1981 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

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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

September 122:30 p.m.LSU*No. 4

• Notre Dame Stadium
• Notre Dame, IN

W 27–9 59,075 September 191:50 p.m.at No. 11 Michigan*No. 1

• Michigan Stadium
• Ann Arbor, MI (Rivalry)

ABCL 7–25 105,888 September 262:30 p.m.at Purdue*No. 13

• Ross–Ade Stadium
• West Lafayette, IN (Shillelagh Trophy)

L 14–15 70,007 October 32:30 p.m.Michigan State*

• Notre Dame Stadium
• Notre Dame, IN (Megaphone Trophy)

W 20–7 59,075 October 102:30 p.m.No. 20 Florida State*

• Notre Dame Stadium
• Notre Dame, IN

L 13–19 59,075 October 242:30 p.m.No. 5 USC*

• Notre Dame Stadium
• Notre Dame, IN (Jeweled Shillelagh)

L 7–14 59,075 October 311:30 p.m.Navy*

• Notre Dame Stadium
• Notre Dame, IN (Rivalry)

W 38–0 59,075 November 71:30 p.m.Georgia Tech*

• Notre Dame Stadium
• Notre Dame, IN

W 35–3 59,075 November 143:00 p.m.at Air Force*

• Falcon Stadium
• Colorado Springs, CO

W 35–7 36,700 November 211:00 p.m.at No. 13 Penn State*

• Beaver Stadium
• University Park, PA

L 21–24 84,175 November 273:00 p.m.at No. 9 Miami*

• Miami Orange Bowl
• Miami, FL

ABCL 15–37 50,681

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 64 Tom Thayer Jr G 75 Larry Williams Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 9 Chris Brown So DT 91 Bob Clasby Jr LB 43 Bob Crable Sr S 22 Dave Duerson Jr DE 78 Mike Gann Fr DT 55 Mike Golic Fr CB 30 Stacey Toran So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	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