1961 Langston Lions football team
| 1961 Langston Lions football | |
|---|---|
1961 team portrait from The Lion yearbook | |
OCC co-champion | |
All Sports Bowl, L 14–28 vs. Panhandle A&M | |
| Conference | Oklahoma Collegiate Conference |
| Record | 8–2 (6–1 OCC) |
| Head coach |
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| MVP | Robert Phillips |
| Captain | Edison Harrington |
| Home stadium | Anderson Field |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 Central State (OK) + | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Langston + | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 Panhandle A&M | 4 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Central | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SE Oklahoma State | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northeastern State | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SW Oklahoma State | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NW Oklahoma State | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1961 Langston Lions football team was an American football team that represented Langston University as a member of the Oklahoma Collegiate Conference (OCC) during the 1961 college football season. In their fourth year under head coach Tim Crisp, the Lions compiled an 8–2 record (6–1 in conference games), sharded the OCC title with the 1961 Central State Bronchos, and outscored opponents by a total of 287 to 109.
Langston led the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in both total defense (81.2 yards per game) and passing defense (23.6 yards per game) and ranked second in total offense (468.8 per game). Quarterback Donald Lee Smith led the NAIA in individual total offense with an average of 235.3 yards per game and was selected as a second-team player on the 1961 Little All-America college football team.
Langston was one of the first historically black universities to compete in a previously segregated football conference. The Lions joined the OCC in 1958 and won conference championships in 1959 and 1960.
The team played most of its home games in nearby Guthrie, Oklahoma, and its homecoming game at Anderson Field in Langston, Oklahoma.