CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1971 Texas

8–⁠3 (6–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Darrell Royal, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Texas in 1971, game by game: won at UCLA 28–10; won vs. Texas Tech 28–0; won vs. Oregon 35–7; lost vs. No. 8 Oklahoma 27–48; lost at No. 16 Arkansas 7–31; won vs. Rice 39–10; won at SMU 22–18; won vs. Baylor 24–0; won vs. TCU 31–0; won at Texas A&M 34–14; lost vs. No. 10 Penn State 6–30+31−24Won 28–10 at UCLA+18UCLAWon 28–0 vs. Texas Tech+28Texas TechWon 35–7 vs. Oregon+28OregonLost 27–48 vs. No. 8 Oklahoma-21No. 8 OklahomaLost 7–31 at No. 16 Arkansas-24No. 16 ArkansasWon 39–10 vs. Rice+29RiceWon 22–18 at SMU+4SMUWon 24–0 vs. Baylor+24BaylorWon 31–0 vs. TCU+31TCUWon 34–14 at Texas A&M+20Texas A&MLost 6–30 vs. No. 10 Penn State-24No. 10 Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 18atUCLAW 28–⁠1063%
Sep 25vsTexas TechW 28–⁠082%
Oct 2vsOregonW 35–⁠783%
Oct 9vs8OklahomaL 27–⁠4862%
Oct 16at16ArkansasL 7–⁠3144%
Oct 23vsRiceW 39–⁠1086%
Oct 30atSMUW 22–⁠1871%
Nov 6vsBaylorW 24–⁠092%
Nov 13vsTCUW 31–⁠080%
Nov 25atTexas A&MW 34–⁠1474%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs10Penn StateCotton BowlL 6–⁠3047%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Penn State 30–⁠6 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 18 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 44th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 126 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 3
  2. Wk 2: 3
  3. Wk 3: 3
  4. Wk 4: 3
  5. Wk 5: 3
  6. Wk 6: 10
  7. Wk 7: 16
  8. Wk 8: 14
  9. Wk 9: 15
  10. Wk 10: 13
  11. Wk 11: 12
  12. Wk 12: 12
  13. Wk 13: 11
  14. Wk 14: 12
  15. Final: 18

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.

Southwest Conference champions6–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanJerry Sisemore, OT

Record
8–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠1 first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 3
Points
281–⁠168
Coach
Darrell Royal
Elo
1680 −7 this season
SP+ rating
16.6 No. 19 of 120; offense No. 19, defense No. 24
SRS
16.7 No. 19 of 128 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Emory Bellard
Defensive coordinator
Mike Campbell
Offense
Wishbone
Defense
4–⁠4

Drafted in 1972

The 1972 draft
Rd 2Jim Bertelsen RBLos Angeles Rams
Rd 4Eddie Phillips DBLos Angeles Rams

All-Southwest Conference

7 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Malcolm MinnickDEAP-2
  • Glen GaspardLBAP-2

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

1971 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas6–⁠18–⁠318
Arkansas5–⁠1–⁠18–⁠3–⁠116
TCU5–⁠26–⁠4–⁠1
Texas A&M4–⁠35–⁠6
SMU3–⁠44–⁠7
Rice2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Texas Tech2–⁠54–⁠7
Baylor0–⁠71–⁠9

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