1971 San Jose State Spartans football team

1971 San Jose State Spartans football
Pasadena Bowl, L 9–28 vs. Memphis State
Conference	Pacific Coast Athletic Association
Record	5–6–1 (4–1 PCAA)
Head coach	Dewey King (2nd season)
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
Seasons ←  1970 1972  →

1971 Pacific Coast Athletic Association football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Long Beach State $	5	–	1	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
San Jose State	4	–	1	–	0			5	–	6	–	1
Fresno State	3	–	2	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
San Diego State	2	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
UC Santa Barbara	2	–	3	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Pacific (CA)	1	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Cal State Los Angeles	0	–	3	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion

The 1971 San Jose State Spartans football team represented San Jose State College ^{[note 1]} in the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA) ^{[note 2]} during the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. Led by second-year head coach Dewey King, they played home games at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California. With a 55–10 road rout of UC Santa Barbara, the Spartans ended the regular season at an even .500 with five wins, five losses, and one tie (5–5–1, 4–1 PCAA).

This season, San Jose State made its first bowl appearance as a major college program in the Pasadena Bowl. They faced the Memphis State Tigers on Saturday, December 18, but lost 9–28 to finish at 5–6–1. ^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 18	7:30 p.m.	at Fresno State	Ratcliffe Stadium Fresno, CA (rivalry)	L 7–14	9,500	[2]
September 25	1:31 p.m.	at California *	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	L 10–34	16,000	[3]
October 2	5:30 p.m.	at Houston *	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX	L 20–34	31,754	[4]
October 8	8:05 p.m.	at Long Beach State	Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, CA	W 30–28	10,490–10,500	[5]
October 16	7:30 p.m.	New Mexico *	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	T 21–21	15,374	[6]
October 23	1:30 p.m.	at Oregon *	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	L 14–34	14,000	[7]
October 30	7:32 p.m.	Pacific (CA)	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA (Victory Bell)	W 28–18	12,162	[8]
November 6	7:30 p.m.	San Diego State	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	W 45–7	16,394	[9]
November 13	1:35 p.m.	at No. 10 Stanford *	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	W 13–12	41,000	[10]
November 20	7:30 p.m.	No. 9 Arizona State *	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	L 6–49	23,500	[11]
November 27	1:30 p.m.	at UC Santa Barbara	Campus Stadium Santa Barbara, CA	W 55–10	4,800	[12]
December 18		vs. Memphis State *	Rose Bowl Pasadena CA (Pasadena Bowl)	L 9–28	15,244	[1]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

^{[13] [14]}

NFL draft

Two Spartans were selected in the 1972 NFL draft. ^[15]

Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL club
Dave Chaney	Linebacker	14	360	Kansas City Chiefs
Eric Dahl	Defensive back	16	400	New England Patriots

Notes

1. San Jose State University was known as San Jose State College from 1935 to 1971.
2. The Big West Conference was known as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association from its founding in 1969 through 1987.

References

1. "Memphis State takes 28-9 win over San Jose State". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. December 19, 1971. p. 17.
2. "Fresno shocks Sparta". Santa Cruz Sentinel. September 19, 1971. Retrieved April 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Cal clobbers San Jose St". The Sun-Telegram. September 26, 1971. Retrieved April 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Cougs claw San Jose St. 34–20". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 3, 1971. Retrieved April 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
5. Doyle, Kevin (October 9, 1971). "SJS gridders finally win". Palo Alto Times . Palo Alto, California. p. 15. Retrieved August 24, 2023– via Newspapers.com .
6. "New Mexico ties San Jose St., 21–21". The San Francisco Examiner. October 17, 1971. Retrieved September 17, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Oregon finally wins over San Jose State". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 24, 1971. Retrieved April 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
8. "San Diego St. Suffers 17–10 Loss to Fresno". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. October 31, 1971. p. D-16. Retrieved March 14, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
9. "San Jose St. Shocks San Diego St, 45–7". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. November 7, 1971. p. D-18. Retrieved January 16, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
10. "San Jose St. pulls upset on Stanford". Austin American-Statesman. November 14, 1971. Retrieved April 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Arizona State rolls by Spartans, 49–6". Santa Cruz Sentinel. November 21, 1971. Retrieved September 17, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
12. "San Jose logs 55–10 victory". Independent Press-Telegram. November 28, 1971. Retrieved September 29, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
13. "San Jose State 1971 Schedule" . Retrieved December 16, 2016.
14. "Schedule/Results (1971 San Jose State)". NCAA Statistics. National Collegiate Athletic Association . Retrieved May 26, 2025.
15. "1972 NFL Draft". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved December 7, 2016.