1981 Texas Longhorns football team

The 1981 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Longhorns finished the regular season with a 9–1–1 record and defeated Alabama in the 1982 Cotton Bowl Classic.

1981 Texas Longhorns football
Cotton Bowl Classic champion
Cotton Bowl Classic, W 14–12 vs. Alabama
Conference	Southwest Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 2
Record	10–1–1 (6–1–1 SWC)
Head coach	Fred Akers (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Ron Toman (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Leon Fuller (5th season)
Home stadium	Texas Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 77,809)
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	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	7:00 p.m.	Rice	No. 8	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)		W 31–3	68,497
September 19	7:00 p.m.	North Texas State*	No. 6	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 23–10	58,638	^[1]
September 26	7:00 p.m.	No. 14 Miami (FL)*	No. 4	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 14–7	74,653
October 10	11:30 a.m.	vs. No. 10 Oklahoma*	No. 3	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Red River Shootout)	ABC	W 34–14	75,587
October 17	2:30 p.m.	at Arkansas	No. 1	Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR (rivalry)	ABC	L 11–42	44,031
October 24	1:30 p.m.	at No. 8 SMU	No. 10	Texas Stadium Irving, TX		W 9–7	60,777
October 31	1:00 p.m.	Texas Tech	No. 6	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)		W 26–9	56,439
November 7	7:30 p.m.	at Houston	No. 5	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX		T 14–14	52,589
November 14	1:00 p.m.	TCU	No. 10	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX (rivalry)		W 31–15	60,038
November 21	1:00 p.m.	Baylor	No. 8	Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 34–12	72,806
November 26	2:00 p.m.	at Texas A&M	No. 7	Kyle Field College Station, TX (rivalry)	CBS	W 21–13	71,731
January 1, 1982	1:00 p.m.	vs. No. 3 Alabama*	No. 6	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	W 14–12	73,243
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[2]

Personnel

1981 Texas Longhorns football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL Mike Baab QB Robert Brewer OL Mike Chapman RB Darryl Clark OL Doug Dawson QB Todd Dodge WR Brent Duhon RB Don Holloway TE Alvin Jenkins RB Jerome Johnson RB A.J. (Jam) Jones WR Hamice King WR Donnie Little RB Mike Luck WR Maurice McCloney QB Rick McIvor OL Bryan Millard RB Robert Moerschell WR Ronnie Mullins RB Terry Orr RB Carl Robinson RB Ronnie Robinson TE Lawrence Sampleton OL Joe Shearin RB Rodney Tate OL Terry Tausch RB Johnny Walker WR Herkie Walls	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB Vance Bedford DL Mike Buchanan DB Craig Curry DL Ralph Darnell DL Kiki DeAyala DB William Graham DL John Haines DB Mike Hatchett DL Eric Holle DB Bobby Johnson LB Jeff Leiding LB Bruce Scholtz LB Doug Shankle DL Kenneth Sims DL Mark Weber	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K Raul Allegre P John Goodson	Head coach Fred Akers Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

Season summary

Rice

North Texas State

Miami (FL)

Vs. Oklahoma

At Arkansas

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

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

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

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

At SMU

Texas Tech

At Houston

TCU

Baylor

Baylor at #8 Texas

1 2 3 4 Total Baylor 0 12 0 0 12 • Texas 20 0 0 14 34 Date: Saturday, November 21 Location: Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas Game attendance: 72,806 Source: Eugene Register-Guard

Scoring summary 1 TEX Clark 9-yard run (Allegre kick) TEX 7-0 1 TEX Jones 67-yard run (Allegre kick) TEX 14-0 1 TEX Walker 1-yard run (kick blocked) TEX 20-0 2 BAY Jimmerson 30-yard field goal TEX 20-3 2 BAY McNeil 30-yard pass from Jeffrey (kick failed) TEX 20-9 2 BAY Jimmerson 22-yard field goal TEX 20-12 4 TEX Brewer 1-yard run (Allegre kick) TEX 27-12 4 TEX Brewer 1-yard run (Allegre kick) TEX 34-12

At Texas A&M

Cotton Bowl (vs. Alabama)

References

1. "Texas dumps stubborn North Texas". The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise. September 20, 1981. Retrieved October 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
2. . Archived from the original on November 1, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)