1981 Stanford Cardinals football
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Record4–7 (4–4 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJim Fassel (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorJack Harbaugh (2nd season)
Home stadiumStanford Stadium
Seasons
← 1980
1982 →
1981 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10 Washington $ 6 – 2 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 16 Arizona State 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
No. 14 USC 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Washington State 5 – 2 – 1 8 – 3 – 1
UCLA 5 – 2 – 1 7 – 4 – 1
Arizona 4 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Stanford 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
California 2 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Oregon 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
Oregon State 0 – 7 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Stanford Cardinals football team represented Stanford University in the Pacific-10 Conference during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by second-year head coach Paul Wiggin, the Cardinal had an overall record of 4–7 (4–4 in Pac-10, tied for sixth), and played home games on campus at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California. Ranked in the preseason top twenty, Stanford opened with four losses and dropped six of its first seven games to incur their first losing season since 1963.

From 1972 until November 17, 1981, Stanford's official nickname was Cardinals, in reference to one of the school colors, not the bird.[1] After 1981, it became the singular Cardinal.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 1212:20 p.m.at Purdue*No. 19
ABCL 19–2762,778
September 191:00 p.m.San Jose State*
USAL 6–2867,888
September 261:00 p.m.No. 8 Ohio State*
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
ESPNL 19–2476,102
October 37:00 p.m.at Arizona
USAL 13–1741,110
October 101:00 p.m.No. 17 UCLA
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
USAW 26–2370,103
October 171:00 p.m.at No. 7 USC
L 17–2576,291
October 241:00 p.m.No. 17 Arizona State
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
L 36–6252,855
October 311:30 p.m.at No. 18 Washington
L 31–4255,856
November 71:00 p.m.at Oregon State
W 63–922,000
November 141:00 p.m.Oregon
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
USAW 42–336,106
November 211:00 p.m.California
USAW 42–2184,536
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

[2]

Game summaries

At Purdue

See also: 1981 Purdue Boilermakers football team

San Jose State

See also: 1981 San Jose State Spartans football team and Bill Walsh Legacy Game

Ohio State

See also: 1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team
Stanford Cardinals vs. Ohio State Buckeyes – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
No. 8 Buckeyes 0 17 7024
Cardinals 3 3 01319

at Stanford Stadium • Stanford, California

  • Date: September 26, 1981
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 76,102
  • TV: ESPN
Game information

At Arizona

See also: 1981 Arizona Wildcats football team

UCLA

See also: 1981 UCLA Bruins football team

At Southern California

See also: 1981 USC Trojans football team and Stanford–USC football rivalry

Arizona State

See also: 1981 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

At Washington

See also: 1981 Washington Huskies football team

At Oregon State

See also: 1981 Oregon State Beavers football team

Oregon

See also: 1981 Oregon Ducks football team

California

See also: 1981 California Golden Bears football team and Big Game (American football)
California at Stanford
1 234Total
California 7 077 21
• Stanford 7 14147 42
Scoring summary
1STANElway 1-yard run (Harmon kick)STAN 7-0
1CALEddings 48-yard pass from Torchio (Cooper kick)Tied 7-7
2STANNelson 2-yard run (Harmon kick)STAN 14-7
2STANNelson 7-yard pass from Elway (Harmon kick)STAN 21-7
3STANHutchings 14-yard interception return (Harmon kick)STAN 28-7
3CALTuggle 2-yard run (Cooper kick)STAN 28-14
3STANWhite 8-yard pass from Elway (Harmon kick)STAN 35-14
4CALWright 18-yard pass from Torchio (Cooper kick)STAN 35-21
4STANWhite 22-yard pass from Elway (Harmon kick)STAN 42-21

Roster

1981 Stanford Cardinal football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE 83 Chris Dressel Jr
QB 7 John Elway Jr
HB 31 Darrin Nelson Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

[3][4]

References

  1. ^ "What is the history of Stanford's mascot and nickname?". Stanford Athletics website. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  2. ^ "Stanford Game-by-Game Results; 1981–1985". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  3. ^ "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). November 7, 1981. p. 2B.
  4. ^ "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). November 14, 1981. p. 2B.
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