1981 UCLA Bruins football team

1981 UCLA Bruins football
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, L 14–33 vs. Michigan
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
1981 record	7–4–1 (5–2–1 Pac-10)
Head coach	Terry Donahue (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Homer Smith (4th season)
Home stadium	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Capacity 92,604)
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 UCLA Bruins football team was an American football team that represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their sixth year under head coach Terry Donahue, the Bruins compiled a 7–4–1 record (5–2–1 Pac-10), finished in a tie for fourth place in the Pacific-10 Conference, and lost to Michigan in the 1981 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl.

UCLA's offensive leaders in 1981 were quarterback Tom Ramsey with 1,793 passing yards, running back Kevin Nelson with 883 rushing yards, and wide receiver Cormac Carney with 539 receiving yards.

This was the Bruins' final season at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, their home field since 1928, sharing with the USC Trojans. UCLA moved to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for the 1982 season.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12	at Arizona	No. 12	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ		W 35–18	49,311
September 19	at No. 20 Wisconsin*	No. 9	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 31–13	69,212
September 26	at Iowa*	No. 6	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	KTLA	L 7–20	60,004
October 3	Colorado*	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 27–7	40,347
October 10	at Stanford	No. 17	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		L 23–26	70,103
October 17	at No. 18 Washington State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA	ABC	T 17–17	40,000
October 24	California		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 34–6	41,637
October 31	at Oregon		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 28–11	24,272
November 7	No. 16 Washington		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 31–0	41,818
November 14	No. 9 Arizona State	No. 18	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		W 34–24	47,361
November 21	at No. 10 USC	No. 15	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (Victory Bell)	ABC	L 21–22	89,423
December 31	vs. No. 16 Michigan*	No. 19	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl)		L 14–33	50,107
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 UCLA Bruins football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 12 Bono, SteveSteve Bono 3.0 !So RB 46 Cephous, FrankFrank Cephous 3.0 !So C 59 Dufour, DanDan Dufour 5.0 !Jr T 75 Eatman, IrvIrv Eatman 5.0 !Jr T 67 Love, DuvalDuval Love 1.0 !Fr QB 10 Neuheisel, RickRick Neuheisel 3.0 !So QB 14 Ramsey, SteveSteve Ramsey 5.0 !Jr WR 26 Townsell, Jo-JoJo-Jo Townsell 5.0 !Jr WR 8 Williams, DokieDokie Williams 5.0 !Jr G 68 Wingle, BlakeBlake Wingle 5.0 !Jr TE 91 Wrightman, TimTim Wrightman WR 18 Young, MikeMike Young 1.0 !Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT Gary, JoeJoe Gary 7.0 !Sr LB 27 Montgomery, BlanchardBlanchard Montgomery 5.0 !Jr DT 40 Morgan, KarlKarl Morgan 5.0 !Jr S 7 Rogers, DonDon Rogers 3.0 !So DB 21 Sanchez, LupeLupe Sanchez 3.0 !So DB 35 Turner, JimmyJimmy Turner 5.0 !Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Terry Donahue Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

1982 NFL Draft

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Luis Sharpe	Tackle	1	16	St. Louis Cardinals
Tim Wrightman	Tight End	3	62	Chicago Bears