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1971 North Carolina

9–⁠3 (6–⁠0 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bill Dooley.

Schedule and results

North Carolina in 1971, game by game: won at Richmond 28–0; won at Illinois 27–0; won vs. Maryland 35–14; won at NC State 27–7; lost vs. Tulane 29–37; lost at No. 7 Notre Dame 0–16; won vs. Wake Forest 7–3; won vs. William & Mary 36–35; won vs. Clemson 26–13; won at Virginia 32–20; won at Duke 38–0; lost vs. No. 6 Georgia 3–7+38−16Won 28–0 at Richmond+28RichmondWon 27–0 at Illinois+27IllinoisWon 35–14 vs. Maryland+21MarylandWon 27–7 at NC State+20NC StateLost 29–37 vs. Tulane-8TulaneLost 0–16 at No. 7 Notre Dame-16No. 7 Notre DameWon 7–3 vs. Wake Forest+4Wake ForestWon 36–35 vs. William & Mary+1William & MaryWon 26–13 vs. Clemson+13ClemsonWon 32–20 at Virginia+12VirginiaWon 38–0 at Duke+38DukeLost 3–7 vs. No. 6 Georgia-4No. 6 Georgia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11atRichmondW 28–⁠054%
Sep 18atIllinoisW 27–⁠072%
Sep 25vsMarylandW 35–⁠1481%
Oct 2atNC StateW 27–⁠773%
Oct 9vsTulaneL 29–⁠3774%
Oct 16at7Notre DameL 0–⁠1624%
Oct 23vsWake ForestW 7–⁠366%
Oct 30vsWilliam & MaryW 36–⁠3572%
Nov 6vsClemsonW 26–⁠1377%
Nov 13atVirginiaW 32–⁠2075%
Nov 20atDukeW 38–⁠051%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs6GeorgiaGator BowlL 3–⁠740%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Georgia 7–⁠3 in the Gator Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 28th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 127 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 20
  2. Wk 5: 18
  3. Wk 12: 19
  4. Wk 13: 18

Atlantic Coast Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠0 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
288–⁠152
Coach
Bill Dooley
Elo
1622 +86 this season
SP+ rating
13.1 No. 23 of 120; offense No. 36, defense No. 20
SRS
13.1 No. 25 of 128 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bobby Collins
Defensive coordinator
Lee Hayley
Captains
John Bunting and Paul Miller

Drafted in 1972

The 1972 draft
Rd 3Lewis Jolley RBHouston Oilers

All-ACC

9 first team

First team

  • Jerry SainOTAP
  • Ron RusnakOGAP
  • Bob ThorntonCAP
  • Lewis JolleyBAP
  • Paul MillerBAP
  • Bill BraffordDEAP
  • Bud GrissomDTAP
  • John BuntingLBAP
  • Ken CravenKAP

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

1971 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
North Carolina6–⁠09–⁠3
Clemson4–⁠25–⁠6
Duke2–⁠36–⁠5
Wake Forest2–⁠36–⁠5
Virginia2–⁠33–⁠8
NC State2–⁠43–⁠8
Maryland1–⁠42–⁠9

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