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1981 Kentucky

3–⁠8 (2–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Fran Curci.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 1981, game by game: won vs. North Texas 28–6; lost vs. No. 12 Alabama 10–19; lost at Kansas 16–21; lost vs. No. 14 Clemson 3–21; lost vs. South Carolina 14–28; lost at LSU 10–24; lost at No. 7 Georgia 0–21; lost vs. Virginia Tech 3–29; won at Vanderbilt 17–10; lost at Florida 12–33; won vs. Tennessee 21–10+22−26Won 28–6 vs. North Texas+22North TexasLost 10–19 vs. No. 12 Alabama-9No. 12 AlabamaLost 16–21 at Kansas-5KansasLost 3–21 vs. No. 14 Clemson-18No. 14 ClemsonLost 14–28 vs. South Carolina-14South CarolinaLost 10–24 at LSU-14LSULost 0–21 at No. 7 Georgia-21No. 7 GeorgiaLost 3–29 vs. Virginia Tech-26Virginia TechWon 17–10 at Vanderbilt+7VanderbiltLost 12–33 at Florida-21FloridaWon 21–10 vs. Tennessee+11Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsNorth TexasW 28–⁠649%
Sep 19vs12AlabamaL 10–⁠1929%
Sep 26atKansasL 16–⁠2136%
Oct 3vs14ClemsonL 3–⁠2138%
Oct 10vsSouth CarolinaL 14–⁠2845%
Oct 17atLSUL 10–⁠2432%
Oct 24at7GeorgiaL 0–⁠2112%
Oct 31vsVirginia TechL 3–⁠2938%
Nov 7atVanderbiltW 17–⁠1040%
Nov 14atFloridaL 12–⁠3319%
Nov 21vsTennesseeW 21–⁠1033%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Tennessee 21–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 102nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠4 tied for 6th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
134–⁠222
Coach
Fran Curci
Elo
1418 −34 this season
SP+ rating
-2.7 No. 82 of 132; offense No. 109, defense No. 47
SRS
0.6 No. 67 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

All-SEC

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Andy MollsDBAP-1

Second team

  • Don FielderDEAP-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 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠09–⁠2–⁠17
Georgia6–⁠010–⁠26
Mississippi State4–⁠28–⁠4
Tennessee3–⁠38–⁠4
Florida3–⁠37–⁠5
Auburn2–⁠45–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠43–⁠8
LSU1–⁠4–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Ole Miss1–⁠5–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Vanderbilt1–⁠54–⁠7

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