American college football season
1981 Stanford Cardinals football Conference Pacific-10 Conference 1981 record 4–7 (4–4 Pac-10) Head coach Offensive coordinator Jim Fassel (1st season)Defensive coordinator Jack Harbaugh (2nd season)Home stadium Stanford Stadium (c. 85,500, grass)Seasons
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 .
Roster [ ]
Source: [2] [3]
Schedule [ ]
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance September 12 12:20 p.m. at Purdue No. 19 ABC L 19–2762,778
September 19 1:00 p.m. San Jose State USA L 6–2867,888
September 26 1:00 p.m. No. 8 Ohio State Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA ESPN L 19–2476,102
October 3 7:00 p.m. at Arizona USA L 13–1741,110
October 10 1:00 p.m. No. 17 UCLA Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA USA W 26–2370,103
October 17 1:00 p.m. at No. 7 USC L 17–2576,291
October 24 1:00 p.m. No. 17 Arizona State Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA L 36–6252,855
October 31 1:30 p.m. at No. 18 Washington L 31–4255,856
November 7 1:00 p.m. at Oregon State W 63–922,000
November 14 1:00 p.m. Oregon Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA USA W 42–336,106
November 21 1:00 p.m. California USA W 42–2184,536
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time
Source: [4]
Game summaries [ ]
at Purdue [ ]
San Jose State [ ]
Ohio State [ ]
Stanford Cardinals vs. Ohio State Buckeyes – Game summary
1
2
3 4 Total
No. 8 Buckeyes
0
17
7 0 24
Cardinals
3
3
0 13 19
at Stanford Stadium • Stanford, California
Date : September 26, 1981Game time : 1:00 p.m.Game attendance : 76,102TV : ESPN
Game information
First Quarter
Second Quarter
OHIO ST – , 11:26 (OHIO ST 7-3)
STAN – , 7:19 (OHIO ST 7-6)
OHIO ST – , 4:14 (OHIO ST 10-6)
OHIO ST – , 0:27 (OHIO ST 17-6)
Third Quarter
OHIO ST – , 2:13 (OHIO ST 24-6)
Fourth Quarter
STAN – , 13:15 (OHIO ST 24-12)
STAN – , 9:00 (OHIO ST 24-19)
Top Passers
Top Rushers
Top Receivers
at Arizona [ ]
UCLA [ ]
at Southern California [ ]
Arizona State [ ]
at Washington [ ]
at Oregon State [ ]
Oregon [ ]
California [ ]
California at Stanford
1
2 3 4 Total
California
7
0 7 7
21
• Stanford
7
14 14 7
42
Scoring summary 1 STAN Elway 1-yard run (Harmon kick) STAN 7-0
1 CAL Eddings 48-yard pass from Torchio (Cooper kick) Tied 7-7
2 STAN Nelson 2-yard run (Harmon kick) STAN 14-7
2 STAN Nelson 7-yard pass from Elway (Harmon kick) STAN 21-7
3 STAN Hutchings 14-yard interception return (Harmon kick) STAN 28-7
3 CAL Tuggle 2-yard run (Cooper kick) STAN 28-14
3 STAN White 8-yard pass from Elway (Harmon kick) STAN 35-14
4 CAL Wright 18-yard pass from Torchio (Cooper kick) STAN 35-21
4 STAN White 22-yard pass from Elway (Harmon kick) STAN 42-21
References [ ]
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture and lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold