1971 Stanford Indians football team

American college football season

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 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.

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.

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. 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.

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
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
October 2	No. 19 Duke*	No. 10	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		L 3–9	61,000
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

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

References

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

v t e Stanford Cardinal football
Venues	Stanford Field (1905–1921) Stanford Stadium (1921–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games California: Big Game Notre Dame San Jose State: Bill Walsh Legacy Game USC
Culture & lore	Stanford Tree "Come Join the Band" "All Right Now" Stanford Band The Play Stanford Axe T formation 1906–1917 Stanford rugby teams 1894 Chicago game 2007 USC game The Spirit of Stanford Radio KTCT KZSU
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
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National championship seasons in bold

v t e Pac-12 Conference football champions
Pacific Coast	Washington (1916) Washington State (1917) California (1918) Oregon & Washington (1919) California (1920) California (1921) California (1922) California (1923) California & Stanford (1924) Washington (1925) Stanford (1926) Idaho, Stanford, & USC (1927) USC (1928) California, Oregon, Stanford, & USC (1929) Washington State (1930) USC (1931) USC (1932) Oregon & Stanford (1933) Stanford (1934) California, Stanford, & UCLA (1935) Washington (1936) California (1937) California & USC (1938) USC (1939) Stanford (1940) Oregon State (1941) UCLA (1942) USC (1943) USC (1944) USC (1945) UCLA (1946) USC (1947) California & Oregon (1948) California (1949) California (1950) Stanford (1951) USC (1952) UCLA (1953) UCLA (1954) UCLA (1955) Oregon State (1956) Oregon & Oregon State (1957) California (1958)
AAWU	UCLA, USC, & Washington (1959) Washington (1960) UCLA (1961) USC (1962) Washington (1963) Oregon State & USC (1964) UCLA (1965) USC (1966) USC (1967)
Pacific-8	USC (1968) USC (1969) Stanford (1970) Stanford (1971) USC (1972) USC (1973) USC (1974) California & UCLA (1975) USC (1976) Washington (1977)
Pacific-10	USC (1978) USC (1979) Washington (1980) Washington (1981) UCLA (1982) UCLA (1983) USC (1984) UCLA (1985) Arizona State (1986) USC & UCLA (1987) USC (1988) USC (1989) Washington (1990) Washington (1991) Washington & Stanford (1992) Arizona, UCLA, & USC (1993) Oregon (1994) USC & Washington (1995) Arizona State (1996) UCLA & Washington State (1997) UCLA (1998) Stanford (1999) Oregon, Oregon State, & Washington (2000) Oregon (2001) USC & Washington State (2002) USC (2003) USC (2004) vacated USC (2005) vacated California & USC (2006) Arizona State & USC (2007) USC (2008) Oregon (2009) Oregon (2010)
Pac-12	Oregon (2011) Stanford (2012) Stanford (2013) Oregon (2014) Stanford (2015) Washington (2016) USC (2017) Washington (2018) Oregon (2019) Oregon (2020) Utah (2021) Utah (2022) Washington (2023)
National championships in bold

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