1971 SMU Mustangs football team

1971 Southwest Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 18 Texas $	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
No. 16 Arkansas	5	–	1	–	1	8	–	3	–	1
TCU	5	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	1
Texas A&M	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
SMU	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Rice	2	–	4	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Texas Tech	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Baylor	0	–	7	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1971 SMU Mustangs football team represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. Led by tenth-year head coach Hayden Fry, the Mustangs compiled an overall record of 4–7 with a conference mark of 3–4, placing fifth in the SWC.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 18	at No. 10 Oklahoma*	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	L 0–30	48,500
September 25	at Missouri*	Memorial Stadium Columbia, MO	L 12–24	49,200
October 2	New Mexico State*	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX	W 28–25	31,120
October 9	at Air Force*	Falcon Stadium Air Force Academy, CO	L 0–30	45,050
October 16	at Rice	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	W 16–10	25,000
October 23	Texas Tech	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX	W 18–17	25,681
October 30	No. 14 Texas	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX	L 18–22	40,551
November 6	at Texas A&M	Kyle Field College Station, TX	L 10–27	27,358–28,570
November 13	No. 17 Arkansas	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX	L 13–18	30,773
November 20	at Baylor	Baylor Stadium Waco, TX	W 20–6	25,000
November 27	TCU	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (rivalry)	L 16–18	18,128
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

1971 SMU Mustangs football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`17`	Gary Hammond	Sr
RB	`28`	Alvin Maxson	So
OT	`73`	John Meyer	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`24`	Pat Curry	Jr
DB	`43`	Robert Popelka	Jr
DE	`46`	Jim Ryan

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

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v t e SMU Mustangs football
Venues	Armstrong Field (1915–1922) Gardner Park (1919) Ownby Stadium (1926–1948, 1989–1994) Cotton Bowl (1932–1978, 1995–1999) Texas Stadium (1972–1973, 1979–1986) Gerald J. Ford Stadium (2000–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Houston Navy: Gansz Trophy North Texas: Safeway Bowl Rice TCU
Culture & lore	Peruna Best Dressed Band in the Land 1935 "Game of the Century" Death penalty 2022 Houston game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold