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1981 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
ConferenceIndependent
1981 record5–6
Head coachGerry Faust (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorJim Johnson
CaptainBob Crable
CaptainPhil Carter
Home stadiumNotre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)
Seasons
← 1980
1982 →
1981 Division I-A independents football records
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
No. 3 Penn State           10 2 0
No. 4 Pittsburgh           11 1 0
No. 8 Miami           9 2 0
Southern Miss           9 2 1
No. 17 West Virginia           9 3 0
Colgate           7 3 0
Virginia Tech           7 4 0
Navy           7 4 1
Cincinnati           6 5 0
Florida State           6 5 0
Holy Cross           6 5 0
Tulane           6 5 0
UNLV           6 6 0
South Carolina           6 6 0
Temple           5 5 0
Boston College           5 6 0
East Carolina           5 6 0
Northeast Louisiana           5 6 0
Louisville           5 6 0
Notre Dame           5 6 0
Rutgers           5 6 0
William & Mary           5 6 0
Syracuse           4 6 1
Richmond           4 7 0
Army           3 7 1
North Texas State           2 9 0
Georgia Tech           1 10 0
Memphis           1 10 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season.[1] The team played its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Gerry Faust was the new Notre Dame head coach. The offense scored 232 points, while the defense allowed 160 points. It was Notre Dame's first losing season in 18 years.

Rivalries[]

Schedule[]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 122:30 p.m.LSUNo. 4W 27–959,075
September 191:50 p.m.at No. 11 MichiganNo. 1ABCL 7–25105,888
September 262:30 p.m.at PurdueNo. 13L 14–1570,007
October 32:30 p.m.Michigan State
W 20–759,075
October 102:30 p.m.No. 20 Florida State
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
L 13–1959,075
October 242:30 p.m.No. 5 USC
L 7–1459,075
October 311:30 p.m.Navy
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)
W 38–059,075
November 71:30 p.m.Georgia Tech
  • Notre Dame Stadium
  • Notre Dame, IN
W 35–359,075
November 143:00 p.m.at Air ForceW 35–736,700
November 211:00 p.m.at No. 13 Penn StateL 21–2484,175
November 273:00 p.m.at No. 9 MiamiABCL 15–3750,681

Roster[]

1981 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE 82 Bavaro, MarkMark Bavaro Fr
RB 28 Bell, GregGreg Bell So
TE 85 Hunter, TonyTony Hunter Jr
QB 5 Kiel, BlairBlair Kiel So
RB 39 Moriarty, LarryLarry Moriarty Jr
T 71 Pozderac, PhilPhil Pozderac Sr
C 57 Fischer, MarkMark Fischer Jr
G 75 Williams, LarryLarry Williams Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 9 Brown, ChrisChris Brown So
DT 91 Clasby, BobBob Clasby Jr
LB 43 Crable, BobBob Crable Sr
S 22 Duerson, DaveDave Duerson Jr
DE 78 Gann, MikeMike Gann Fr
DT 55 Golic, MikeMike Golic Fr
CB 30 Toran, StaceyStacey Toran So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 3 Oliver, HerryHerry Oliver Sr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Team players drafted into the NFL[]

  • Bob Crable - 1982 / Round: 1 / Pick: 23 New York Jets
  • John Krimm - 1982 / Round: 3 / Pick: 76 New Orleans Saints
  • Phil Pozderac - 1982 / Round: 5 / Pick: 137 Dallas Cowboys

Awards and honors[]

References[]

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