The 1970 Long Beach State 49ers football team represented California State College, Long Beach—now known as

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities ...

—as a member of the

Pacific Coast Athletic Association The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

(PCAA) during the

1970 NCAA College Division football season The 1970 NCAA College Division football season was the 15th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the NCAA College Division level. Conference and program changes Conference ch ...

. Led second-year head coach

Jim Stangeland Jim Stangeland (December 21, 1921 – October 25, 2014) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at California State University, Long Beach from 1969 to 1973, where he compiled a record of 31–24–2, including back ...

, the 49ers compiled an overall record of 9–2–1 with a mark of 5–1 in conference play, sharing the PCAA title with

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. Since Long Beach State had beaten San Diego State head-to-head, the 49ers qualified for a postseason

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

, the

Pasadena Bowl The Pasadena Bowl, known as the Junior Rose Bowl from 1946 to 1966 and again in 1976 and 1977, was a college football bowl game. Between 1946 and 1966 and again in 1976 and 1977, the game pitted the California Junior College football champions aga ...

. Played on December 19 against the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

champion

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East C ...

at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, the game ended in 24–24 tie. The team played four home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium adjacent to the campus of

Long Beach City College Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California. It was established in 1927 and is divided into two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus in Lakewood Village and the Pacific Coast Campus in central Long Beach ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

and one well-attended game at

Anaheim Stadium Angel Stadium of Anaheim is a baseball stadium located in Anaheim, California. Since its opening in 1966, it has served as the home ballpark of the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB), and was also the home stadium to the Los Angel ...

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

on a Friday night against San Diego State. Running back

Leon Burns Leon Keith Burns (September 15, 1942 – December 22, 1984) was an American football running back who played for two years in the National Football League (NFL). After attending Laney College and California State University, Long Beach, he was dr ...

received first-team honors on the 1970 Little All-America college football team.

Schedule

* One game was played on Friday night (vs. San Diego State in Anaheim) and one was played on Thursday night (vs. Cal State Los Angeles in Monterey Park)

NFL Draft

Two 49ers were selected in the

1971 NFL Draft The 1971 National Football League draft was held January 28–29, 1971, at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. The Boston Patriots, who did not officially change their name to New England Patriots until after the draft, used th ...

. {, class="wikitable" style="width:60%;" , - align="center" style="" , Player , , Position , , Round , , Overall , , NFL Club , - align="center" bgcolor="" ,

, , Running back , , 1 , , 13 , ,

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

, - align="center" bgcolor="" , Jeff Severson , , Defensive back , , 12 , , 297 , ,

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

References

{{Big West Conference football champions

Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities ...

Long Beach State 49ers football seasons Big West Conference football champion seasons

Long Beach State 49ers football The Long Beach State 49ers football team represented California State University, Long Beach from the 1955 through 1991 seasons. The 49ers originally competed as an Independent before joining the California Collegiate Athletic Association in 1958 ...