| 1961 North Texas State Eagles football | |
|---|---|
 1961 North Texas team portrait from The Yucca yearbook | |
| Conference | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Record | 5–4–1 (1–2 MVC) |
| Head coach |
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| Home stadium | Fouts Field |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wichita $ | 3 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Texas State | 1 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati | 1 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulsa | 1 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1961 North Texas State Eagles football team was an American football team that represented North Texas State University (now known as the University of North Texas) during the 1961 college football season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). In their 16th year under head coach Odus Mitchell, the Eagles compiled a 5–4–1 record (1–2 in conference games), finished in a three-way tie for second place out of four teams in the MVC, and were outscored by a total of 206 to 162.[1]
Sophomore halfback Bobby Smith led the team in both rushing (541 yards) and scoring (42 points). Smith and right halfback Billy Christle were among the first African-American players to play for a historically-white Southern football team; both received first-team honors on the 1961 All-Missouri Valley Conference football team.
The team played its home games at Fouts Field in Denton, Texas.
- ^ "1961 North Texas Mean Green Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 15, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.