1981 Iowa State Cyclones football team

1981 Iowa State Cyclones football
Conference	Big Eight Conference
1981 record	5–5–1 (2–4–1 Big Eight)
Head coach	Donnie Duncan (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Mack Brown (2nd season)
Home stadium	Cyclone Stadium (Capacity: 48,000)
Seasons

1981 Big 8 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#11 Nebraska †	7	–	0	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
#20 Oklahoma	4	–	2	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Kansas	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Oklahoma State	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
#19 Missouri	3	–	4	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Iowa State	2	–	4	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Colorado	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Kansas State	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
† – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented Iowa State University during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games at Cyclone Stadium in Ames, Iowa. They participated as members of the Big Eight Conference. The team was coached by head coach Donnie Duncan. The offensive coordinator was Mack Brown.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 12	West Texas A&M*		Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa	W 17–13	49,854
September 19	Iowa*		Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa (Battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy)	W 23–12	53,922
September 26	Kent State*		Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa	W 28–19	50,594
October 3	at No. 5 Oklahoma	No. 20	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, Oklahoma	T 7–7	76,385
October 10	at San Diego State*	No. 12	San Diego Stadium San Diego	L 31–52	27,561
October 17	No. 8 Missouri		Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa (Battle for the Telephone Trophy)	W 34–13	53,220
October 24	Colorado	No. 14	Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa	W 17–10	50,103
October 31	at Kansas State	No. 11	KSU Stadium Manhattan, Kansas	L 7–10	26,650
November 7	Kansas		Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa	L 11–24	49,720
November 14	at No. 7 Nebraska		Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska	L 7–31	76,258
November 21	Oklahoma State		Cyclone Stadium Ames, Iowa	L 7–27	46,387
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game