The 1971 Chico State Wildcats football team represented Chico State College—now known as California State University, Chico—as a member of the Far Western Conference (FWC) during the 1971 NCAA College Division football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Pete Riehlman, Chico State compiled an overall record of 9–2 with a mark of 5–1 in conference play, sharing the FWC title with UC Davis. At the end of the regular season, the Aggies were invited to play in the Camellia Bowl, where they lost to Boise State, 32–28. This was the only postseason bowl game in the history of the Chico State Wildcats football program. The team outscored its opponents 394 to 164 for the season. The Wildcats played home games at College Field in Chico, California. This was the last year the stadium was named College Field. With the school's change to University status in 1972, the stadium was renamed "University Stadium".
| 1971 Chico State Wildcats football | |
|---|---|
FWC co-champion | |
Camellia Bowl, L 28–32 vs. Boise State | |
| Conference | Far Western Conference |
| Record | 9–2 (5–1 FWC) |
| Head coach |
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| Home stadium | College Field |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 Chico State + | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Davis + | 5 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Hayward | 3 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 7 | – | 2 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Humboldt State | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sacramento State | 2 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Francisco State | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sonoma State | 0 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 18 | Southern Oregon* |
| W 31–9 | ||
| September 25 | at Redlands* |
| W 31–0 | ||
| October 2 | at United States International* | W 27–26 | |||
| October 9 | at Cal State Hayward | L 20–28 | 6,000 | [1] | |
| October 16 | Sacramento State |
| W 37–7 | 7,200 | [2] |
| October 23 | Humboldt State |
| W 34–14 | ||
| October 30 | at UC Davis | W 38–20 | 7,000 | [3] | |
| November 6 | San Francisco State |
| W 54–7 | 10,000 | [4] |
| November 13 | San Francisco* |
| W 41–7 | ||
| November 20 | at Sonoma State |
| W 53–14 | ||
| December 11 | at Boise State* | L 28–32 | 16,313 | [5] | |
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Team players in the NFL
The following Chico State players were selected in the 1972 NFL Draft.[8][9][10]
| Player | Position | Round | Overall | NFL team |
| Jewell McCullar | Linebacker | 15 | 382 | Cleveland Browns |