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 | |
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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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 |
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September 19 | 4:00 p.m. | California* | No. 2 | W 56–15 | 61,000 | ||
September 26 | 7:30 p.m. | at Texas Tech | No. 2 |
| W 35–13 | 50,000 | |
October 3 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 13 UCLA* | No. 2 |
| W 20–17 | 65,500 | |
October 10 | 3:00 p.m. | vs. Oklahoma* | No. 2 | ABC | W 41–9 | 71,938 | |
October 24 | 7:30 p.m. | at Rice | No. 2 | W 45–21 | 70,500 | ||
October 31 | 2:00 p.m. | SMU | No. 1 |
| W 42–15 | 61,170 | |
November 7 | 2:00 p.m. | at Baylor | No. 1 | W 21–14 | 35,000 | ||
November 14 | 2:00 p.m. | at TCU | No. 2 | W 58–0 | 40,179 | ||
November 26 | 2:00 p.m. | Texas A&M | No. 1 |
| W 52–14 | 66,400 | |
December 5 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 4 Arkansas | No. 1 |
| ABC | W 42–7 | 68,510 |
January 1, 1971 | 1:00 p.m. | vs. No. 6 Notre Dame* | No. 1 |
| CBS | L 11–24 | 73,000 |
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Source:[5]
Roster
1970 Texas Longhorns football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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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
- "UT Longhorns 1970 Championship Season". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
- "Texas first in final UPI poll". Reading Eagle. Pennsylvania. UPI. December 8, 1970. p. 30.
- Jenkins, Dan (January 11, 1971). "The one-day season". Sports Illustrated. p. 10.
- "Irish defense spills Texas". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. January 2, 1971. p. 10.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 1, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Pro Football Reference.com – 1971 NFL Draft
- Pro Football Reference.com – 1972 NFL Draft
- Pro Football Reference.com – 1973 NFL Draft
- http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/DI/2010/Awards.pdf