1981 Northwestern Wildcats football team

1981 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1981 record	0–11 (0–9 Big Ten)
Head coach	Dennis Green (1st season)
Captain	Bobby Anderson
Captain	Mike Kerrigan
Home stadium	Dyche Stadium
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 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1981 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Dennis Green, the Wildcats compiled a 0–11 record (0–9 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in last place in the Big Ten Conference. The team played its home games at Dyche Stadium in Evanston, Illinois.

Northwestern finished the season in the midst of a 34-game losing streak, the longest in NCAA Division I-A history. The streak began on September 22, 1979, and ended on September 25, 1982.

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Mike Kerrigan with 1,317 passing yards, Jim Browne with 162 rushing yards, and Chris Hinton with 265 receiving yards. Ricky Edwards led the Big Ten with 30 kickoff returns and 611 kickoff return yards.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 12	Indiana	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 20–21
September 19	at Arkansas*	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR	L 7–38
September 26	Utah*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 0–42
October 3	No. 18 Iowa	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 0–64
October 10	at Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 23–35
October 17	Purdue	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 0–35
October 24	at No. 18 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	L 0–38
October 31	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 0–52
November 7	Michigan State	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 14–61
November 14	at Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 6–70
November 21	Illinois	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	L 12–49
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class TE 80 Hinton, ChrisChris Hinton 5.0 !Jr QB 12 Kerrigan, MikeMike Kerrigan (C) 7.0 !Sr T 75 Taylor, RobRob Taylor 7.0 !Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 4 Kidd, JohnJohn Kidd 3.0 !So	Head coach Dennis Green Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt