1981 Stanford Cardinals football team

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.

1981 Stanford Cardinals football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Record	4–7 (4–4 Pac-10)
Head coach	Paul Wiggin (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Jim Fassel (1st season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Jack Harbaugh (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

1981 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	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

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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	12:20 p.m.	at Purdue*	No. 19	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ABC	L 19–27	62,778	[2]
September 19	1:30 p.m.	San Jose State*		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	USA	L 6–28	67,888	[3]
September 26	1:30 p.m.	No. 8 Ohio State*		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	ESPN	L 19–24	76,102	[4]
October 3	7:00 p.m.	at Arizona		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	USA	L 13–17	41,110	[5]
October 10	1:30 p.m.	No. 17 UCLA		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	USA	W 26–23	70,103	[6]
October 17	1:30 p.m.	at No. 7 USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	USA	L 17–25	76,291	[7]
October 24	1:30 p.m.	No. 17 Arizona State		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	USA	L 36–62	52,855	[8]
October 31	1:30 p.m.	at No. 18 Washington		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	USA	L 31–42	55,856	[9]
November 7	1:30 p.m.	at Oregon State		Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR	USA	W 63–9	22,000	[10]
November 14	1:30 p.m.	Oregon		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	USA	W 42–3	36,106	[11]
November 21	1:30 p.m.	California		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (Big Game)	USA	W 42–21	84,536	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

^[13]

Game summaries

at Purdue

See also: 1981 Purdue Boilermakers football team

Game One – No. 19 Stanford Cardinals (0–0) vs Purdue Boilermakers (0–0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 19 Cardinals	7	6	6	0	19
Boilermakers	13	7	0	7	27

at Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, Indiana

• Date: September 12, 1981
• Game time: 12:20 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 62,778
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson (play-by-play), Frank Broyles (analyst) and Steve Davis (sideline)

Game information
First quarter STAN – , (Drive: ; Stanford 7–0) PUR – , (Drive: ; Stanford 7–6) PUR – , (Drive: ; Purdue 13–7) Second quarter STAN – , (Drive: ; Purdue 13–10) PUR – , (Drive: ; Purdue 20–10) STAN – , (Drive: ; Purdue 20–13) Third quarter STAN – , (Drive: ; Purdue 20–19) Fourth quarter PUR – , (Drive: ; Purdue 27–19)

Statistics	STAN	PUR
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Stanford	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Purdue	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

vs. San Jose State

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

vs. No. 8 Ohio State

See also: 1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Game Three – Ohio State Buckeyes (2–0) vs. Stanford Cardinals (0–2) – Game summary

Quarter	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, 1981
• Game time: 1:30 p.m. PDT
• Game attendance: 76,102
• Referee: Charles Moffett
• TV: ESPN

Game information
First quarter STAN – , 1:54 (STAN 3-0) 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)

Statistics	OHIO ST	STAN
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Ohio State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Stanford	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at Arizona

See also: 1981 Arizona Wildcats football team

No. 17 UCLA

See also: 1981 UCLA Bruins football team

at No. 7 Southern California

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

No. 17 Arizona State

See also: 1981 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

at No. 18 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

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
California	7	0	7	7	21
• Stanford	7	14	14	7	42

• Date: Saturday, November 21
• Location: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California
• Game attendance: 84,563

• Source: Eugene Register-Guard

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

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 Paul Wiggin Coordinators/assistant coaches Jim Fassel – Offensive Coordinator Jim Anderson – Running back Dick James – Offensive line Dave Ottmar – Tight end Jack Harbaugh – Defensive Coordinator Larry Mac Duff – Defensive line Ray Handley – Outside linebacker Chuck Detwiler – Defensive back Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

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