1981 Northwestern Wildcats football team
| 1981 Northwestern Wildcats football | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| 1981 record | 0–11 (0–9 Big Ten) |
| Head coach | Dennis Green (1st season) |
| Home stadium | Dyche Stadium |
| 1981 Big Ten football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 15 Ohio State + | 6 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 18 Iowa + | 6 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12 Michigan | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 6 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 4 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 4 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 0 | – | 9 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 11 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1981 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1981 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Dennis Green, the Wildcats compiled a 0–11 record (0–9 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in last place in the Big Ten Conference.[1] The team played its home games at Dyche Stadium in Evanston, Illinois.
Northwestern finished the season in the midst of a 34-game losing streak, the longest in NCAA Division I-A history. The streak began on September 22, 1979, and ended on September 25, 1982.[2]
The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Mike Kerrigan with 1,317 passing yards, Jim Browne with 162 rushing yards, and Chris Hinton with 265 receiving yards.[3] Ricky Edwards led the Big Ten with 30 kickoff returns and 611 kickoff return yards.[4]
Schedule
| Date | Opponent# | Rank# | Site | Result | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 12 | Indiana | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL | L 20–21 | ||||||
| September 19 | at Arkansas* | War Memorial Stadium • Little Rock, AR | L 7–38 | ||||||
| September 26 | Utah* | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL | L 0–42 | ||||||
| October 3 | No. 18 Iowa | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL | L 0–64 | ||||||
| October 10 | at Minnesota | Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, MN | L 23–35 | ||||||
| October 17 | Purdue | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL | L 0–35 | ||||||
| October 24 | at No. 18 Michigan | Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI | L 0–38 | ||||||
| October 31 | at Wisconsin | Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI | L 0–52 | ||||||
| November 7 | Michigan State | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL | L 14–61 | ||||||
| November 14 | at Ohio State | Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH | L 6–70 | ||||||
| November 21 | Illinois | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk) | L 12–49 | ||||||
| *Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. | |||||||||
Roster
| 1981 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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References
- ↑ "1981 Northwestern Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
- ↑ "Worst college football teams of all time". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
- ↑ "1981 Northwestern Wildcats Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
- ↑ "1981 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 19, 2016.