| 1971 Northwestern Wildcats football | |
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| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Record | 7–4 (6–3 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
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| Captains |
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| Home stadium | Dyche Stadium |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 6 Michigan $ | 8 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 2 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 1 | – | 8 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 10 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1971 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1971 Big Ten Conference football season. In their eighth year under head coach Alex Agase, the Wildcats compiled a 7–4 record (6–3 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in second place in the Big Ten Conference.[2]
The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Maurie Daigneau with 1,733 passing yards, Al Robinson with 881 rushing yards, and Barry Pearson with 674 receiving yards.[3] Ten Northwestern players received honors on the 1971 All-Big Ten Conference football team. They are: (1) Maurie Daigneau (AP-1; UPI-1); (2) running back Al Robinson (AP-2); (3) wide receiver Barry Pearson (AP-1; UPI-1); (4) offensive tackle Tom McCreight (AP-1); (5) defensive end Wil Hemby (UPI-2); (6) defensive tackle Jim Anderson (UPI-2); (7) linebacker John Voorhees (AP-2); and defensive ends (8) Eric Hutchinson (AP-1; UPI-1); (9) Jerry Brown (AP-2); and (10) Jack Dustin (UPI-2).[4][5][6] Eric Hutchinson was also selected as a first-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America.[7]
This was Northwestern's last winning season until the miraculous 1995 campaign when the Wildcats won the Big Ten championship outright by going undefeated in the conference (8-0), and played in the Rose Bowl.
Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 11 | No. 4 Michigan | No. 20 | L 6–21 | 42,472 | [8] | |
| September 18 | at No. 2 Notre Dame* | L 7–50 | 59,075 | |||
| September 25 | Syracuse* |
| W 12–6 | 27,529 | ||
| October 2 | Wisconsin |
| W 24–11 | 40,473 | ||
| October 9 | at Iowa | W 28–3 | 52,102 | |||
| October 16 | No. 20 Purdue |
| L 20–21 | 40,059 | ||
| October 23 | at Indiana | W 24–10 | 32,409 | |||
| October 30 | at Illinois | L 7–24 | 40,144 | |||
| November 6 | Minnesota |
| W 41–20 | 31,217 | ||
| November 13 | at No. 16 Ohio State | W 14–10 | 86,062 | |||
| November 20 | No. 19 Michigan State |
| W 28–7 | 30,012 | ||
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Roster
| 1971 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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References
- ↑ "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 148. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- ↑ "1971 Northwestern Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
- ↑ "1971 Northwestern Wildcats Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
- ↑ "All Big Ten Selected". Daily Illini. November 24, 1971.
- ↑ "Sports Whirl". The Daily News of the Virgin Islands. November 24, 1971.
- ↑ "Unbeaten Michigan Dominate UPI Team Picked by Coaches: Ohio State Places 7 On All-Big Ten Teams". The Times Recorder. Zanesville, Ohio. November 25, 1971. p. 9D.
- ↑ Ted Gangi (ed.). "FWAA All-America Since 1944: The All-Time Team" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ↑ Curt Sylvester (September 12, 1971). "U-M, Spartans Both Win: It's Wolverines, 21–6". Detroit Free Press. p. 1E, 4E – via Newspapers.com.
