1971 Northwestern Wildcats football team

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.

  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.