1970 Texas Longhorns football team

The 1970 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. The Longhorns shared the national championship with Nebraska, their third national championship overall.[1] Texas had previously won consensus national titles in 1963 and 1969.

1970 Texas Longhorns football
Coaches Poll national champion Southwest Conference champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, L 11–24 vs. Notre Dame
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 3
1970 record	10–1 (7–0 SWC)
Head coach	Darrell Royal (14th season)
Offensive coordinator	Emory Bellard
Offensive scheme	Wishbone
Defensive coordinator	Mike Campbell
Base defense	4–4
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 66,397)

1970 Southwest Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Texas $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 11 Arkansas	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Texas Tech	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Rice	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
SMU	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
TCU	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Baylor	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Texas A&M	0	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Utilizing a wishbone option offense, the defending national champion Longhorns won all ten regular season games to extend their winning streak to thirty games. They were again awarded the UPI (coaches) national title, released prior to the bowl games in early December.[2]

On New Year's Day 1971, Texas had a rematch with Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park in Dallas. This time, the sixth-ranked Fighting Irish won 24–11, denying top-ranked Texas a third straight Cotton Bowl victory and consecutive consensus national championship.[3][4]

Later that day, second-ranked Ohio State lost 27–17 to #12 Stanford in the Rose Bowl. That night, third-ranked Nebraska defeated #5 LSU 17–12 in the Orange Bowl to give the unbeaten Huskers (11–0–1) the post-bowl AP national championship.[3] Through the 1973 season, the final UPI coaches poll was released prior to the bowl games. (In December 1973, UPI champion Alabama also lost their bowl game.)

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 19	4:00 p.m.	California*	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 56–15	61,000
September 26	7:30 p.m.	at Texas Tech	No. 2	Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX (rivalry)		W 35–13	50,000
October 3	4:00 p.m.	No. 13 UCLA*	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 20–17	65,500
October 10	3:00 p.m.	vs. Oklahoma*	No. 2	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)	ABC	W 41–9	71,938
October 24	7:30 p.m.	at Rice	No. 2	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)		W 45–21	70,500
October 31	2:00 p.m.	SMU	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 42–15	61,170
November 7	2:00 p.m.	at Baylor	No. 1	Baylor Stadium Waco, TX		W 21–14	35,000
November 14	2:00 p.m.	at TCU	No. 2	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX (rivalry)		W 58–0	40,179
November 26	2:00 p.m.	Texas A&M	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)		W 52–14	66,400
December 5	2:00 p.m.	No. 4 Arkansas	No. 1	Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)	ABC	W 42–7	68,510
January 1, 1971	1:00 p.m.	vs. No. 6 Notre Dame*	No. 1	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	L 11–24	73,000
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Source:[5]

Roster

1970 Texas Longhorns football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 35 Jim Bertelsen Jr G 66 Mike Dean Sr G 64 Bobby Mitchell Sr QB 14 Eddie Phillips Jr WR 88 Cotton Speyrer Sr G 74 Randy Stout Jr QB 18 Donnie Wigginton Jr T 50 Bobby Wuensch Sr RB 30 Steve Worster Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 89 David Arledge Jr DE 77 Bill Atessis Sr ILB 61 Scott Henderson Sr CB 23 Danny Lester Sr DT 65 Scott Palmer Sr DT 31 Greg Ploetz Sr S 28 Freddie Steinmark Sr DT 70 Carl White Jr OLB 80 Bill Zapalac Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 5 Happy Feller Sr	Head coach Darrell Royal Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

NFL Draft

Nine seniors from the 1970 Longhorns were selected in the 1971 NFL Draft:[6]

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Cotton Speyrer	WR	2	38	Washington Redskins
Bill Atessis	DE	2	52	Baltimore Colts
Happy Feller	K	4	83	Philadelphia Eagles
Bill Zapalac	LB	4	84	New York Jets
Steve Worster	RB	4	90	Los Angeles Rams
Scott Palmer	DT	7	162	New York Jets
Bobby Wuensch	T	12	294	Baltimore Colts
Danny Lester	DB	13	317	Philadelphia Eagles
Deryl Comer	TE	14	345	Atlanta Falcons

Two juniors from the 1970 Longhorns were selected in the 1972 NFL Draft:[7]

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Jim Bertelsen	RB	2	30	Los Angeles Rams
Eddie Phillips	QB	4	95	Los Angeles Rams

One sophomore from the 1970 Longhorns was selected in the 1973 NFL Draft:[8]

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Jerry Sisemore	OT	1	3	Philadelphia Eagles

Awards and honors

• Bobby Wuensch, Tackle, Consensus All-American[9]
• Steve Worster, Back, Consensus All-American[9]
• Bill Atessis, Defensive end, Consensus All-American[9]

References

1. "UT Longhorns 1970 Championship Season". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
2. "Texas first in final UPI poll". Reading Eagle. Pennsylvania. UPI. December 8, 1970. p. 30.
3. Jenkins, Dan (January 11, 1971). "The one-day season". Sports Illustrated. p. 10.
4. "Irish defense spills Texas". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. January 2, 1971. p. 10.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 1, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. Pro Football Reference.com – 1971 NFL Draft
7. Pro Football Reference.com – 1972 NFL Draft
8. Pro Football Reference.com – 1973 NFL Draft
9. http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/DI/2010/Awards.pdf