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1981 Minnesota

6–⁠5 (4–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Joe Salem.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1981, game by game: won vs. Ohio 19–17; won vs. Purdue 16–13; won vs. Oregon State 42–12; lost at Illinois 29–38; won vs. Northwestern 35–23; lost at Indiana 16–17; won at No. 6 Iowa 12–10; lost vs. No. 15 Michigan 13–34; won vs. No. 18 Ohio State 35–31; lost at Michigan State 36–43; lost vs. Wisconsin 21–26+30−21Won 19–17 vs. Ohio+2OhioWon 16–13 vs. Purdue+3PurdueWon 42–12 vs. Oregon State+30Oregon StateLost 29–38 at Illinois-9IllinoisWon 35–23 vs. Northwestern+12NorthwesternLost 16–17 at Indiana-1IndianaWon 12–10 at No. 6 Iowa+2No. 6 IowaLost 13–34 vs. No. 15 Michigan-21No. 15 MichiganWon 35–31 vs. No. 18 Ohio State+4No. 18 Ohio StateLost 36–43 at Michigan State-7Michigan StateLost 21–26 vs. Wisconsin-5Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vsOhioW 19–⁠1754%
Sep 19vsPurdueW 16–⁠1338%
Sep 26vsOregon StateW 42–⁠1278%
Oct 3atIllinoisL 29–⁠3850%
Oct 10vsNorthwesternW 35–⁠2385%
Oct 17atIndianaL 16–⁠1750%
Oct 24at6IowaW 12–⁠1031%
Oct 31vs15MichiganL 13–⁠3431%
Nov 7vs18Ohio StateW 35–⁠3133%
Nov 14atMichigan StateL 36–⁠4345%
Nov 21vsWisconsinL 21–⁠2655%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Wisconsin 26–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 102nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 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
6–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠5 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
274–⁠264
Coach
Joe Salem
Elo
1466 +1 this season
SP+ rating
-5.2 No. 91 of 132; offense No. 50, defense No. 117
SRS
−0.7 No. 73 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Ken Dallafior
Most valuable player
Mike Hohensee

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 4Jim Fahnhorst LBMinnesota Vikings
Rd 5Wally Kersten OTLos Angeles Rams
Rd 5Ken Dallafior OTPittsburgh Steelers

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Chester CooperWRAP-2
  • Bill HumphriesOGUPI-2
  • Karl MecklenburgDLAP-2; UPI-2
  • Fred OrgasDLUPI-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.