CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1981 Ohio State

9–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Earle Bruce, finished No. 15 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1981, game by game: won vs. Duke 34–13; won vs. Michigan State 27–13; won at Stanford 24–19; lost vs. Florida State 27–36; lost at Wisconsin 21–24; won vs. Illinois 34–27; won vs. Indiana 29–10; won at Purdue 45–33; lost at Minnesota 31–35; won vs. Northwestern 70–6; won at No. 7 Michigan 14–9; won vs. Navy 31–28+64−9Won 34–13 vs. Duke+21DukeWon 27–13 vs. Michigan State+14Michigan StateWon 24–19 at Stanford+5StanfordLost 27–36 vs. Florida State-9Florida StateLost 21–24 at Wisconsin-3WisconsinWon 34–27 vs. Illinois+7IllinoisWon 29–10 vs. Indiana+19IndianaWon 45–33 at Purdue+12PurdueLost 31–35 at Minnesota-4MinnesotaWon 70–6 vs. Northwestern+64NorthwesternWon 14–9 at No. 7 Michigan+5No. 7 MichiganWon 31–28 vs. Navy+3Navy
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vsDukeW 34–⁠1381%
Sep 19vsMichigan StateW 27–⁠1382%
Sep 26atStanfordW 24–⁠1964%
Oct 3vsFlorida StateL 27–⁠3655%
Oct 10atWisconsinL 21–⁠2456%
Oct 17vsIllinoisW 34–⁠2776%
Oct 24vsIndianaW 29–⁠1079%
Oct 31atPurdueW 45–⁠3344%
Nov 7atMinnesotaL 31–⁠3567%
Nov 14vsNorthwesternW 70–⁠694%
Nov 21at7MichiganW 14–⁠929%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsNavyLiberty BowlW 31–⁠2862%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Navy 31–⁠28 in the Liberty Bowl; No. 15 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 54th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 11
  2. Wk 2: 11
  3. Wk 3: 8
  4. Wk 4: 8
  5. Wk 5: 7
  6. Wk 6: 18
  7. Wk 10: 18
  8. Wk 13: 15
  9. Wk 14: 15
  10. Final: 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.

Big Ten champions6–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Iowa

Heisman voteArt Schlichter, fifth

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 15 peak No. 7
Points
387–⁠253
Coach
Earle Bruce
Elo
1676 +58 this season
SP+ rating
11.8 No. 33 of 132; offense No. 7, defense No. 91
SRS
10.5 No. 31 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Glen Mason
Defensive coordinator
Dennis Fryzel
Captains
Glen Cobb and Art Schlichter
Most valuable player
Art Schlichter

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 1Art Schlichter QBBaltimore Colts
Rd 4Anthony Griggs LBPhiladelphia Eagles

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Gary WilliamsWRUPI-2
  • John E. FrankTEAP-2
  • Glen CobbLBUPI-2
  • Bob AthaKAP-2; UPI-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.