1981 Baylor Bears football team

The 1981 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Bears finished the season sixth in the Southwest Conference. In the Battle of the Brazos, the Bears beat Texas A&M for the fourth consecutive season. It was the longest winning streak the Bears had in the rivalry.

1981 Baylor Bears football
Conference	Southwest Conference
Record	5–6 (3–5 SWC)
Head coach	Grant Teaff (10th season)
Offensive coordinator	John O'Hara (3rd season)
Home stadium	Baylor Stadium
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	Lamar*	Baylor Stadium Waco, TX		L 17–18	22,000
September 12	Bowling Green*	Baylor Stadium Waco, TX		W 38–0	20,000
September 19	at Louisiana Tech*	Independence Stadium Shreveport, LA		W 28–21	21,000	^[1]
September 26	Texas Tech	Baylor Stadium Waco, TX (rivalry)		W 28–15	40,000
October 3	at Houston	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX	ABC	L 3–24	28,118
October 10	at No. 14 SMU	Texas Stadium Irving, TX		L 20–37	33,110
October 17	Texas A&M	Baylor Stadium Waco, TX (Battle of the Brazos)		W 19–17	45,000
October 24	TCU	Baylor Stadium Waco, TX (rivalry)		W 34–21	40,000
November 7	at No. 19 Arkansas	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR	ESPN	L 39–41	54,560
November 14	Rice	Baylor Stadium Waco, TX		L 14–17	30,000
November 21	at No. 8 Texas	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		L 12–34	72,806
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Team players drafted into the NFL

The following players were drafted into professional football following the season.^[2]

Player	Position	Round	Pick	Franchise
Walter Abercrombie	Running Back	1	12	Pittsburgh Steelers
Vann McElroy	Defensive Back	3	64	Oakland Raiders
Dennis Gentry	Running Back	4	89	Chicago Bears

References

1. "Bears rally to push back feisty 'Dogs". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 20, 1980. Retrieved July 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
2. . pro-football-reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2016.