1981 Northwestern Wildcats football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record0–11 (0–9 Big Ten)
Head coach
Captains
Home stadiumDyche Stadium
1981 Big Ten Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 15 Ohio State + 6 –2 –09 –3 –0
No. 18 Iowa + 6 –2 –08 –4 –0
No. 12 Michigan 6 –3 –09 –3 –0
Illinois 6 –3 –07 –4 –0
Wisconsin 6 –3 –07 –5 –0
Minnesota 4 –5 –06 –5 –0
Michigan State 4 –5 –05 –6 –0
Purdue 3 –6 –05 –6 –0
Indiana 3 –6 –03 –8 –0
Northwestern 0 –9 –00 –11 –0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

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.[2] 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.[3]

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.[4] Ricky Edwards led the Big Ten with 30 kickoff returns and 611 kickoff return yards.[5]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 12Indiana
L 20–21
September 19at Arkansas*
L 7–3854,532
September 26Utah*
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
L 0–4225,256
October 3No. 18 Iowa
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
L 0–6430,113
October 10at Minnesota
L 23–3545,949
October 17Purdue
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
L 0–3520,777
October 24at No. 18 Michigan
L 0–38104,361[6]
October 31at Wisconsin
L 0–5270,035
November 7Michigan State
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
L 14–6124,104
November 14at Ohio State
L 6–7086,912
November 21Illinois
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL (rivalry)
L 12–4923,116
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
WR 84 Dave Bahoric Sr
FB 44 David Callway Jr
G 67 Jim Crowder Sr
RB 30 Jeff Cohn Jr
TE 93 John Finn Sr
TE 80 Chris Hinton Jr
QB 12 Mike Kerrigan (C) Sr
OT 75 Rob Taylor Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
FS 15 Bobby Anderson Jr
LB 11 Chris Capstran Sr
LB 35 Mike Guendling So
LB 65 Alex Moyer Fr
LB 68 Chris Natzke Fr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 90 Jay Anderson Jr
P 4 John Kidd So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

References

  1. ↑ "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 149. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  2. ↑ "1981 Northwestern Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Worst college football teams of all time". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  4. ↑ "1981 Northwestern Wildcats Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  5. ↑ "1981 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Michigan stops Northwestern". The Pantagraph. October 25, 1981. p. C3.


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