1971 Florida State Seminoles football team

1971 Florida State Seminoles football
Fiesta Bowl, L 38–45 vs. Arizona State
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
Record	8–4
Head coach	Larry Jones (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Steve Sloan (1st season)
Captains	Rhett Dawson John Lanahan
Home stadium	Doak Campbell Stadium
Seasons ←  1970 1972  →

1971 NCAA University Division independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Penn State			–					11	–	1	–	0
Boston College			–					9	–	2	–	0
No. 17 Houston			–					9	–	3	–	0
No. 13 Notre Dame			–					8	–	2	–	0
Utah State			–					8	–	3	–	0
Florida State			–					8	–	4	–	0
Cincinnati			–					7	–	4	–	0
West Virginia			–					7	–	4	–	0
Temple			–					6	–	2	–	1
Air Force			–					6	–	4	–	0
Army			–					6	–	4	–	0
Colgate			–					6	–	4	–	0
Villanova			–					6	–	4	–	1
South Carolina			–					6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss			–					6	–	5	–	0
Georgia Tech			–					6	–	6	–	0
Northern Illinois			–					5	–	5	–	1
Syracuse			–					5	–	5	–	1
Dayton			–					5	–	6	–	0
Holy Cross			–					4	–	6	–	0
Miami (FL)			–					4	–	7	–	0
Rutgers			–					4	–	7	–	0
Virginia Tech			–					4	–	7	–	0
Navy			–					3	–	8	–	0
Pittsburgh			–					3	–	8	–	0
Tulane			–					3	–	8	–	0
Marshall			–					2	–	8	–	0
Xavier			–					1	–	9	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1971 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University in the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. Larry Jones was head coach, Steve Sloan was an assistant coach/offensive coordinator, and Bill Parcells coached the linebackers. ^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11		vs. Southern Miss		Ernest F. Ladd Memorial Stadium Mobile, AL		W 24–9	12,133	[2]
September 18	1:52 p.m.	at Miami (FL)		Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL (rivalry)	ABC	W 20–17	20,266
September 25		Kansas		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 30–7	34,784
October 2		at Virginia Tech		Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA		W 17–3	30,001	[3]
October 9		Mississippi State		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 27–9	27,415	[4]
October 16		at Florida	No. 19	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)		L 15–17	65,109	[5]
October 23		South Carolina		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 49–18	30,764	[6]
October 30		at Houston	No. 19	Astrodome Astrodome Houston, TX		L 7–14	33,598	[7]
November 13		at Georgia Tech		Grant Field Atlanta, GA		L 6–12	44,261	[8]
November 20		Tulsa		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 45–10	20,528
November 27		Pittsburgh		Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL		W 31–13	19,292
December 27		vs. No. 8 Arizona State		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	Mizlou	L 38–45	51,089	[9]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

At Florida

See also: 1971 Florida Gators football team and Florida–Florida State football rivalry

Florida State Seminoles at Florida Gators

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Florida St	0	0	0	15	15
Florida	0	14	0	3	17

at Florida Field, Gainesville, Florida

• Date: October 16, 1971
• Game weather: Overcast
• Game attendance: 65,109
• Recap/Box Score

Game information

Second quarter FLA – Mike Rich 1-yard run (kick failed), 14:58. Florida 6–0. Drive: 75 yards. FLA – Jimmy Barr 26-yard fumble return (pass good), 14:40. Florida 14–0. Fourth quarter FSU – Paul Magalski 3-yard run (Frank Fontes kick), 13:57. Florida 14–7. Drive: 73 yards. FLA – Richard Franco 42-yard field goal, 9:19. Florida 17–7. Drive: FSU – Rhett Dawson 6-yard pass from Gary Huff (pass good), 3:02. Florida 17–15. Drive: Top passers FSU – Gary Huff – 22/40, 198 yards, TD FLA – John Reaves – 4/11, 44 yards Top rushers FSU – Art Munroe – 17 rushes, 79 yards FLA – Tommy Durrance – 15 rushes, 60 yards Top receivers FSU – Rhett Dawson – 7 receptions, 90 yards, TD FLA – Willie Jackson – 1 reception, 28 yards

Roster

1971 Florida State Seminoles football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 82 Rhett Dawson Sr C 55 Allen Dees WR 18 Kent Gaydos QB 19 Gary Huff Jr FB 48 James Jarrett G 65 J.W. McKinnie RB 27 Art Munroe TE 84 Gary Parris Jr WR 22 Barry Smith Jr OT 74 Don Sparkman G 53 Jay Stokes OT 66 Joe Strickler TE Dick Hopkins  Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 75 Richard Amman S 28 Robert Ashmore DE 57 Steve Bratton Jr DT 70 Bill Henson DE 50 Charlie Hunt Jr S 24 John Lanahan CB 40 Eddie McMillan Jr OLB 60 Clint Parker DE 85 Bill Shaw ILB 59 Larry Strickland CB 26 J.T. Thomas Jr OLB 50 Dan Whitehurst	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 1 Frank Fontes	Head coach Larry Jones Coordinators/assistant coaches Theron Bass (GA) Bill Canty (Freshman) John Devlin (DL) Al Guy (GA) Bob Harbison (OL) Gene Henderson (DC/DB) Pat Hodgson (WR/TE) Doug Jackson (GA) Wayne McDuffie (GA) Bill Parcells (LB) Steve Sloan (OC) Hank Small (GA) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "FSU Football 1970–1979". Nolefan.org. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
2. "Seminoles rap Southern 24–9". The Tampa Tribune. September 12, 1971. Retrieved March 23, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Seminoles: 4–0, Huff hits 21 of 25". The Orlando Sentinel. October 3, 1971. Retrieved December 14, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Gary Huff leads Seminoles past Mississippi State 27–9". Fort Myers News-Press. October 10, 1971. Retrieved October 22, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Gators stun Seminoles on Franco's field goal". St. Lucie News Tribune. October 17, 1971. Retrieved January 23, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Florida State's Gary Huff picks Gamecocks, 49–18". Asheville Citizen-Times. October 24, 1971. Retrieved January 23, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Frantic FSU too late with too little". St. Petersburg Times. October 31, 1971. Retrieved April 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
8. "G-Tech wrecks Seminoles". Tulsa World. November 14, 1971. Retrieved July 24, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Late TD lifts Arizona St. over FSU, 45–38". The Miami Herald. December 28, 1971. Retrieved September 17, 2024– via Newspapers.com.