1971 Auburn Tigers football team

The 1971 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University in the 1971 NCAA University Division football season. The Tigers offense scored 335 points while the defense allowed 182 points. SEC Champion Alabama handed Auburn their only conference loss of the year. Pat Sullivan won the Heisman Trophy.

1971 Auburn Tigers football
Sugar Bowl, L 22–40 vs. Oklahoma
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 12
Record	9–2 (5–1 SEC)
Head coach	Ralph Jordan (21st season)
Captain	Pat Sullivan
Home stadium	Cliff Hare Stadium
Seasons ← 1970 1972 →

1971 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Alabama $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 7 Georgia	5	–	1	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 12 Auburn	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Ole Miss	4	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 9 Tennessee	4	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 11 LSU	3	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Vanderbilt	1	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Florida	1	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Kentucky	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Mississippi State	1	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

In the Iron Bowl, both teams entered the regular season finale undefeated: Auburn lost to Alabama, 31–7. On New Year's Day, the Tigers lost to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl, 40–22.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 18	Chattanooga*	No. 7	Cliff Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	W 60–7	45,000	[1]
September 25	at No. 9 Tennessee	No. 5	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	W 10–9	62,990	[2]
October 2	No. 9 Kentucky	No. 5	Cliff Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	W 38–6	48,000	[3]
October 9	Southern Miss*	No. 4	Cliff Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	W 27–14	42,000	[4]
October 16	at Georgia Tech*	No. 5	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	W 31–14	60,204	[5]
October 23	Clemson*	No. 5	Cliff Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	W 35–13	55,000	[6]
October 30	Florida	No. 5	Cliff Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry)	W 40–7	63,500	[7]
November 6	Mississippi State	No. 5	Cliff Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	W 30–21	45,000	[8]
November 13	at No. 7 Georgia	No. 6	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)	W 35–20	62,891	[9]
November 27	vs. No. 3 Alabama	No. 5	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Iron Bowl)	L 7–31	68,821	[10]
January 1	vs. No. 3 Oklahoma*	No. 5	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	L 22–40	84,031	[11]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[12]

Roster

1971 Auburn Tigers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 7 Pat Sullivan Sr WR 88 Terry Beasley Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Ralph Jordan Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

1972 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Terry Beasley	Wide receiver	1	19	San Francisco 49ers
Pat Sullivan	Quarterback	2	40	Atlanta Falcons
Dick Schmalz	Wide receiver	17	440	Minnesota Vikings

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Awards and honors

• Pat Sullivan, Heisman Trophy
• Pat Sullivan, Walter Camp Award^[14]