The 1981 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Big Eight Conference during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season . It was the third and final season for Chuck Fairbanks ' as head coach, and the first year of blue jerseys for the Buffaloes, which were phased out in 1984 .[1] [2] [3]
The Buffaloes finished at 3–8 (2–5 in Big 8, seventh) for a third consecutive losing season. Home games were played on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder . After a shutout loss at Kansas ,[4] CU defeated last-place Kansas State by three points at home in the season finale to avoid the conference cellar.
Well after the season in June 1982, Fairbanks resigned to become head coach, president, and minority owner of the New Jersey Generals of the new United States Football League (USFL).[2] [5] His overall record at CU was a disappointing 7–26 (.212), 5–16 (.238) in conference. Bill McCartney , the defensive coordinator at Michigan under Bo Schembechler , was announced as Colorado's new head coach on June 9,[6] [7] [8] and led the program for thirteen seasons, through 1994 .
Schedule Date Opponent Site Result Attendance September 12 Texas Tech * W 45–2734,884 September 19 Washington State * L 10–1435,277 September 26 No. 11 BYU * L 20–4143,259 October 3 at No. 16 UCLA * L 7–2740,347 October 10 at Nebraska L 0–5976,168 October 17 Oklahoma State W 11–1036,101 October 24 at No. 14 Iowa State L 10–1750,103 October 31 at No. 19 Oklahoma L 0–4975,638 November 7 Missouri L 14–3035,782 November 14 at Kansas L 0–2731,500 November 21 Kansas State W 24–2123,921 *Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
[9] [10] [11]
Roster 1981 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster Players Coaches Offense Defense Special teams Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) IneligibleRoster
[12] [13]
References