1981 Stanford Cardinals football team

1981 Stanford Cardinals football

Big Game Champions
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
1981 record	4–7 (4–4 Pac-10)
Head coach	Paul Wiggin (2nd year)
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium (c. 85,500, grass)

	Conf					Overall
1981 Pacific-10 football standings
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.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12	12:20 PM PDT	at Purdue	#19	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	ABC	L 19–27	62,778
September 19	1:00 PM PDT	San Jose State		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	USA	L 6–28	67,888
September 26	1:00 PM PDT	#8 Ohio State		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	ESPN	L 19–24	76,102
October 3	7:00 PM PDT	at Arizona		Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ	USA	L 13–17	41,110
October 10	1:00 PM PDT	#17 UCLA		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	USA	W 26–23	70,103
October 17	1:00 PM PDT	at #7 USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA		L 17–25	76,291
October 24	1:00 PM PDT	#17 Arizona State		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA		L 36–62	52,855
October 31	1:30 PM PST	at #18 Washington		Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA		L 31–42	55,856
November 7	1:00 PM PST	at Oregon State		Parker Stadium • Corvallis, OR		W 63–9	22,000
November 14	1:00 PM PST	Oregon		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA	USA	W 42–3	36,106
November 21	1:00 PM PST	California		Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA (84th Big Game)	USA	W 42–21	84,536
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll.

^[2] Notes:

^a All times in Pacific Time Zone. (UTC–7 and UTC–8 starting October 25)

California at Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
California	7	0	7	7	21
• Stanford	7	14	14	7	42

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

Stanford Cardinal football

Venues	Stanford Field (1905–1921) Stanford Stadium (1921–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games California: Big Game USC Notre Dame San Jose State: Bill Walsh Legacy Game

Culture & lore	Stanford Tree "Come Join the Band" "All Right Now" Stanford Band The Play Stanford Axe 1906–17 Stanford rugby teams

People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 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