁠3531%
Oct 9vsOregon StateW 30–⁠2756%
Oct 16atWashington StateW 24–⁠2365%
Oct 23atUCLAW 31–⁠2445%
Oct 30vs20USCL 0–⁠2855%
Nov 6vs20WashingtonL 7–⁠3048%
Nov 13atOregonW 17–⁠1036%
Nov 20at18StanfordL 0–⁠1423%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Stanford 14–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Pac-8.

In program history: The 49th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1971.

Consensus All-AmericanSherman White, DT

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Pac-8
AP final
Unranked
Points
186–⁠262
Coach
Ray Willsey
Elo
1517 −10 this season
SP+ rating
4.6 No. 45 of 120; offense No. 52, defense No. 59
SRS
3.4 No. 50 of 128 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1972

The 1972 draft
Rd 1Sherman White DECincinnati Bengals

All-Pac-8

3 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1971 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1971 Pac-8 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Stanford6–⁠19–⁠310
USC3–⁠2–⁠16–⁠4–⁠120
Washington4–⁠38–⁠319
California4–⁠36–⁠5
Oregon State3–⁠35–⁠6
Oregon2–⁠45–⁠6
Washington State2–⁠54–⁠7
UCLA1–⁠4–⁠12–⁠7–⁠1

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.