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1981 Mississippi State

8–⁠4 (4–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Emory Bellard.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 1981, game by game: won vs. Memphis 20–3; won vs. Vanderbilt 29–9; won vs. Florida 28–7; lost vs. Missouri 3–14; won at Colorado State 37–27; won vs. No. 13 Miami 14–10; won at Auburn 21–17; lost at No. 8 Alabama 10–13; lost at No. 20 Southern Miss 6–7; won at LSU 17–9; lost at Ole Miss 17–21; won vs. Kansas 10–0+21−11Won 20–3 vs. Memphis+17MemphisWon 29–9 vs. Vanderbilt+20VanderbiltWon 28–7 vs. Florida+21FloridaLost 3–14 vs. Missouri-11MissouriWon 37–27 at Colorado State+10Colorado StateWon 14–10 vs. No. 13 Miami+4No. 13 MiamiWon 21–17 at Auburn+4AuburnLost 10–13 at No. 8 Alabama-3No. 8 AlabamaLost 6–7 at No. 20 Southern Miss-1No. 20 Southern MissWon 17–9 at LSU+8LSULost 17–21 at Ole Miss-4Ole MissWon 10–0 vs. Kansas+10Kansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsMemphisW 20–⁠379%
Sep 19vsVanderbiltW 29–⁠981%
Sep 26vsFloridaW 28–⁠759%
Oct 3vsMissouriL 3–⁠1455%
Oct 10atColorado StateW 37–⁠2771%
Oct 17vs13MiamiW 14–⁠1057%
Oct 24atAuburnW 21–⁠1752%
Oct 31at8AlabamaL 10–⁠1326%
Nov 7at20Southern MissL 6–⁠736%
Nov 14atLSUW 17–⁠960%
Nov 21atOle MissL 17–⁠2171%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsKansasHall of Fame ClassicW 10–⁠057%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Kansas 10–⁠0 in the Hall of Fame Classic; unranked in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 12th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 14
  2. Wk 2: 14
  3. Wk 3: 14
  4. Wk 4: 12
  5. Wk 5: 9
  6. Wk 6: 19
  7. Wk 7: 16
  8. Wk 8: 9
  9. Wk 9: 7
  10. Wk 10: 15

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.

Led the nationGlen Young: punt return average (16.2)

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠2 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 7
Points
212–⁠137
Coach
Emory Bellard
Elo
1622 +62 this season
SP+ rating
13.1 No. 28 of 132; offense No. 76, defense No. 6
SRS
12.0 No. 29 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Melvin Robertson

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 1Johnie Cooks LBBaltimore Colts
Rd 1Glen Collins DECincinnati Bengals

All-SEC

5 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

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.