1981_Arkansas_Razorbacks_football_team

1981 Arkansas Razorbacks football team

American college football season

The 1981 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The biggest win of the year was against a #1 Texas team, which the Razorbacks were rivals with already. Although unranked, the Razorbacks came out on top by 31 points, ending Texas' run at the top of the polls.

Quick Facts Arkansas Razorbacks football, Gator Bowl, L 27–31 vs. North Carolina ...

1981 Arkansas Razorbacks football
Gator Bowl, L 27–31 vs. North Carolina
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
Record	8–4 (5–3 SWC)
Head coach	Lou Holtz (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Larry Beightol
Defensive coordinator	Don Lindsey
Home stadium	Razorback Stadium War Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

More information Conf, Overall ...

1981 Southwest Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 SMU $	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
No. 2 Texas	6	–	1	–	1	10	–	1	–	1
Houston	5	–	2	–	1	7	–	4	–	1
Arkansas	5	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Texas A&M	4	–	4	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Rice	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Baylor	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
TCU	1	–	6	–	1	2	–	7	–	2
Texas Tech	0	–	7	–	1	1	–	9	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Unranked at the end of the regular season, the Hogs still received a Gator Bowl berth against a 10–2 North Carolina team ranked 11th.^[1] The SWC's champion, SMU, could not participate in a bowl game due to probation.^[2]

Defensive lineman Billy Ray Smith was a consensus All-American for Arkansas.^[3] Bruce Lahay, a kicker, also received first-team honors. Lahay was in a three-way tie for field goals per game in 1981, hitting on 1.73 per game. This mark was also held by Kevin Butler of Georgia and Larry Roach of Oklahoma State.

Schedule

More information Date, Opponent ...

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	Tulsa*		Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR		W 14–10	42,118
September 19	Northwestern*		War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR		W 38–7	54,532
September 26	at Ole Miss*		Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS (rivalry)	ESPN	W 27–13	63,522	^[4]
October 3	at TCU		Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX		L 24–28	30,313
October 10	at Texas Tech		Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX (rivalry)	ABC	W 26–14	41,866
October 17	No. 1 Texas		Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR (rivalry)	ABC	W 42–11	44,031
October 24	Houston	No. 12	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR		L 17–20	54,618
October 31	at Rice	No. 20	Rice Stadium Houston, TX		W 41–7	12,000
November 7	Baylor	No. 19	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR	ESPN	W 41–39	54,560
November 14	at Texas A&M	No. 16	Kyle Field College Station, TX (rivalry)	ABC	W 10–7	60,003
November 21	SMU	No. 16	Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR		L 12–32	43,842
December 28	vs. No. 11 North Carolina*		Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ABC	L 27–31	71,009	^[5]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Personnel

More information Players, Coaches ...

1981 Arkansas Razorbacks football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB		Gary Anderson
OL		Jay Bequette
RB		Darryl Bowles
RB		Thomas Brown
RB		Jessie Clark
TE		Steve Clyde
RB		Mark Douglas
OL		Charles Ginn
WR		Derek Holloway
RB		Tim Joiner
QB		Tom Jones
WR		Keith Kidd
RB		Jim Koch
OL		Steve Korte
TE		Darryl Mason
QB		McHan
WR		Gerald McMurray
WR		Mark Mistler
OL		Alfred Mohammed
RB		Nellum
QB		Bill Pierce
QB		Scott Reed
QB		Brad Taylor
RB		James Tolbert
OL		Ronnie Trusty
RB		Wagner
TE		Eddie White

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DL		Phil Boren
DB		Keith Burns
DB		Kim Dameron
LB		Steve Douglas
DL		Ron Faurot
LB		Jeff Goff
DB		Nathan Jones
LB		Teddy Morris
DB		Kent Reber
DL		Richard Richardson
DL		Billy Ray Smith
DB		Danny Walters
DL		Bert Zinamon

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K, P		Bruce Lahay

Head coach

Lou Holtz

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries

Tulsa

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022)

Northwestern

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022)

At Ole Miss

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022)

At TCU

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022)

At Texas Tech

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022)

Texas

More information Period, Total ...

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Texas	0	3	0	8	11
Arkansas	15	10	14	3	42

More information Game information ...

Game information

First quarter

ARK – Tom Jones 1-yard run (kick failed), 11:06. Arkansas 6–0. Drive: 4 plays, 19 yards, 1:36.
ARK – Safety (ball snapped over punter's head), 9:12. Arkansas 8–0.
ARK – Gary Anderson 5-yard run (Bruce Lahay kick), 2:54. Arkansas 15–0. Drive: 1 play, 5 yards, 0:04.

Second quarter

ARK – Bruce Lahay 47-yard field goal, 14:49. Arkansas 18–0. Drive: 6 plays, 15 yards, 2:32.
TEX – Raul Allegre 24-yard field goal, 9:25. Arkansas 18–3. Drive: 11 plays, 78 yards, 5:21.
ARK – Gary Anderson 19-yard pass from Tom Jones (Bruce Lahay kick), 0:20. Arkansas 25–3. Drive: 5 plays, 36 yards, 1:31.

Third quarter

ARK – Tom Jones 4-yard run (Bruce Lahay kick), 9:48. Arkansas 32–3. Drive: 8 plays, 44 yards, 3:16.
ARK – Darryl Bowles 19-yard run (Bruce Lahay kick), 7:02. Arkansas 39–3. Drive: 7 plays, 40 yards, 2:34.

Fourth quarter

ARK – Bruce Lahay 37-yard field goal, 9:46. Arkansas 42–3. Drive: 6 plays, 31 yards, 2:49.
TEX – Donnie Little 8-yard pass from Robert Brewer (pass good), 0:58. Arkansas 42–11. Drive: 9 plays, 89 yards, 1:39.

Top passers

TEX – Rick McIvor – 14/38, 215 yards, 4 INT
ARK – Tom Jones – 7/18, 83 yards, TD, INT

Top rushers

TEX – Johnny Walker – 7 rushes, 44 yards
ARK – Tom Jones – 13 rushes, 73 yards, 2 TD

Top receivers

TEX – Maurice McCloney – 4 receptions, 72 yards
ARK – Gary Anderson – 2 receptions, 33 yards, TD

#1 Texas Longhorns (4–0) at Arkansas Razorbacks (4–1)

at Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, Arkansas

Date: October 17
Game time: 2:45 p.m.
Game weather: Overcast, 70 °F (21 °C)
Game attendance: 44,031
TV: ABC
Box Score

Coming home to play Texas is like coming home to your wife with lipstick on your collar. Sometimes, you might be better off not coming home.

Lou Holtz, Arkansas Democrat (during the week)

^[6]

It was a great win...I'm glad we're not playing them again tomorrow.

Lou Holtz (postgame)

^[7]

Houston

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022)

At Rice

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022)

Baylor

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022)

At Texas A&M

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022)

SMU

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022)

Gator Bowl (vs. North Carolina)

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022)

References

[1]
"1981 Bowl Recap with Top 20 Teams." Gator Bowl. Information Please. Retrieved on August 14, 2007.
[2]
"1981 Conference Champions." Information Please Database. Information Please. Retrieved on December 9, 2007.
[3]
"1981 Consensus All-Americans." Information Please Database. Information Please. Retrieved on August 14, 2007.
[4]
"Arkansas is razor sharm against Rebs". The Commercial Appeal. September 27, 1981. Retrieved November 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
[5]
"North Carolina fogs Arkansas in Gator Bowl". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. December 29, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
[6]
"247sports.com". October 6, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
[7]
"No. 1 jinx holds up — Texas falls to Arkansas". Eugene Register-Guard. October 18, 1981. Retrieved October 10, 2022.

This college football 1980s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article about a sports team in Arkansas is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 1981_Arkansas_Razorbacks_football_team, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.