CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1981 California

2–⁠9 (2–⁠6 Pac-10), coached by Roger Theder.

Schedule and results

California in 1981, game by game: lost vs. Texas A&M 28–29; lost at No. 6 Georgia 13–27; won at Arizona 14–13; lost vs. San José State 24–27; lost vs. Washington 26–27; lost at No. 20 Arizona State 17–45; lost at UCLA 6–34; won vs. Oregon State 45–3; lost vs. No. 3 USC 3–21; lost at No. 17 Washington State 0–19; lost at Stanford 21–42+42−28Lost 28–29 vs. Texas A&M-1Texas A&MLost 13–27 at No. 6 Georgia-14No. 6 GeorgiaWon 14–13 at Arizona+1ArizonaLost 24–27 vs. San José State-3San José StateLost 26–27 vs. Washington-1WashingtonLost 17–45 at No. 20 Arizona State-28No. 20 Arizona StateLost 6–34 at UCLA-28UCLAWon 45–3 vs. Oregon State+42Oregon StateLost 3–21 vs. No. 3 USC-18No. 3 USCLost 0–19 at No. 17 Washington State-19No. 17 Washington StateLost 21–42 at Stanford-21Stanford
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsTexas A&ML 28–⁠2950%
Sep 12at6GeorgiaL 13–⁠2717%
Sep 19atArizonaW 14–⁠1340%
Sep 26vsSan José StateL 24–⁠2745%
Oct 10vsWashingtonL 26–⁠2734%
Oct 17at20Arizona StateL 17–⁠4517%
Oct 24atUCLAL 6–⁠3419%
Oct 31vsOregon StateW 45–⁠374%
Nov 7vs3USCL 3–⁠2118%
Nov 14at17Washington StateL 0–⁠1923%
Nov 21atStanfordL 21–⁠4231%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Stanford 42–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 103rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 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
2–⁠9
Conference
2–⁠6 8th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked
Points
197–⁠287
Coach
Roger Theder
Elo
1383 −67 this season
SP+ rating
1.9 No. 68 of 132; offense No. 52, defense No. 84
SRS
2.7 No. 56 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Mouse Davis
Offense
Run and shoot

All-Pac-10

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

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.