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1981 Washington

10–⁠2 (6–⁠2 Pac-10), coached by Don James, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Washington in 1981, game by game: won vs. Pacific 34–14; won vs. Kansas State 20–3; won at Oregon 17–3; lost vs. Arizona State 7–26; won at California 27–26; won vs. Oregon State 56–17; won at Texas Tech 14–7; won vs. Stanford 42–31; lost at UCLA 0–31; won vs. No. 3 USC 13–3; won vs. No. 14 Washington State 23–10; won vs. No. 13 Iowa 28–0+39−31Won 34–14 vs. Pacific+20PacificWon 20–3 vs. Kansas State+17Kansas StateWon 17–3 at Oregon+14OregonLost 7–26 vs. Arizona State-19Arizona StateWon 27–26 at California+1CaliforniaWon 56–17 vs. Oregon State+39Oregon StateWon 14–7 at Texas Tech+7Texas TechWon 42–31 vs. Stanford+11StanfordLost 0–31 at UCLA-31UCLAWon 13–3 vs. No. 3 USC+10No. 3 USCWon 23–10 vs. No. 14 Washington State+13No. 14 Washington StateWon 28–0 vs. No. 13 Iowa+28No. 13 Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12vsPacificW 34–⁠1480%
Sep 19vsKansas StateW 20–⁠381%
Sep 26atOregonW 17–⁠357%
Oct 3vsArizona StateL 7–⁠2666%
Oct 10atCaliforniaW 27–⁠2666%
Oct 17vsOregon StateW 56–⁠1790%
Oct 24atTexas TechW 14–⁠771%
Oct 31vsStanfordW 42–⁠3180%
Nov 7atUCLAL 0–⁠3142%
Nov 14vs3USCW 13–⁠338%
Nov 21vs14Washington StateW 23–⁠1066%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs13IowaRose BowlW 28–⁠058%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Iowa 28–⁠0 in the Rose Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; Pac-10 champions.

In program history: The 13th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 15
  2. Wk 2: 17
  3. Wk 3: 15
  4. Wk 4: 16
  5. Wk 5: 12
  6. Wk 9: 18
  7. Wk 10: 16
  8. Wk 12: 17
  9. Wk 13: 12
  10. Wk 14: 12
  11. Final: 10

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.

Pac-10 champions6–⁠2 in the conference

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠2 first in Pac-10
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 10
Points
281–⁠171
Coach
Don James
Elo
1684 +81 this season
SP+ rating
13.0 No. 29 of 132; offense No. 42, defense No. 28
SRS
13.1 No. 27 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bob Stull
Defensive coordinator
Jim Lambright
Captains
James Carter, Vince Coby, Fletcher Jenkins and Mark Jerue
Most valuable player
Mark Jerue

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 5Mark Jerue LBNew York Jets
Rd 7Fletcher Jenkins DTBaltimore Colts

All-Pac-10

5 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1981 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1981 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Washington6–⁠210–⁠210
Arizona State5–⁠29–⁠216
USC5–⁠29–⁠314
Washington State5–⁠2–⁠18–⁠3–⁠1
UCLA5–⁠2–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Arizona4–⁠46–⁠5
Stanford4–⁠44–⁠7
California2–⁠62–⁠9
Oregon1–⁠62–⁠9
Oregon State0–⁠71–⁠10

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