1981 Indiana Hoosiers football team

1981 Indiana Hoosiers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1981 record	3–8 (3–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lee Corso (9th season)
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 52,324)
Seasons

1981 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#15/12 Ohio State §	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
#18/15 Iowa §	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
#12/10 Michigan	6	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Illinois	6	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Wisconsin	6	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Minnesota	4	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Michigan State	4	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	3	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	3	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	9	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
§ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll

The 1981 Indiana Hoosiers football team represented the Indiana Hoosiers in the 1981 Big Ten Conference football season. They participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana. The team was coached by Lee Corso, in his ninth year as head coach of the Hoosiers.

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

• Quarterback Babe Laufenberg ranked third in the conference with a 57.1% pass completion percentage, fifth with 1,788 passing yards, and sixth with a 118.5 passing efficiency rating.
• Wide receiver Duane Gunn led the conference with an average of 21.2 yards per reception and 27.3 yards per kickoff return and sixth with 656 receiving yards.
• Marc Longshore ranked fifth in the conference with four interceptions.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12		at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, Illinois		W 21–20	-
September 19		No. 2 USC*	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, Indiana	ONTV	L 21–0	51,167
September 26		at Syracuse*	Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York		L 7–21	-
October 3	1:30 PM	No. 8 Michigan	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, Indiana		L 17–38	50,612
October 10		at No. 15 Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa		L 28–42	60,000
October 17		Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, Indiana		W 17–16	46,460
October 24		at Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio		L 10–29	87,182
October 31		at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, Michigan (Old Brass Spittoon)		L 3–26	-
November 7		Wisconsin	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, Indiana		L 7–28	44,218
November 14		at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, Illinois		L 14–35	-
November 21		Purdue	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, Indiana (Old Oaken Bucket)		W 20–17	48,466
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

• WR Duane Gunn
• QB Babe Laufenberg, Jr.

Season summary

Purdue

Doug Smith kicked the go-ahead 39-yard field goal with 8:30 left in the game and Indiana's defense stopped two ensuing Purdue drives with interceptions to preserve the victory.