1971 Stanford Indians football team

The 1971 Stanford Indians football team represented Stanford University during the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. Led by ninth-year head coach John Ralston, the Indians were 8–3 in the regular season and repeated as Pacific-8 Conference champions at 6–1.

1971 Stanford Indians football
Pac-8 champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 13–12 vs. Michigan
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
AP	No. 19
Record	9–3 (6–1 Pac-8)
Head coach	John Ralston (9th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike White
Defensive coordinator	Bob Gambold
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium
Seasons ← 1970 1972 →

1971 Pacific-8 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 Stanford $	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 20 USC	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
No. 19 Washington	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
California	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Oregon State	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Oregon	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
UCLA	1	–	4	–	1			2	–	7	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The previous season, the Indians won the Pac-8 title and upset undefeated Ohio State in the Rose Bowl behind Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jim Plunkett, the first overall pick in the 1971 NFL draft.

With the core of the "Thunder Chickens" defense returning, led by Jeff Siemon and Pete Lazetich, and an offense under the steady leadership of fifth-year senior quarterback Don Bunce, the Indians defended the conference title and upset fourth-ranked Michigan in the Rose Bowl.^[1][2]

Shortly after their New Year's Day victory, Ralston resigned to become head coach and general manager of the Denver Broncos in the National Football League.^[3][4][5] A few weeks later, offensive coordinator Mike White was hired as head coach at rival California, his alma mater, and Stanford promoted defensive assistant Jack Christiansen to head coach.^[6][7][8]

This was the final season with the "Indians" nickname, which was changed to "Cardinals" for 1972, and reduced to the singular "Cardinal" in 1982.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	at Missouri*	No. 19	Faurot Field Columbia, MO		W 19–0
September 18	at Army*	No. 13	Michie Stadium West Point, NY		W 38–3
September 25	Oregon	No. 13	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 38–17		[9]
October 2	No. 19 Duke*	No. 10	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		L 3–9	61,000	[10]
October 9	at No. 11 Washington	No. 19	Husky Stadium Seattle WA		W 17–6	60,777
October 16	at USC	No. 15	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)		W 33–18	65,375
October 23	Washington State	No. 10	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		L 23–24	52,250
October 30	at Oregon State	No. 17	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR		W 31–24	29,230
November 6	UCLA	No. 12	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 20–9	70,205
November 13	San Jose State*	No. 10	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)		L 12–13
November 20	California	No. 18	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (Big Game)		W 14–0	86,000
January 1, 1972	vs. No. 4 Michigan*	No. 16	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	NBC	W 13–12	103,154
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1971 Stanford Cardinal football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 33 Jackie Brown Sr QB 13 Don Bunce RSr G 66 Lee Fair Jr G 63 Younger Klippert Jr OT 75 Bill Meyers Sr SE 45 Miles Moore Jr TE 84 Bill Scott Jr OT 74 Tim Shallich Sr C 58 Dennis Sheehan Sr FB 38 Hillary Shockley Sr FL 26 John Winesberry So	Defense Pos. # Name Class FS 29 Benny Barnes Sr DL 73 Larry Butler Sr DT 93 Roger Cowan Jr DB 24 Jim Ferguson So DE 78 Pete Lazetich Sr CB 21 Charles McCloud Jr LB 10 Pat Moore Jr S 36 Randy Poltl So CB 42 Tim Robnett Sr DE 91 Greg Sampson Sr MLB 92 Jeff Siemon Sr LB 50 Mike Simone Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 14 Rod Garcia So P 25 Steve Murray Jr	Head coach John Ralston (8th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Mike White – (OC) Bob Gambold – (DC) Bill Dickey – (OL) Max McCartney – (DL) Jack Christiansen – (DB) Roger Theder – (QB-Rec) Dave Currey – (RB) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

^[6][11][12]

NFL draft

Six Stanford players were selected in the 1972 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Greg Sampson	Defensive end	1	6	Houston Oilers
Jeff Siemon	Linebacker	1	10	Minnesota Vikings
Pete Lazetich	Defensive end	2	36	San Diego Chargers
Jackie Brown	Running back	8	202	Oakland Raiders
Don Bunce	Quarterback	12	307	Washington Redskins
Larry Butler	Linebacker	16	406	Atlanta Falcons

^[13]

References

1. Blackman, Frank (December 29, 1999). "Bowled over by the '70s". The San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
2. "Stanford Game-by-Game Results; 1971–1975". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
3. "Stanford's Ralston Broncos coach". Sarasota Herald Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. January 6, 1972. p. 1D.
4. "Five-year pro deal to Ralston". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 6, 1972. p. 23.
5. King, Errol (January 6, 1972). "Ralston's talking Super Bowl". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). UPI. p. C1.
6. "Christiansen accepts job at Stanford". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). UPI. January 22, 1972. p. 16.
7. "White decides on Cal; Tribe gets Christiansen". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 22, 1972. p. 1B.
8. "Christiansen Stanford's coach, White goes to Cal". Lodi News-Sentinel. (California). UPI. January 22, 1972. p. 7.
9. "Ducks impressed with Stanford". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). UPI. September 27, 1971. p. 11.
10. "Blue Devils upset Stanford, 9–3". The Rocky Mount Telegram. October 3, 1971. Retrieved January 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "OSU-Stanford lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 30, 1971. p. 2B.
12. "Bowl lineups: Rose Bowl". Milwaukee Sentinel. January 1, 1972. p. 4, part 2.
13. "1972 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved June 14, 2012.