1981 Stanford Cardinals football team

1981 Stanford Cardinals football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
1981 record	4–7 (4–4 Pac-10)
Head coach	Paul Wiggin (2nd season)
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium (c. 85,500, grass)
Seasons

1981 Pacific-10 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#10 Washington †	6	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#16 Arizona State	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
#14 USC	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Washington State	5	–	2	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
UCLA	5	–	2	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Arizona	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Stanford	4	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
California	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Oregon	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Oregon State	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
† – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Stanford Cardinals football team represented Stanford University in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. This was the last year the team was called the Cardinals; beginning in 1982, the team was referred to as the singular Cardinal, representing the color.

Schedule

Date	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	Result	Attendance
September 12	at Purdue	#19	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	L 19–27	62,778
September 19	San Jose State		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	L 6–28	67,888
September 26	#8 Ohio State		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	L 19–24	76,102
October 3	at Arizona		Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ	L 13–17	41,110
October 10	#17 UCLA		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	W 26–23	70,103
October 17	at #7 USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA	L 17–25	76,291
October 24	#17 Arizona State		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	L 36–62	52,855
October 31	at #18 Washington		Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA	L 31–42	55,856
November 7	at Oregon State		Parker Stadium • Corvallis, OR	W 63–9	22,000
November 14	Oregon		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	W 42–3	36,106
November 21	California		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA (84th Big Game)	W 42–21	84,536
*Non-Conference Game. #Rankings from AP Poll.

Game notes

California

California at Stanford

by Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total California 7 0 7 7 21 • Stanford 7 14 14 7 42 Date: Saturday, November 21 Location: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California Game attendance: 84,563 Source: Eugene Register-Guard 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