The 1971 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State College during the 1971 NCAA College Division football season, the fourth season of Bronco football (at the four-year level) and the second as members of the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...

and

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

. In the College Division (now Division II), they played their home games on campus at

Bronco Stadium Albertsons Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. It is the home field of the Boise State Broncos of the Mountain West Conference. Known as Bronco S ...

Led by fourth-year head coach

Tony Knap Anthony Joseph Knap (December 8, 1914 – September 24, 2011) was an American football coach. He was the head coach at Utah State University (1963–1966), Boise State University (1968–1975), and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1976–19 ...

, the Broncos were in the regular season and in conference. Boise State opened the season with a stunning 42–14 upset of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

in the first meeting between the two teams, creating an instant

rivalry game Pairs of schools, colleges and universities, especially when they are close to each other either geographically or in their areas of specialization, often establish a college rivalry with each other over the years. This rivalry can extend to both ...

. This was actually an Idaho "home game" moved to Boise, because their new stadium in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

was not completed. of the University Division, Idaho had frequently played one home game per season in Boise in the old wooden

(and its predecessors) from 1920 through 1968; this ended when Boise State joined the Big Sky. Despite the opening loss, Idaho won the conference title in 1971, as the Broncos lost twice on the road. Knap was named coach of the year in the West for the College Division.

Schedule

* The opener was a home game for Idaho, but played at Bronco Stadium; their new

Idaho Stadium The William H. Kibbie-ASUI Activity Center (commonly known as the Kibbie Dome) is a multi-purpose indoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, on the campus of the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. It is the home of the Idaho V ...

in Moscow opened in October

Camellia Bowl

Invited for the first time to the eight-team postseason in the College Division, Boise State accepted a bid to play Chico State in the

Camellia Bowl Camellia Bowl can refer to one of three college football bowl games: * Camellia Bowl (1948) The Camellia Bowl was a post-season major college football bowl game played at McNaspy Stadium in Lafayette, Louisiana, on December 30, 1948, between t ...

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

. The teams last met in the season opener in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, the first-ever game in Bronco Stadium. Boise State was ranked seventh in the final small college poll, released by the Associated Press in late November. The game included a wager between the respective governors of the two states,

Cecil Andrus Cecil Dale Andrus (August 25, 1931 – August 24, 2017) was an American politician who served 26th and 28th governor of Idaho, for total of fourteen years. A Democrat, he also served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1977 to 1981 during the ...

of Idaho and

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The bet was for three-day vacations, at either Sun Valley in central Idaho or

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

in southern California. Reagan invited the Chico State team to his office the day before the game and encouraged the Wildcats to go out and win for the state of California. Although a neutral site game, Chico State only had to travel from its campus. After a scoreless first quarter, Chico State had a 14–0 lead at halftime, and was ahead by three touchdowns after three quarters. Led by quarterback (and placekicker)

Eric Guthrie Eric Guthrie (born April 27, 1947) is a Canadian-born quarterback who played in the World Football League (WFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He played for the BC Lions from 1972–1973, the Detroit Wheels in 1974, the BC Lions from 1975– ...

, Boise State outscored the Wildcats 25–0 in the final period to win This was the extent of the postseason in the College Division; after the final poll in late November, four regional bowls (quarterfinals) were played in mid-December. A full tournament was initiated in 1973 with the introduction of Division II. It was later revealed that Guthrie had signed a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

contract with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

organization five years earlier in 1966. The NCAA had Boise State return the winner's trophy and $18,000, its share of the gate and other receipts.=

NFL Draft

Two Broncos 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 ...

, which lasted seventeen rounds (442 selections).

References

{{Boise State Broncos football navbox Boise State Boise State Broncos football seasons

Boise State Broncos football The Boise State Broncos football program represents Boise State University in college football and competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos play their home games on ...