1981 Montana Grizzlies football team

	Conf					Overall
1981 Big Sky football standings
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#2 Idaho State †	6	–	1	–	0	12	–	1	–	0
#5 Boise State	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	3	–	0
Montana	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Nevada	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Weber State	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Northern Arizona	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Montana State	1	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Idaho	0	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

† – Conference champion Idaho State earned automatic berth in NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship. Boise State earned at-large berth in NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship. Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA poll (released before championship playoffs)

The 1981 Montana Grizzlies football team represented the University of Montana in the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season as a member of the Big Sky Conference (Big Sky). The Grizzlies were led by second-year head coach Larry Donovan, played their home games at Dornblaser Field and finished the season with a record of seven wins and three losses (7–3, 5–2 Big Sky).

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 19	at Northern Arizona	Walkup Skydome • Flagstaff, AZ	W 29–23
September 26	Northern Iowa*	Dornblaser Field • Missoula, MT	W 42–21
October 3	Boise State	Dornblaser Field • Missoula, MT	L 13–27
October 10	at Idaho	Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID (Little Brown Stein)	W 16–14
October 17	Idaho State	Dornblaser Field • Missoula, MT	W 24–21
October 24	Portland State*	Dornblaser Field • Missoula, MT	W 33–3
October 31	at Montana State	Reno H. Sales Stadium • Bozeman, MT (Brawl of the Wild)	W 27–17
November 7	Nevada	Dornblaser Field • Missoula, MT	W 33–26
November 14	Weber State	Dornblaser Field • Missoula, MT	L 6–7
November 21	at Eastern Washington*	Joe Albi Stadium • Spokane, WA (EWU–UM Governors Cup)	L 13–14
*Non-conference game.

Montana Grizzlies football

Venues	Naranche Stadium (alternate, 1938–1950) Dornblaser Field (1968–1986) Washington–Grizzly Stadium (1986–present)

Bowls and rivalries	Brawl of the Wild (Montana State) Little Brown Stein (Idaho) EWU–UM Governors Cup (Eastern Washington)

Culture and lore	Monte "Up With Montana" University of Montana Grizzly Marching Band

People	Head coaches NFL draftees

Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

National championship seasons in bold