American college football season
The1981 Stanford Cardinals football team representedStanford University in thePacific-10 Conference during the1981 NCAA Division I-A football season . Led by second-year head coachPaul Wiggin , the Cardinal had an overall record of 4–7 (4–4 in Pac-10, tied for sixth), and played home games on campus atStanford Stadium inStanford, California . Ranked in the preseasontop twenty , Stanford opened with four losses and dropped six of its first seven games to incur their first losing season since1963 .
From1972 until November 17, 1981, Stanford's official nickname was Cardinals, in reference to one of the schoolcolors , not the bird.[ 1] Cardinal .
Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance Source September 12 12:20 p.m. atPurdue * No. 19 ABC L 19–2762,778 [ 2] September 19 1:30 p.m. San Jose State * USA L 6–2867,888 [ 3] September 26 1:30 p.m. No. 8Ohio State * Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA ESPN L 19–2476,102 [ 4] October 3 7:00 p.m. atArizona USA L 13–1741,110 [ 5] October 10 1:30 p.m. No. 17UCLA Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA USA W 26–2370,103 [ 6] October 17 1:30 p.m. at No. 7USC USA L 17–2576,291 [ 7] October 24 1:30 p.m. No. 17Arizona State Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA USA L 36–6252,855 [ 8] October 31 1:30 p.m. at No. 18Washington USA L 31–4255,856 [ 9] November 7 1:30 p.m. atOregon State USA W 63–922,000 [ 10] November 14 1:30 p.m. Oregon Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA USA W 42–336,106 [ 11] November 21 1:30 p.m. California USA W 42–2184,536 [ 12] *Non-conference game Rankings fromAP Poll released prior to the game All times are inPacific time
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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. No. 8 Ohio State [ edit ] 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
atStanford Stadium •Stanford, California
Date :September 26, 1981 Game time : 1:30 p.m.PDT Game attendance : 76,102Referee : Charles MoffettTV :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)
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 No. 7 Southern California [ edit ]
No. 17 Arizona State [ edit ]
at No. 18 Washington [ edit ]
California at Stanford
Team 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
1981 Stanford Cardinal football team roster Players Coaches Offense Defense Special teams Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible
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^ "What is the history of Stanford's mascot and nickname?" .Stanford Athletics website . RetrievedJanuary 21, 2013 .^ "Smith's 3 TDs lead Purdue win" .The Kokomo Tribune . September 13, 1981. RetrievedNovember 2, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Willhite leads San Jose State upset of Stanford, 28–6" .The Tampa Tribune-Times . September 20, 1981. RetrievedNovember 2, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Ohio State, Schlichter beat Stanford, Elway" .Chicago Tribune . September 27, 1981. RetrievedNovember 2, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Holland runs, passes Wildcats over Cardinals 17–13" .The Sacramento Bee . October 4, 1981. RetrievedNovember 2, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Stanford outlasts UCLA 26–23 in Pac-10 action" .The Idaho Statesman . October 11, 1981. RetrievedNovember 2, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "USC guns down Stanford, 25–17" .Mount Vernon Argus . October 18, 1981. RetrievedNovember 2, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Arizona State shells Stanford, 62–36" .Santa Cruz Sentinel . October 25, 1981. RetrievedNovember 2, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Huskies stamp Stanford 42–31" .The Sunday Oregonian . November 1, 1981. RetrievedNovember 2, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Remarkable Nelson rips OSU" .The Sunday Oregonian . November 8, 1981. RetrievedNovember 2, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Stanford dumps hapless Oregon" .The Modesto Bee . November 15, 1981. RetrievedNovember 2, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Nelson, Stanford have a really big game" .The Los Angeles Times . November 22, 1981. RetrievedNovember 2, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "1981 Stanford Cardinal Schedule and Results" .SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedNovember 2, 2024 .^ "Starting lineups" .Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. November 7, 1981. p. 2B.^ "Starting lineups" .Eugene Register-Guard . Oregon. November 14, 1981. p. 2B.
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