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1981 Indiana

3–⁠8 (3–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by Lee Corso.

Schedule and results

Indiana in 1981, game by game: won at Northwestern 21–20; lost vs. No. 2 USC 0–21; lost at Syracuse 7–21; lost vs. No. 8 Michigan 17–38; lost at No. 15 Iowa 28–42; won vs. Minnesota 17–16; lost at Ohio State 10–29; lost at Michigan State 3–26; lost vs. Wisconsin 7–28; lost at Illinois 14–35; won vs. Purdue 20–17+7−23Won 21–20 at Northwestern+1NorthwesternLost 0–21 vs. No. 2 USC-21No. 2 USCLost 7–21 at Syracuse-14SyracuseLost 17–38 vs. No. 8 Michigan-21No. 8 MichiganLost 28–42 at No. 15 Iowa-14No. 15 IowaWon 17–16 vs. Minnesota+1MinnesotaLost 10–29 at Ohio State-19Ohio StateLost 3–26 at Michigan State-23Michigan StateLost 7–28 vs. Wisconsin-21WisconsinLost 14–35 at Illinois-21IllinoisWon 20–17 vs. Purdue+3Purdue
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12atNorthwesternW 21–⁠2072%
Sep 19vs2USCL 0–⁠2133%
Sep 26atSyracuseL 7–⁠2146%
Oct 3vs8MichiganL 17–⁠3828%
Oct 10at15IowaL 28–⁠4231%
Oct 17vsMinnesotaW 17–⁠1650%
Oct 24atOhio StateL 10–⁠2921%
Oct 31atMichigan StateL 3–⁠2641%
Nov 7vsWisconsinL 7–⁠2844%
Nov 14atIllinoisL 14–⁠3529%
Nov 21vsPurdueW 20–⁠1734%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Purdue 20–⁠17; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 107th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
3–⁠6 tied for 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
144–⁠293
Coach
Lee Corso
Elo
1381 −126 this season
SP+ rating
-15.6 No. 116 of 132; offense No. 113, defense No. 112
SRS
−8.4 No. 108 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Ron Corradini
Captains
Bob Stephenson and Craig Walls
Most valuable player
Bob Stephenson

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Bob StephensonTEAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Dwayne GunnWRUPI-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 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State6–⁠29–⁠315
Iowa6–⁠28–⁠418
Michigan6–⁠39–⁠312
Illinois6–⁠37–⁠4
Wisconsin6–⁠37–⁠5
Minnesota4–⁠56–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠55–⁠6
Purdue3–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠63–⁠8
Northwestern0–⁠90–⁠11

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