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1981 North Carolina

10–⁠2 (5–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Dick Crum, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

North Carolina in 1981, game by game: won vs. East Carolina 56–0; won vs. Miami (OH) 49–7; won vs. Boston College 56–14; won at Georgia Tech 28–7; won vs. Wake Forest 48–10; won at NC State 21–10; lost vs. South Carolina 13–31; won at Maryland 17–10; lost vs. No. 2 Clemson 8–10; won at Virginia 17–14; won at Duke 31–10; won vs. Arkansas 31–27+56−18Won 56–0 vs. East Carolina+56East CarolinaWon 49–7 vs. Miami (OH)+42Miami (OH)Won 56–14 vs. Boston College+42Boston CollegeWon 28–7 at Georgia Tech+21Georgia TechWon 48–10 vs. Wake Forest+38Wake ForestWon 21–10 at NC State+11NC StateLost 13–31 vs. South Carolina-18South CarolinaWon 17–10 at Maryland+7MarylandLost 8–10 vs. No. 2 Clemson-2No. 2 ClemsonWon 17–14 at Virginia+3VirginiaWon 31–10 at Duke+21DukeWon 31–27 vs. Arkansas+4Arkansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vsEast CarolinaW 56–⁠078%
Sep 19vsMiami (OH)W 49–⁠775%
Sep 26vsBoston CollegeW 56–⁠1477%
Oct 3atGeorgia TechW 28–⁠781%
Oct 10vsWake ForestW 48–⁠1084%
Oct 17atNC StateW 21–⁠1067%
Oct 24vsSouth CarolinaL 13–⁠3178%
Oct 31atMarylandW 17–⁠1058%
Nov 7vs2ClemsonL 8–⁠1061%
Nov 14atVirginiaW 17–⁠1482%
Nov 21atDukeW 31–⁠1066%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvsArkansasGator BowlW 31–⁠2759%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Arkansas 31–⁠27 in the Gator Bowl; No. 9 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 3rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 127 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 13
  3. Wk 3: 10
  4. Wk 4: 9
  5. Wk 5: 6
  6. Wk 6: 5
  7. Wk 7: 4
  8. Wk 8: 3
  9. Wk 9: 9
  10. Wk 10: 8
  11. Wk 11: 13
  12. Wk 12: 12
  13. Wk 13: 10
  14. Wk 14: 11
  15. Final: 9

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
10–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠1 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 3
Points
375–⁠150
Coach
Dick Crum
Elo
1721 +75 this season
SP+ rating
20.4 No. 12 of 132; offense No. 11, defense No. 30
SRS
20.2 No. 8 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Shelton Robinson and Lee Shaffer

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 2Calvin Daniels LBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 6Darrell Nicholson LBNew York Giants

All-ACC

7 first team

First 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 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.