1981 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

1981 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Conference	Independent
Record	5–6
Head coach	Gerry Faust (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Jim Johnson
Captains	Bob Crable Phil Carter
Home stadium	Notre Dame Stadium (c. 59,075, grass)

1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Pittsburgh		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Penn State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Miami (FL)		–		–				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 State		–		–				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. 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

• In the Shillelagh Trophy, Purdue beat Notre Dame.
• Notre Dame beat Michigan State to claim the Megaphone Trophy.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12	2:30 p.m.	LSU	No. 4	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		W 27–9	59,075
September 19	1:50 p.m.	at No. 11 Michigan	No. 1	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ABC	L 7–25	105,888
September 26	2:30 p.m.	at Purdue	No. 13	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (Shillelagh Trophy)		L 14–15	70,007
October 3	2:30 p.m.	Michigan State		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (Megaphone Trophy)		W 20–7	59,075
October 10	2:30 p.m.	No. 20 Florida State		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		L 13–19	59,075
October 24	2:30 p.m.	No. 5 USC		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (Jeweled Shillelagh)		L 7–14	59,075
October 31	1:30 p.m.	Navy		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		W 38–0	59,075
November 7	1:30 p.m.	Georgia Tech		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN		W 35–3	59,075
November 14	3:00 p.m.	at Air Force		Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO		W 35–7	36,700
November 21	1:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Penn State		Beaver Stadium University Park, PA		L 21–24	84,175
November 27	3:00 p.m.	at No. 9 Miami		Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ABC	L 15–37	50,681
Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1981 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class TE 82 Mark Bavaro Fr RB 28 Greg Bell So TE 85 Tony Hunter Jr QB 5 Blair Kiel So RB 39 Larry Moriarty Jr OT 71 Phil Pozderac Sr C 57 Mark Fischer Jr G 75 Larry Williams Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 9 Chris Brown So DT 91 Bob Clasby Jr LB 43 Bob Crable (C) Sr S 22 Dave Duerson Jr DE 78 Mike Gann Fr DT 55 Mike Golic Fr CB 19 John Krimm Sr CB 30 Stacey Toran So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 3 Herry Oliver Sr	Head coach Gerry Faust Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured 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