1971 Cotton Bowl Classic

The 1971 Cotton Bowl Classic was held at Cotton Bowl stadium, Dallas, Texas on 1 January 1971. It featured the Texas Longhorns (Season record: 10-0) versus the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-1). Notre Dame won the contest 24 to 11. This win ended the Longhorns 30 game winning streak, which is currently (as of October 2011) the 12th longest winning streak in NCAA Division I records. Ironically, it was also Notre Dame that defeated Oklahoma in 1957 to end their 47 game win streak.

Notre Dame was coached by Ara Parseghian. The captains for the Irish were Larry DiNardo and Tim Kelly. The team also featured Joe Theismann at quarterback and Tom Gatewood as a wide receiver.

Texas was coached by Darrell Royal. The captains for the Longhorns were Scott Henderson, Steve Worster, Bobby Wuensch and Bill Zapalac. The team also featured Jerry Sisemore at tackle and Jim Bertelsen at running back.