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1981 San Diego State

6–⁠5 (3–⁠5 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Doug Scovil.

Schedule and results

San Diego State in 1981, game by game: won at Colorado State 30–14; won at Oklahoma State 23–16; won at New Mexico 17–15; won vs. No. 12 Iowa State 52–31; lost vs. No. 17 BYU 7–27; lost vs. Hawai’i 10–28; lost at Utah 14–17; lost vs. Wyoming 13–24; won at UNLV 38–20; won vs. UTEP 59–14; lost vs. Air Force 16–21+45−20Won 30–14 at Colorado State+16Colorado StateWon 23–16 at Oklahoma State+7Oklahoma StateWon 17–15 at New Mexico+2New MexicoWon 52–31 vs. No. 12 Iowa State+21No. 12 Iowa StateLost 7–27 vs. No. 17 BYU-20No. 17 BYULost 10–28 vs. Hawai’i-18Hawai’iLost 14–17 at Utah-3UtahLost 13–24 vs. Wyoming-11WyomingWon 38–20 at UNLV+18UNLVWon 59–14 vs. UTEP+45UTEPLost 16–21 vs. Air Force-5Air Force
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12atColorado StateW 30–⁠1436%
Sep 26atOklahoma StateW 23–⁠1639%
Oct 3atNew MexicoW 17–⁠1555%
Oct 10vs12Iowa StateW 52–⁠3155%
Oct 17vs17BYUL 7–⁠2733%
Oct 24vsHawai’iL 10–⁠2851%
Oct 31atUtahL 14–⁠1729%
Nov 7vsWyomingL 13–⁠2445%
Nov 14atUNLVW 38–⁠2043%
Nov 21vsUTEPW 59–⁠1486%
Nov 28vsAir ForceL 16–⁠2169%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Air Force 21–⁠16; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Western Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 41st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 86 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
6–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠5 7th in Western Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
279–⁠227
Coach
Doug Scovil
Elo
1471 +40 this season
SP+ rating
4.9 No. 57 of 132; offense No. 35, defense No. 85
SRS
3.7 No. 52 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offense
West Coast
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 2Matt Kofler QBBuffalo Bills
Rd 2Vernon Dean DBWashington Redskins

1981 Western Athletic Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
BYU7–⁠111–⁠213
Hawai’i5–⁠19–⁠2
Wyoming6–⁠28–⁠3
Utah4–⁠1–⁠18–⁠2–⁠1
New Mexico3–⁠4–⁠14–⁠7–⁠1
Air Force2–⁠34–⁠7
San Diego State3–⁠56–⁠5
UTEP1–⁠61–⁠10
Colorado State0–⁠80–⁠12

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