| Year: | 1961 |
| Team: | San Francisco State Gators |
| Sport: | football |
| Conference: | Far Western Conference |
| Short Conf: | FWC |
| Record: | 8–2 |
| Conf Record: | 4–1 |
| Head Coach: | Vic Rowen |
| Hc Year: | 1st |
| Stadium: | Cox Stadium |
| Champion: | FWC co-champion |
The 1961 San Francisco State Gators football team was an American football team that represented San Francisco State College (now known as San Francisco State University) as a member of the Far Western Conference (FWC) during the 1961 college football season. In their first year under head coach Vic Rowen, the Gators compiled an 8–2 record (4–1 in conference games), shared the FWC title with Humboldt State, and outscored opponents by a total of 261 to 102.
The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Dick Valdas (1,235 passing yards), halfback Tom Manney (561 rushing yards), and halfback Jesse Racines (396 receiving yards, 48 points scored).
The team played its home games at Cox Stadium in San Francisco.
The Gators tallied 3,098 yards of total offense (309.8 per game) consisting of 1,668 rushing yards (166.8 per game) and 1,430 passing games (143.0 per game). On defense, they gave up 2,039 yards (203.9 per game) including 1,153 rushing yards (115.3 per game) and 886 passing yards (88.6 per game).[1]
Quarterback Dick Valois completed 88 of 156 passes for 1,235 yards with 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Valois also led the team in total offense with 1,060 yards (a figure diminished by negative 175 rushing yards).[1]
The team's rushing leaders were halfbacks Tom Manney (561 yards, 107 carries, 5.2-yard average) and Mike Jaramillo (505 yards, 84 carries, 6.0-yard average).[1]
The leading receivers were halfback Jesse Racines (27 receptions, 396 yards, eight touchdowns) and end Jim Collopy (25 receptions, 319 yards, two touchdowns).[1]
The leading scorers were halfbacks Jesse Racines (eight touchdowns, 48 points) and Tom Manney (seven touchdowns, 42 points).
George Moorhouse was the team's punter, kicking 42 times for an average of 38.7 yard per punt.[1]
Eight San Francisco State players were selected as first-team players on the 1961 All-Far Western Conference football team:
Seven others were recognized on the second team:
Center Sam Dumas received honorable mention.[2]
No San Francisco State players were selected in the 1962 NFL draft.[3] [4] [5] Fullback Willie Simpson was not drafted, but appeared in 10 games for the 1962 Oakland Raiders.[6]