1971 California Golden Bears football team

The 1971 California Golden Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Berkeley in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. In their eighth year under head coach Ray Willsey, the Golden Bears compiled a 6–5 record (4–3 against Pac-8 opponents), finished in a tie for third place in the Pac-8, and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 262 to 186.[1][2]

1971 California Golden Bears football
Conference	Pacific-8 Conference
1971 record	6–5 (4–3 Pac-8)
Head coach	Ray Willsey (8th season)
Home stadium	California Memorial Stadium

1971 Pacific-8 Conference football standings
	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 team's statistical leaders included Jay Cruze with 1,284 passing yards, Steve Kemnitzer with 686 rushing yards, and Steve Sweeney with 579 receiving yards.[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 11	at No. 7 Arkansas*	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR	L 20–51	54,176[4]
September 18	West Virginia*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 20–10	23,001[5]
September 25	San Jose State*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 34–10	19,851[6]
October 2	at No. 14 Ohio State*	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 3–35	86,280[7]
October 9	Oregon State	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 30–27	33,561[8]
October 16	at Washington State	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	W 24–23	12,600[9]
October 23	at UCLA	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	W 31–24	30,741[10]
October 30	No. 20 USC	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	L 0–28	54,000[11]
November 6	No. 20 Washington	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	L 7–30	36,517[12]
November 13	at Oregon	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	W 17–10	18,500[13]
November 20	at No. 18 Stanford	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (Big Game)	L 0–14	86,000[14]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[15]

Personnel

1971 California Golden Bears football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB Jay Cruze WR Steve Sweeney	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Ray Willsey Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "1971 California Golden Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
2. "California 2015 Football Information Guide" (PDF). CalBears.com. Cal Golden Bears Athletics. p. 165. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
3. "1971 California Golden Bears Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
4. "Arkansas vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
5. "California vs West Virginia Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
6. "California vs San Jose State Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
7. "Ohio State vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
8. "California vs Oregon State Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
9. "Washington State vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
10. "UCLA vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
11. "California vs USC Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
12. "California vs Washington Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
13. "Oregon vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
14. "Stanford vs California Summary of Football Game Statistics" (PDF). NCAA Football Statistics. NCAA. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
15. 2015 Football Information Guide (PDF). Cal Athletics. 2015. p. 165. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016.