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1981 Vanderbilt

4–⁠7 (1–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by George MacIntyre.

Schedule and results

Vanderbilt in 1981, game by game: won vs. Maryland 23–17; lost at No. 14 Mississippi State 9–29; lost vs. No. 10 Alabama 7–28; lost at No. 17 Miami 16–48; lost at Tulane 10–14; lost vs. No. 9 Georgia 21–53; won at Ole Miss 27–23; won vs. Memphis 26–0; lost vs. Kentucky 10–17; won vs. Chattanooga 28–14; lost at Tennessee 34–38+26−32Won 23–17 vs. Maryland+6MarylandLost 9–29 at No. 14 Mississippi State-20No. 14 Mississippi Sta…Lost 7–28 vs. No. 10 Alabama-21No. 10 AlabamaLost 16–48 at No. 17 Miami-32No. 17 MiamiLost 10–14 at Tulane-4TulaneLost 21–53 vs. No. 9 Georgia-32No. 9 GeorgiaWon 27–23 at Ole Miss+4Ole MissWon 26–0 vs. Memphis+26MemphisLost 10–17 vs. Kentucky-7KentuckyWon 28–14 vs. Chattanooga+14ChattanoogaLost 34–38 at Tennessee-4Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vsMarylandW 23–⁠1729%
Sep 19at14Mississippi StateL 9–⁠2919%
Sep 26vs10AlabamaL 7–⁠2816%
Oct 3at17MiamiL 16–⁠4816%
Oct 10atTulaneL 10–⁠1429%
Oct 17vs9GeorgiaL 21–⁠5316%
Oct 24atOle MissW 27–⁠2327%
Oct 31vsMemphisW 26–⁠060%
Nov 7vsKentuckyL 10–⁠1760%
Nov 21vsChattanoogaW 28–⁠1433%
Nov 28atTennesseeL 34–⁠3825%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 38–⁠34; unranked in the final AP poll; 10th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 94th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 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
4–⁠7
Conference
1–⁠5 10th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
211–⁠281
Coach
George MacIntyre
Elo
1389 +38 this season
SP+ rating
-0.9 No. 76 of 132; offense No. 53, defense No. 93
SRS
0.6 No. 66 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Watson Brown
Defensive coordinator
Ron McCrone

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 6Ken Hammond OGDallas Cowboys

All-SEC

3 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Lole HudginsOTAP-2
  • Whit TaylorQBAP-2
  • Steve BeardenDEAP-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
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠09–⁠2–⁠17
Georgia6–⁠010–⁠26
Mississippi State4–⁠28–⁠4
Tennessee3–⁠38–⁠4
Florida3–⁠37–⁠5
Auburn2–⁠45–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠43–⁠8
LSU1–⁠4–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Ole Miss1–⁠5–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Vanderbilt1–⁠54–⁠7

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