1981 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team

The 1981 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team was an American football team that represented Wake Forest University during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first season under head coach Al Groh, the Demon Deacons compiled a 4–7 record and finished in sixth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.^[1]

1981 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	4–7 (1–5 ACC)
Head coach	Al Groh (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Ed Zaunbrecher (2nd season)
Captain	Game captains
Home stadium	Groves Stadium
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

1981 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Clemson $	6	–	0	–	0			12	–	0	–	0
No. 9 North Carolina	5	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Maryland	4	–	2	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Duke	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
NC State	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Wake Forest	1	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Virginia	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	South Carolina*	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC	L 6–23	29,300	[2]
September 12	NC State	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC (rivalry)	L 23–28	29,000	[3]
September 19	at Auburn*	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	W 24–21	63,000	[4]
September 26	at Virginia Tech*	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	L 14–30	42,200	[5]
October 3	Appalachian State*	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC	W 15–14	24,500	[6]
October 10	at No. 5 North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	L 10–48	51,692	[7]
October 17	Maryland	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC	L 33–45	24,500	[8]
October 24	at Virginia	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	W 24–21	24,222	[9]
October 31	at No. 2 Clemson	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	L 24–82	60,383	[10]
November 7	Duke	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (rivalry)	L 10–31	22,000	[11]
November 14	at Richmond*	University of Richmond Stadium Richmond, VA	W 34–22	15,285	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 23 Wayne McMillan WR 88 Tim Ryan	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach John Mackovic Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Team leaders

Category	Team Leader	Att/Cth	Yds
Passing	Gary Schofield	241/404	2,572
Rushing	Wayne McMillan	90	407
Receiving	Phil Denfeld	51	461