1981 Drake
10–1 (5–1 Missouri Valley Conference), coached by Chuck Shelton. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest winBeat Nebraska–Omaha 53–0Nov 21
By 53 points, its widest win.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5 | at Northern Iowa | W 39–30 | 81% |
| Sep 12 | vs Indiana State | W 17–14 | 70% |
| Sep 19 | vs Western Illinois | W 21–6 | 92% |
| Sep 26 | at Kansas State | W 18–17 | 58% |
| Oct 3 | vsLong Beach State | W 18–7 | 62% |
| Oct 10 | atWichita State | W 24–23 | 54% |
| Oct 24 | vsWest Texas | W 21–13 | 63% |
| Oct 31 | at Tulsa | L 6–59 | 48% |
| Nov 7 | at Southern Illinois | W 22–17 | 45% |
| Nov 14 | at Illinois State | W 13–10 | 77% |
| Nov 21 | vsNebraska–Omaha | W 53–0 | 92% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Beat Nebraska–Omaha 53–0; unranked in the final AP poll; Missouri Valley Conference champions.
In program history: The 7th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 111 on file).
Missouri Valley Conference champions5–1 in the conference, shared with Tulsa
- Record
- 10–1
- Conference
- 5–1 shared first in Missouri Valley Conference
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 252–196
- Coach
- Chuck Shelton
- Elo
- 1557 +58 this season
- SP+ rating
- -0.3 No. 73 of 132; offense No. 82, defense No. 63
- SRS
- −4.5 No. 88 of 137 in Division I-A
- Recruiting class
- —
- Offensive coordinator
- John Hancock
- Defensive coordinator
- Maury Waugh
1981 Missouri Valley Conference standings
| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
 Drake | 5–1 | 10–1 | |
| Tulsa | 5–1 | 6–5 | |
| Southern Illinois | 5–2 | 7–4 | |
| West Texas | 3–3 | 7–4 | |
| Wichita State | 3–3–1 | 4–6–1 | |
| Indiana State | 2–4–1 | 5–5–1 | |
 New Mexico State | 1–5 | 3–8 | |
| Illinois State | 0–5 | 3–7 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.