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1981 Purdue

5–⁠6 (3–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by Jim Young.

Schedule and results

Purdue in 1981, game by game: won vs. No. 19 Stanford 27–19; lost at Minnesota 13–16; won vs. No. 13 Notre Dame 15–14; lost at Wisconsin 14–20; won vs. Illinois 44–20; won at Northwestern 35–0; won vs. Michigan State 27–26; lost vs. Ohio State 33–45; lost at Iowa 7–33; lost vs. No. 11 Michigan 10–28; lost at Indiana 17–20+35−26Won 27–19 vs. No. 19 Stanford+8No. 19 StanfordLost 13–16 at Minnesota-3MinnesotaWon 15–14 vs. No. 13 Notre Dame+1No. 13 Notre DameLost 14–20 at Wisconsin-6WisconsinWon 44–20 vs. Illinois+24IllinoisWon 35–0 at Northwestern+35NorthwesternWon 27–26 vs. Michigan State+1Michigan StateLost 33–45 vs. Ohio State-12Ohio StateLost 7–33 at Iowa-26IowaLost 10–28 vs. No. 11 Michigan-18No. 11 MichiganLost 17–20 at Indiana-3Indiana
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vs19StanfordW 27–⁠1967%
Sep 19atMinnesotaL 13–⁠1662%
Sep 26vs13Notre DameW 15–⁠1455%
Oct 3atWisconsinL 14–⁠2056%
Oct 10vsIllinoisW 44–⁠2072%
Oct 17atNorthwesternW 35–⁠086%
Oct 24vsMichigan StateW 27–⁠2678%
Oct 31vsOhio StateL 33–⁠4556%
Nov 7atIowaL 7–⁠3351%
Nov 14vs11MichiganL 10–⁠2833%
Nov 21atIndianaL 17–⁠2066%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Indiana 20–⁠17; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 66th-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
5–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠6 tied for 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
242–⁠241
Coach
Jim Young
Elo
1511 −92 this season
SP+ rating
-0.3 No. 73 of 132; offense No. 55, defense No. 88
SRS
3.2 No. 54 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Doug Redmann
Defensive coordinator
Leon Burtnett
Captains
Steve Bryant, Ray Gunner and Bobby Williams
Most valuable player
Steve Bryant

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 4Steve Bryant WRHouston Oilers

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Tom JeleskyOTUPI-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.