1981 Michigan State
5–6 (4–5 Big Ten), coached by Frank Waters. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest upsetBeat No. 14 Wisconsin 33–14Oct 17
Wisconsin was ranked No. 14, above it.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12 | vs Illinois | L 17–27 | 64% |
| Sep 19 | at 8Ohio State | L 13–27 | 18% |
| Sep 26 | vs Bowling Green | W 10–7 | 55% |
| Oct 3 | at Notre Dame | L 7–20 | 19% |
| Oct 10 | vs 6Michigan | L 20–38 | 21% |
| Oct 17 | vs 14Wisconsin | W 33–14 | 38% |
| Oct 24 | at Purdue | L 26–27 | 22% |
| Oct 31 | vs Indiana | W 26–3 | 59% |
| Nov 7 | at Northwestern | W 61–14 | 75% |
| Nov 14 | vs Minnesota | W 43–36 | 55% |
| Nov 21 | at 19Iowa | L 7–36 | 31% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Lost to Iowa 36–7; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.
In program history: The 82nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 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
- 5–6
- Conference
- 4–5 tied for 6th in Big Ten
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 263–249
- Coach
- Frank Waters
- Elo
- 1480 +28 this season
- SP+ rating
- 0.3 No. 71 of 132; offense No. 43, defense No. 96
- SRS
- 2.2 No. 59 of 137 in Division I-A
- Recruiting class
- —
- Offensive coordinator
- Joe Pendry
- Captains
- George Cooper and John Leister
- Most valuable player
- Bryan Clark
Drafted in 1982
The 1982 draft| Rd 3 | James Burroughs DB | Baltimore Colts |
| Rd 4 | Morten Andersen K | New Orleans Saints |
| Rd 7 | Tom Morris DB | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Rd 7 | Jeff Wiska OG | New York Giants |
All-Big Ten
4 first teamFirst team
Tom PietteCAP-2; UPI-1
Carl BanksLBAP-2; UPI-1- Jim BurroughsDBAP-2; UPI-1
Morten AndersenKAP-1; UPI-1
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| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 6–2 | 9–3 | 15 |
| Iowa | 6–2 | 8–4 | 18 |
| Michigan | 6–3 | 9–3 | 12 |
| Illinois | 6–3 | 7–4 | |
| Wisconsin | 6–3 | 7–5 | |
| Minnesota | 4–5 | 6–5 | |
| Michigan State | 4–5 | 5–6 | |
| Purdue | 3–6 | 5–6 | |
| Indiana | 3–6 | 3–8 | |
| Northwestern | 0–9 | 0–11 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.