With two AIC championships in the previous three seasons to their credit, it would have been easy for Don Dempsey and his assistant coaches to maintain the status quo entering the 1971 season.

But there was a new sensation sweeping the college football world --- the wishbone offense. After evaluating the personnel that would comprise the 1971 Wonder Boys football roster, the Arkansas Tech coaching staff made a fateful decision to take the leap and implement a new offensive philosophy.

A trip to the University of Oklahoma in spring 1971 served as the tutorial for Dempsey and his assistants, and by the time fall rolled around, the Wonder Boys and their coaches were well versed in the intricacies of the wishbone.

Arkansas Tech was named the unanimous preseason favorite to win the 1971 AIC title.

Raymond Bright, head coach at arch rival State College of Arkansas, summed it up in a preseason interview with the Arkansas Gazette.

“I don’t think anybody in the conference can touch Tech right now, no matter what system they use. But in terms of the wishbone --- why, it was invented for ‘em. Their quarterbacks can run. Their other backs and big and tough, and a couple of ‘em have real speed. The wishbone is designed to run folks to death, and that’s always been the Tech theory.”

Coach Bright proved to be half right.

In their debut running the wishbone, the Wonder Boys piled up 446 yards of total offense in a 34-14 victory over Emporia State. It appeared a perfect match between personnel and scheme, but Arkansas Tech’s attack was not restricted to the ground game.

Quarterback Phil Fisher connected on 12-of-17 passes for 186 yards and Rick Thone caught eight passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. The running of Benny Shepherd, Bill Breedlove, Larry Brown and Doug Bice provided the Wonder Boys with a balanced offensive attack.

Week two proved that Arkansas Tech was equally adept on the defensive side of the ball. The Wonder Boys limited nationally 16th-ranked Northeast Oklahoma State to 232 yards of total offense in a 16-0 Arkansas Tech victory. A 17-yard touchdown run by Breedlove, a 26-yard touchdown pass from Fisher to Thone, two Craig Williams extra points and a Jim Parker safety provided the Wonder Boys with more than enough scoring to improve to 2-0.

It was at that moment that Arkansas Tech’s reputation grew beyond the boundaries of its home state. The Wonder Boys attained a No. 5 NAIA national ranking as they prepared to open AIC play against Arkansas-Monticello the following Saturday.

Fisher starred again against the Boll Weevils. He accounted for 222 yards of total offense, passed for two touchdowns and ran for one more in a 28-9 Arkansas Tech victory. The Wonder Boys scored 21 points in the final one minute and 43 seconds of the second quarter. The Arkansas Tech defense set up those three touchdowns by forcing three Boll Weevil turnovers. Perry Goodell and Chuck Willis recorded fumble recoveries while Mark Wilkerson intercepted a UAM pass.

As a result, the Wonder Boys led 28-2 at halftime and cruised to their third consecutive win to open the 1971 season.

Next up was a trip to Henderson State to face the undefeated Reddies and their always colorful head coach, Ralph “Sporty” Carpenter. Arkansas Gazette scribe Jim Bailey asked Carpenter for his assessment of the Wonder Boys in the days leading up to the game.

“They’ve got too many old pros to throw at you. Thone, Shepherd, Brown, Breedlove, Fisher. They run the wishbone just like Texas runs it. Naw. I’ll take that back. They pass more than any wishbone team I’ve ever seen.”

Carpenter was equally impressed by the Arkansas Tech defense.

“They give you nothing. They play man-to-man with a free safety and their backs pick you up so close to the line of scrimmage you think they’re defensive ends. I mean, they crowd you. That nose guard is the hardest charging football player I’ve ever seen.”

After praising Perry Goodell and the Arkansas Tech defense, Carpenter closed out his pre-game remarks by making it clear what kind of contest he anticipated.

“It ought be a good money game for us. Blood money.”

If it was a money game, the Wonder Boys were the only ones with a key to the bank.

Arkansas Tech dominated Henderson State 35-14.

From there, the wins piled up one after another for the 1971 Wonder Boys.

They rallied from behind to defeat North Alabama 31-30 in a non-conference contest on October 9. The following week saw Arkansas Tech breeze past the State College Bears from Conway 28-7.

Double-digit triumphs over Missouri Southern, Southern Arkansas, Ouachita Baptist and Arkansas AM&N allowed the Wonder Boys to complete the regular season 11-0 overall, AIC champions and ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Arkansas Tech earned a berth in the NAIA National Playoffs for the first time in school history. Northern State made the 910-mile trek from Aberdeen, South Dakota, to Russellville, Arkansas, for a semifinal contest, only to be sent back home with a 24-0 thumping at the hands of the Wonder Boys.

The NAIA national championship game was set for December 11, 1971, at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. Arkansas Tech’s opponent was Livingston State College, which later changed its name to the University of West Alabama.

Livingston State entered the national title game with a 10-1 record. The key to the Tigers’ season had also been the wishbone offense. They took advantage of a bye week following a 21-20 loss to Troy to install the new scheme and promptly rattled off eight consecutive wins behind the running of Larry Lightfoot and the defensive prowess of linebacker Nels Strickland.

Arkansas Tech’s head coach knew going in that his side was in for a challenge. Don Dempsey told the Arkansas Gazette’s Jim Bailey the following:

“There’s no question this will be by far the best team we’ve seen this year. That’s the way it should be for a national game, and I assure you, that’s the way it is. We’ll have to be at our best for 60 minutes in Birmingham or we’ll be in bad trouble. It’s about that simple.”

The Wonder Boys led 10-7 at halftime, but the game turned on an interception by Livingston State’s Joe Nettles in the third quarter. Tigers quarterback Clemit Spruiell’s 15-yard scramble on a third-and-11 play from the Tech 17-yard line set up Lightfoot’s go-ahead 2-yard touchdown run with 7:58 left in the third period.

Arkansas Tech mounted two fourth-quarter challenges to Livingston State’s lead. One possession stalled at the Tigers’ 32-yard line. The Wonder Boys’ final chance drive began at their own 18-yard line with 7:32 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Long runs by Phil Fisher and Larry Brown moved Arkansas Tech deep into Livingston State territory, but a tackle by Andy Coats on a fourth-and-6 play from the Tigers’ 16-yard line forced the Wonder Boys to turn the ball over on downs with two minutes and 10 seconds left.

Livingston State took a safety in the waning seconds to set the final score of 14-12. It remains the closest that Arkansas Tech has ever come to winning a football national championship, and the 12 wins amassed by the 1971 Wonder Boys is a single-season record unmatched in the history of Arkansas Tech football.

The Wonder Boys were represented on the 1971 All-AIC team by Phil Fisher, Larry Brown, Benny Shepherd, Ed Harris, Perry Goodell, Alvin Lievsay, Jim Parker, John Welch and Rick Thone. Thone’s 2,330 career receiving yards established an Arkansas Tech record. He and Perry Goodell were named All-America at the conclusion of the 1971 season.