1971 college football season

The 1971 college football season saw Coach Bob Devaney's Nebraska Cornhuskers repeat as national champions. After being ranked 2nd in the preseason poll, Nebraska captured first place the following week and remained there for the rest of 1971 and won the Orange Bowl 38–6 in a #1 vs. #2 game against Alabama.

During the 20th Century, the NCAA had no playoff for the college football teams that would later be described as "Division I-A". The NCAA Football Guide, however, did note an "unofficial national champion" based on the top ranked teams in the "wire service" (AP and UPI) polls. The "writers' poll" by Associated Press (AP) was the most popular, followed by the "coaches' poll" by United Press International) (UPI). In 1971, the UPI issued its final poll before the bowls, but the AP Trophy was withheld until the postseason was completed.  The AP poll in 1971 consisted of the votes of as many as 55 sportswriters, though not all of them voted in every poll.  Those who cast votes would give their opinion of the ten best teams.  Under a point system of 20 points for first place, 19 for second, etc., the "overall" ranking was determined.

September

 * In the preseason poll released on September 6, 1971, Notre Dame was ranked #1, while defending champion Nebraska was second. Nebraska had more first place votes (26) than Notre Dame (15), but fewer points overall (870 vs. 885).  Texas, Michigan and USC rounded out the Top Five.  The poll was 1.Notre Dame 2.Nebraska 3.Texas 4.Michigan 5.USC


 * On Friday, September 10, in Los Angeles, #4 Alabama beat #5 USC, 17–10. The next day, September 11 #2 Nebraska won its opener, 34–7 against Oregon.  #4 Michigan won at #20 Northwestern 21–6.  #3 Texas had not started its season.  In the poll that followed, Nebraska received 31 of the 50 first place votes, while #5 Ohio State took USC's #5 spot.  The poll was 1.Nebraska 2.Notre Dame 3.Texas 4.Michigan 5.Ohio State

September 18 #1 Nebraska beat Minnesota 35–7 #3 Texas won at UCLA, 28–10. #2 Notre Dame beat Northwestern 50–7. #4 Michigan shut out Virginia, 56–0. #5 Ohio State was idle and fell to 6th. #6 Auburn, which crushed UT-Chattanooga 60–7, reached #5. The poll was 1.Nebraska 2.Notre Dame 3.Texas 4.Michigan 5.Auburn

September 25 #1 Nebraska beat Texas A&M, 34–7. #3 Texas beat Texas Tech 28–0. #2 Notre Dame narrowly won at Purdue, 8–7. #4 Michigan beat visiting UCLA 38–0. #6 Ohio State lost to visiting #10 Colorado, 20–14. #5 Auburn edged #9 Tennessee at home, 10–9. Michigan and Notre Dame traded places in the poll that followed: 1.Nebraska 2.Michigan 3.Texas 4.Notre Dame 5.Auburn

October
October 2 Fifteen of the Top 20 teams remained unbeaten, including the Top 12. #1 Nebraska beat Utah State at home, 42-6. #3 Texas defeated Oregon 35-7. #4 Notre Dame beat Michigan State 14-2, and fell to 7th place in the next poll. #2 Michigan registered its third straight shutout at home, beating Navy 46-0. #5 Auburn Tigers beat Kentucky 38-6 #6 Colorado rose to 5th after beating Kansas State 31-21 Poll: 1.Nebraska 2.Michigan 3.Texas 4.Auburn 5.Colorado

October 9 The top 9 teams improved their records to 4-0 or 5-0. In their first Big 8 game and first on the road, #1 Nebraska shut out Missouri 36-0. #3 Texas lost to #8 Oklahoma in Dallas, 48-27. #2 Michigan won at Michigan State 24-13. #4 Auburn Tigers beat Southern Mississippi 27-14. #5 Colorado won at Iowa State, 24-14, but dropped in the poll to 6th. # Alabama, which won at Vanderbilt 42-0, rose to 4th. Texas dropped to 10th place, while Oklahoma rose to 2nd. The poll: 1.Nebraska 2.Oklahoma 3.Michigan 4.Alabama 5.Auburn

October 16 #1 Nebraska crushed Kansas 55-0, raising its record to 6-0-0 and outscoring its opposition 238-27. #2 Oklahoma beat visiting #6 Colorado 45-17. #3 Michigan beat Illinois 35-6. #4 Alabama beat #14 Tennessee 32-15 at Birmingham. #5 Auburn won over Georgia Tech in Atlanta, 31-14. Eight teams had records of 5-0 or 6-0. The next poll: 1.Nebraska 2.Oklahoma 3.Michigan 4.Alabama 5.Auburn 6.Notre Dame 7.Penn State 8.Georgia.

October 23 Seven of the top 8 teams stayed unbeaten, playing unranked opponents. #1 Nebraska allowed Oklahoma State to reach double digits, but still won at Stillwater, OK, 41-13. #2 Oklahoma invaded Manhattan, KS and decimated the Kansas State Wildcats 75-28. #3 Michigan won at Minnesota, 35-7. #4 Alabama hosted Houston and won 34-20. #5 Auburn beat Clemson 35-13. #6 Notre Dame lost to visiting USC, 28-14. #7 Penn State #8 Georgia beat Kentucky at home, 34-0

Poll: 1.Nebraska 2.Oklahoma 3.Michigan 4.Alabama 5.Auburn 6.Penn State 7.Georgia

October 30 #1 Nebraska handed visiting #9 Colorado a 31-7 defeat. #2 Oklahoma beat Iowa State 43-12 #3 Michigan rolled over visiting Indiana 61-7. #4 Alabama beat Mississippi State at Jackson, Miss., #5 Auburn beat Florida 40-7, #6 Penn State won at West Virginia, 35-7, and #7 Georgia recorded its third consecutive shutout, at South Carolina, 24-0 The Top 7, all staying unbeaten, remained the same in the next poll: 1.Nebraska 2.Oklahoma 3.Michigan 4.Alabama 5.Auburn 6.Penn State 7.Georgia

November
November 6 #1 Nebraska beat Iowa State 37-0. #2 Oklahoma won at Missouri, 20-3. #3 Michigan crushed Iowa, 63-7. #4 Alabama won at #18 LSU, 14-7. #5 Auburn beat Mississippi State 30-21. #6 Penn State won 63-27 over Maryland. #7 Georgia beat Florida at Jacksonville. As the Top 7 teams extended their records to 8-0 or 9-0, the poll stayed unchanged: 1.Nebraska 2.Oklahoma 3.Michigan 4.Alabama 5.Penn State 6.Auburn 7.Georgia

November 13 #1 Nebraska won at Kansas State 44-17. #2 Oklahoma beat Kansas 56-10. #3 Michigan narrowly won at Purdue, 20-17. #4 Alabama defeated the visiting Miami Hurricanes, 31-3 #5 Auburn (8-0-0) and #7 Georgia (9-0-0) met at Athens, Ga., with the Auburn winning a decisive 35-20 victory. #6 Penn State beat North Carolina State 35-3.

Poll: 1.Nebraska 2.Oklahoma 3.Michigan 4.Alabama 5.Auburn 6.Penn State

November 20 Four of the Top 5 teams were idle. #1 Nebraska and #2 Oklahoma were preparing for their Thanksgiving Day meeting at Norman, OK, while #4 Alabama and #5 Auburn prepared for their season closer in Birmingham. #3 Michigan (10-0-0) defeated Ohio State, 10-7, to win the Big 10 title and earn the Rose Bowl berth. #6 Penn State won at Pittsburgh 55-18 Poll: 1.Nebraska 2.Oklahoma 3.Michigan 4.Alabama 5.Auburn 6.Penn State

As the regular season neared its close, Big 8 rivals Nebraska and Oklahoma were unbeaten, as were SEC rivals Alabama and Auburn, and Big 10 champ Michigan. On Thanksgiving Day, #1 Nebraska (10-0-0) and #2 Oklahoma (9-0-0) met on the Sooners' field in a game that would determine the Big 8 title, the #1 ranking, and a trip to the Orange Bowl. The Nebraska Cornhuskers won a classic battle with a toucdown with 90 seconds left, 35-31. The loss dropped Oklahoma behind the unbeatens into 5th place in the polls. That weekend (November 27), #4 Alabama (10-0-0) and #5 Auburn (9-0-0) played their annual season-ender at Birmingham, with Alabama handing the Tigers their first loss, 31-7; as a result of this impressive win, Alabama jumped over Michigan. As SEC champion, Bama was invited to, but not obligated to play in, the Sugar Bowl; instead accepted a bid to play #1 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl instead. Auburn went to the Sugar Bowl instead, to face Oklahoma in a meeting of the runners up in the SEC and the Big 8. #6 Penn State was idle. The next poll:

1.Nebraska 2.Alabama 3.Michigan 4.Penn State 5.Oklahoma

December
December 4 #1 Nebraska, with an 11-0-0 record, had NCAA permission to play a 12th game... in Hawaii. They beat the Rainbows 45-3 for their 12th win. #4 Penn State took its unbeaten (10-0-0) record to face #12 Tennessee (8-2-0), and lost, 31-11. #4 Oklahoma's season ender was in Stillwater, Oklahoma, for their annual game against Oklahoma State, which the Sooners won 58-14. The final regular season poll was 1.Nebraska 2.Alabama 3.Michigan 4.Oklahoma 5.Auburn. Colorado, who lost only to Big 8 conference foes Nebraska and Oklahoma, was ranked 6th and headed for the Bluebonnet Bowl.

Conference standings
The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

Major bowls

 * Last game Stanford used nickname "Indians." Nickname was changed to "Cardinals" early in 1972.  Nickname was changed again to "Cardinal" in 1981.

With #1 Nebraska slated to play #2 Alabama in the Orange Bowl, there was little suspense as to which game or games would decide the national title. #3 Michigan held out the slim hope that, if they handily defeated Stanford while Nebraska or Alabama barely won or tied, they could leapfrog both teams into the #1 position. But for the second year in a row, underdog Stanford came from behind to defeat the undefeated Big 10 champion in the Rose Bowl, this time beating Michigan 13–12 on a last second field goal by Rod Garcia (who had missed 4 field goals when Stanford was upset by San Jose State earlier in the season, ironically by the score of 13–12). Nebraska then walloped Alabama in the Orange Bowl 38–6 to claim its second straight national title. In the Sugar Bowl, Oklahoma intercepted Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan 3 times and easily handled Auburn 40-22 to regain the #2 ranking in the final poll. With #2 Alabama, #3 Michigan, and #5 Auburn all losing, #6 Colorado, winner of the Bluebonnet Bowl, rose to #3. In fact, in the final poll, the Big 8 occupied the top 3 spots, with Oklahoma #2 and Colorado (whose only losses were to Nebraska and Oklahoma) #3. This is the only time teams from one conference were rated 1-2-3 in the final poll.

Other champions
The schools that are now in the NCAA's "Division I-AA" were ranked in the "small college poll", taken by both the UPI (coaches) and AP (a panel of writers). The University of Delaware Blue Hens, which defeated Rutgers, Villanova and Boston University, averaged 40 points per game, and had a 9-1-0 record, were named best by UPI's 32 member coach board, followed by the (9-0-1) McNeese State Cowboys, #3 Eastern Michigan (7-0-2), #4 Tennessee State (8-1-0) and #5 C.W. Post (8-1-0). The AP writers' panel also ranked Delaware, McNeese and Eastern Michigan 1,2 and 3, with Louisiana Tech fourth and Tennessee State fifth. Delaware and C.W. Post met in the Boardwalk Bowl on December 11 in Atlantic City, with the Blue Hens winning 72-22. In the NAIA playoffs, Livingston beat Arkansas Tech 14-12 (Div. I) and California Lutheran beat Westminster 30-14 (Div. II)

Heisman Trophy

 * 1) Pat Sullivan, QB - Auburn, 1,597 points
 * 2) Ed Marinaro, RB - Cornell, 1,445
 * 3) Greg Pruitt, RB - Oklahoma, 586 - (only junior in top 10)
 * 4) Johnny Musso, RB - Alabama, 365
 * 5) Lydell Mitchell, RB - Penn State, 251
 * 6) Jack Mildren, QB - Oklahoma, 208
 * 7) Jerry Tagge, QB - Nebraska, 168
 * 8) Chuck Ealey, QB - Toledo, 137
 * 9) Walt Patulski, DE - Notre Dame, 121
 * 10) Eric Allen, RB - Michigan State, 109