1971 Washington Huskies football team

1971 Washington Huskies football
ConferencePacific-8 Conference
Ranking
APNo. 19
Record8–3 (4–3 Pac-8)
Head coach
Captains
Home stadiumHusky Stadium
Seasons
← 1970
1972 →
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 1971 Washington Huskies football team was an American football team that represented the University of Washington during the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. In its 15th season under head coach Jim Owens, the team compiled an 8–3 record (4–3 in the Pacific-8 Conference, tied for third), and outscored its opponents 357 to 188.[1]

Washington opened with four non-conference wins, and junior quarterback Sonny Sixkiller was featured in a Sports Illustrated cover story.[2] They lost the Pac-8 opener to defending champion Stanford in Seattle,[3] then at border rival Oregon by two points, as a short field goal attempt in the last minute missed wide right.[4][5]

After rebounding with three wins to improve to 7–2,[6] the season ended with two home games. USC won by one point for UW's third loss;[7] in the Apple Cup, the Huskies notched a third consecutive win over Washington State.[8]

The Pac-8 did not allow a second bowl team until the 1975 season; the Huskies climbed to #19 in the final AP poll in January.[9]

  1. ^ "Washington Yearly Results (1970-1974)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  2. ^ Blount, Roy Jr. (October 4, 1971). "The magic number is Sixkiller". Sports Illustrated. p. 34.
  3. ^ "Stanford beats UW by 17–6". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. October 10, 1971. p. 1,sports.
  4. ^ Cawood, Neil (October 17, 1971). "Ducks nip Huskies as kick foiled". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1B.
  5. ^ "Missed FG costs UW 23-21 loss". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. October 17, 1971. p. 1, sports.
  6. ^ "Many subs used in Husky romp". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. November 8, 1971. p. 17.
  7. ^ "Rae boots Trojans past Huskies, 13-12". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 14, 1971. p. 4B.
  8. ^ Missildine, Harry (November 21, 1971). "Washington wins weirdly". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 1,sports.
  9. ^ "Grid poll 'sweep' for Big Eight; Huskers, Sooners, Buffs 1, 2, 3". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. January 4, 1972. p. 1.