The1981 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented theUniversity of Minnesota in the1981 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third year under head coachJoe Salem, the Golden Gophers compiled a 6–5 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 274 to 264.^[1] It was the final season inMemorial Stadium.^[2]

QuarterbackMike Hohensee received the team's Most Valuable Player award, while flanker Chester Cooper was named offensive MVP, and linebackerJim Fahnhorst was named the defensive MVP. Fahnhorst and offensive tackleKen Dallafior were named All-Big Ten first team. Cooper, offensive lineman Bill Humphries, defensive endKarl Mecklenburg, and defensive lineman Fred Orgas were named All-Big Ten second team. Defensive lineman Brent Harms and Fred Orgas, free safety Mike Robb, and safety Rick Witthus were named Academic All-Big Ten.^[3]

Several Minnesota players ranked among the Big Ten leaders, including the following:

• Mike Hohensee led the conference with 20 passing touchdowns and ranked fourth with 2,412 passing yards.^[4]
• Wide receiver Chester Cooper led the conference with 1,012 receiving yards and ranked second with 58 receptions.^[4]
• Running back Frank Jacobs ranked sixth in the conference with 638 rushing yards and fifth with eight rushing touchdowns.^[4]
• PlacekickerJim Gallery ranked second in the conference with 13 field goals made, fourth with a 59.8 field goal percentage, and seventh with 62 points scored.^[4]

Total attendance for the season was 301,248, which averaged to 43,035. The season high for attendance was againstMichigan.^[5]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12		Ohio*	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN		W 19–17	40,086	[6]
September 19		Purdue	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	WLFI-TV[7]	W 16–13	41,530	[8]
September 26		Oregon State*	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN		W 42–12	30,890	[9]
October 3		atIllinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		L 29–38	63,814	[10]
October 10		Northwestern	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN		W 35–23	45,949	[11]
October 17		atIndiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN		L 16–17	46,460	[12]
October 24		at No. 6Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)		W 12–10	60,000	[13]
October 31		No. 15Michigan	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (Little Brown Jug)	ON-TV	L 13–34	52,875	[14]
November 7	1:00 pm	No. 18Ohio State	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	ESPN[15]	W 35–31	42,793	[16]
November 14		atMichigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI		L 36–43	56,571	[17]
November 21		Wisconsin	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)		L 21–26	47,125	[18]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings fromAP Poll released prior to the game

^[19]

The loss overshadowed a record-setting day forMike Hohensee and Chester Cooper. Hohensee set the single season school records for completions and passing yardage while Chester Cooper broke the single season school record for receiving yardage.^[21]

• 1981 Big Ten Conference football season
• Minnesota Golden Gophers football seasons
• 1981 in sports in Minnesota

• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from June 2017
• Articles with permanently dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from July 2018
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2023
• Use American English from February 2026
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Pages using CFB schedule with named parameters
• Articles with hCards