1971 Northwestern Wildcats football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record7–4 (6–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
Captains
Home stadiumDyche Stadium
Seasons
← 1970
1972 →
1971 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
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
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

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

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 11No. 4 MichiganNo. 20
L 6–2142,472[8]
September 18at No. 2 Notre Dame*
L 7–5059,075
September 25Syracuse*
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
W 12–627,529
October 2Wisconsin
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
W 24–1140,473
October 9at Iowa
W 28–352,102
October 16No. 20 Purdue
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
L 20–2140,059
October 23at Indiana
W 24–1032,409
October 30at Illinois
L 7–2440,144
November 6Minnesota
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
W 41–2031,217
November 13at No. 16 Ohio State
W 14–1086,062
November 20No. 19 Michigan State
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
W 28–730,012
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1971 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE 84 Steve Craig So
QB 12 Maurie Daigneau (C) Sr
FB 30 Mark Fassbender Jr
WR 86 Jim Lash So
WR 44 A. J. Owens Jr
WR 21 Barry Pearson Jr
C 53 Ed Quaerna Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DT 74 Jim Anderson Jr
LB 55 John Buckley So
DT 79 Wayne Bryan Sr
LB 82 Pat McNamara Jr
DB 15 Greg Swanson So
LB 35 Phil Trembczynski So
LB 66 Mike Varty So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

References

  1. ^ "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 148. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  2. ^ "1971 Northwestern Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  3. ^ "1971 Northwestern Wildcats Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  4. ^ "All Big Ten Selected". Daily Illini. November 24, 1971.
  5. ^ "Sports Whirl". The Daily News of the Virgin Islands. November 24, 1971.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Curt Sylvester (September 12, 1971). "U-M, Spartans Both Win: It's Wolverines, 21–6". Detroit Free Press. p. 1E, 4E – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon


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