CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1981 Arizona

6–⁠5 (4–⁠4 Pac-10), coached by Larry Smith.

Schedule and results

Arizona in 1981, game by game: lost vs. No. 12 UCLA 18–35; lost vs. California 13–14; won vs. Cal State Fullerton 37–16; won vs. Stanford 17–13; won at No. 1 USC 13–10; won at Oregon 18–14; lost vs. No. 16 Washington State 19–34; won vs. UTEP 48–15; won at Oregon State 40–7; lost vs. Fresno State 17–23; lost at No. 18 Arizona State 13–24+33−17Lost 18–35 vs. No. 12 UCLA-17No. 12 UCLALost 13–14 vs. California-1CaliforniaWon 37–16 vs. Cal State Fullerton+21Cal State Fulle…Won 17–13 vs. Stanford+4StanfordWon 13–10 at No. 1 USC+3No. 1 USCWon 18–14 at Oregon+4OregonLost 19–34 vs. No. 16 Washington State-15No. 16 Washington StateWon 48–15 vs. UTEP+33UTEPWon 40–7 at Oregon State+33Oregon StateLost 17–23 vs. Fresno State-6Fresno StateLost 13–24 at No. 18 Arizona State-11No. 18 Arizona State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vs12UCLAL 18–⁠3537%
Sep 19vsCaliforniaL 13–⁠1460%
Sep 26vsCal State FullertonW 37–⁠1672%
Oct 3vsStanfordW 17–⁠1357%
Oct 10at1USCW 13–⁠1014%
Oct 17atOregonW 18–⁠1444%
Oct 24vs16Washington StateL 19–⁠3455%
Oct 31vsUTEPW 48–⁠1585%
Nov 14atOregon StateW 40–⁠777%
Nov 21vsFresno StateL 17–⁠2373%
Nov 28at18Arizona StateL 13–⁠2420%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arizona State 24–⁠13; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 58th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1981.

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 6th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked
Points
253–⁠205
Coach
Larry Smith
Elo
1472 −0 this season
SP+ rating
0.5 No. 70 of 132; offense No. 65, defense No. 77
SRS
5.3 No. 45 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Steve Axman
Defensive coordinator
Moe Ankney

All-Pac-10

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jeff KiewelOGCoaches-2
  • Gary ShawDLCoaches-2
  • Sergio VegaPCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 1981 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1981 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Washington6–⁠210–⁠210
Arizona State5–⁠29–⁠216
USC5–⁠29–⁠314
Washington State5–⁠2–⁠18–⁠3–⁠1
UCLA5–⁠2–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Arizona4–⁠46–⁠5
Stanford4–⁠44–⁠7
California2–⁠62–⁠9
Oregon1–⁠62–⁠9
Oregon State0–⁠71–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.