The 1971 San Jose State Spartans football team represented

San Jose State College San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

was known as San Jose State College from 1935 to 1971. in the

Pacific Coast Athletic Association The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

(PCAA)The

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

was known as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association from its founding in 1969 through 1987. during the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. Led by second year-head coach

Dewey King DeWayne "Dewey" King (October 1, 1925 – April 13, 2021) was a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at San Jose State University from 1970 to 1972 and at Wheaton Colleg ...

, they played home games at Spartan Stadium in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. With a 55–10 road rout of

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

, 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 The Pasadena Bowl, known as the Junior Rose Bowl from 1946 to 1966 and again in 1976 and 1977, was a college football bowl game. Between 1946 and 1966 and again in 1976 and 1977, the game pitted the California Junior College football champions aga ...

. They faced the Memphis State Tigers on Saturday, December 18, but lost 9–28 to finish at 5–6–1.

Schedule

NFL Draft

Two Spartans were selected in the

1972 NFL Draft The 1972 NFL draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Walt Patulski. Player selections Round one Round two ...

. {, class="wikitable" style="width:50%;" , - align="center" style="" , Player , , Position , , Round , , Overall , , NFL club , - align="center" bgcolor="" , Dave Chaney , , Linebacker , , 14 , , 360 , ,

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

, - align="center" bgcolor="" , Eric Dahl , , Defensive back , , 16 , , 400 , ,

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

Notes

References

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

San Jose State Spartans football seasons

San Jose State Spartans football The San Jose State Spartans football team represents San Jose State University, San José State University in NCAA Division I NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, FBS college football as a member of the Mountain West Conference. History ...

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