CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1981 NC State

4–⁠7 (2–⁠4 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Monte Kiffin.

Schedule and results

NC State in 1981, game by game: won vs. Richmond 27–21; won at Wake Forest 28–23; won vs. East Carolina 31–10; lost vs. Maryland 9–34; won vs. Virginia 30–24; lost vs. No. 4 North Carolina 10–21; lost at No. 4 Clemson 7–17; lost at South Carolina 12–20; lost vs. No. 6 Penn State 15–22; lost at Duke 7–17; lost vs. No. 11 Miami 6–14+21−25Won 27–21 vs. Richmond+6RichmondWon 28–23 at Wake Forest+5Wake ForestWon 31–10 vs. East Carolina+21East CarolinaLost 9–34 vs. Maryland-25MarylandWon 30–24 vs. Virginia+6VirginiaLost 10–21 vs. No. 4 North Carolina-11No. 4 North CarolinaLost 7–17 at No. 4 Clemson-10No. 4 ClemsonLost 12–20 at South Carolina-8South CarolinaLost 15–22 vs. No. 6 Penn State-7No. 6 Penn StateLost 7–17 at Duke-10DukeLost 6–14 vs. No. 11 Miami-8No. 11 Miami
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsRichmondW 27–⁠2172%
Sep 12atWake ForestW 28–⁠2352%
Sep 19vsEast CarolinaW 31–⁠1070%
Sep 26vsMarylandL 9–⁠3467%
Oct 3vsVirginiaW 30–⁠2475%
Oct 17vs4North CarolinaL 10–⁠2133%
Oct 24at4ClemsonL 7–⁠1726%
Oct 31atSouth CarolinaL 12–⁠2029%
Nov 7vs6Penn StateL 15–⁠2227%
Nov 14atDukeL 7–⁠1742%
Nov 21vs11MiamiL 6–⁠1430%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Miami 14–⁠6; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 82nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 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
4–⁠7
Conference
2–⁠4 5th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
182–⁠223
Coach
Monte Kiffin
Elo
1459 −73 this season
SP+ rating
3.7 No. 63 of 132; offense No. 74, defense No. 49
SRS
4.7 No. 48 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 1Mike Quick WRPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 3Robert Abraham LBHouston Oilers

All-ACC

4 first team

First team

  • Chris KoehneOTAP
  • Joe McIntoshRBAP
  • Donnie LeGrandeDBAP
  • Todd AutenKAP

From Wikipedia’s 1981 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1981 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson6–⁠012–⁠01
North Carolina5–⁠110–⁠29
Maryland4–⁠24–⁠6–⁠1
Duke3–⁠36–⁠5
NC State2–⁠44–⁠7
Wake Forest1–⁠54–⁠7
Virginia0–⁠61–⁠10

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