1981 Tennessee
8–4 (3–3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Johnny Majors. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest winBeat Colorado State 42–0Sep 19
By 42 points, its widest win.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5 | at 10Georgia | L 0–44 | 27% |
| Sep 12 | at 5USC | L 7–43 | 22% |
| Sep 19 | vs Colorado State | W 42–0 | 65% |
| Sep 26 | vs Auburn | W 10–7 | 59% |
| Oct 10 | vs Georgia Tech | W 10–7 | 77% |
| Oct 17 | at 15Alabama | L 19–38 | 20% |
| Oct 24 | at Memphis | W 28–9 | 65% |
| Nov 7 | vsWichita State | W 24–21 | 73% |
| Nov 14 | vs Ole Miss | W 28–20 | 74% |
| Nov 21 | at Kentucky | L 10–21 | 67% |
| Nov 28 | vs Vanderbilt | W 38–34 | 75% |
| Dec 13Bowls & playoff | vs WisconsinGarden State Bowl | W 28–21 | 52% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Beat Wisconsin 28–21 in the Garden State Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.
In program history: The 82nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 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
- 8–4
- Conference
- 3–3 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 244–265
- Coach
- Johnny Majors
- Elo
- 1556 +27 this season
- SP+ rating
- -3.7 No. 87 of 132; offense No. 71, defense No. 91
- SRS
- 1.7 No. 61 of 137 in Division I-A
- Recruiting class
- —
- Offensive coordinator
- Bill Pace
- Defensive coordinator
- Bobby Jackson
- Captains
- James Berry, Lemont Holt Jeffers and Lee North
Drafted in 1982
The 1982 draft| Rd 1 | Anthony Hancock WR | Kansas City Chiefs |
| Rd 4 | Brian Ingram LB | New England Patriots |
| Rd 6 | Lemont Jeffers LB | Washington Redskins |
All-SEC
1 first team, 3 second teamFirst team
Lee NorthCAP-1; UPI
Second team
Anthony HancockWRAP-2- Bill BatesDBAP-2
- Jimmy ColquittPAP-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 Southeastern Conference standings
Conference page| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 7–0 | 9–2–1 | 7 |
| Georgia | 6–0 | 10–2 | 6 |
 Mississippi State | 4–2 | 8–4 | |
| Tennessee | 3–3 | 8–4 | |
 Florida | 3–3 | 7–5 | |
| Auburn | 2–4 | 5–6 | |
| Kentucky | 2–4 | 3–8 | |
 LSU | 1–4–1 | 3–7–1 | |
| Ole Miss | 1–5–1 | 4–6–1 | |
| Vanderbilt | 1–5 | 4–7 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.