1981 Washington Huskies football team

The 1981 Washington Huskies football team was an American football team that represented the University of Washington during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its seventh season under head coach Don James, the team compiled a 10–2 record, finished first in the Pacific-10 Conference, shut out Iowa in the Rose Bowl,^[1][2][3] and outscored its opponents 281 to 171.^[4]

1981 Washington Huskies football
Pac-10 champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 28–0 vs. Iowa
Conference	Pacific-10
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 10
Record	10–2 (6–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	Don James (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Bob Stull (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Jim Lambright (5th season)
MVP	Mark Jerue
Captains	James Carter Vince Coby Fletcher Jenkins Mark Jerue
Home stadium	Husky Stadium
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

1981 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 Washington $	6	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 16 Arizona State	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
No. 14 USC	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Washington State	5	–	2	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
UCLA	5	–	2	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
Arizona	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Stanford	4	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
California	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Oregon	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Oregon State	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Linebacker Mark Jerue was selected as the team's most valuable player; Jerue, James Carter, Vince Coby, and Fletcher Jenkins were the team captains.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 12	Pacific (CA)*	No. 17	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 34–14	45,134
September 19	Kansas State*	No. 15	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 20–3	52,343
September 26	at Oregon	No. 16	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR (rivalry)	W 17–3	40,685
October 3	Arizona State	No. 12	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	L 7–26	50,410
October 10	at California		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	W 27–26	33,600
October 17	Oregon State		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 56–17	52,324
October 24	at Texas Tech*		Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX	W 14–7	36,335
October 31	Stanford	No. 18	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 42–31	53,504
November 7	at UCLA	No. 16	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 0–31	41,818
November 14	No. 3 USC		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 13–3	59,870
November 21	No. 14 Washington State	No. 17	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA (Apple Cup)	W 23–10	60,052
January 1, 1982	vs. No. 13 Iowa*	No. 12	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	W 28–0	105,611
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 Washington Huskies football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 15 Anthony Allen Jr G 62 Andy Bresolin Sr TB 4 Dennis Brown Jr G 57 James Carter (C) Sr RB 5 Vince Coby (C) Sr C 50 Paul Coty Jr QB 14 Tim Cowan Jr OT 77 Don Dow Jr MG 92 Scott Garnett So WR 80 Danny Greene Fr TB 22 Sterling Hinds So TB 25 Ron Jackson So FB 31 Chris James Jr TE 56 Rick Mallory So OT 72 Eric Moran Jr QB 16 Steve Pelluer So TB 28 Jacque Robinson Fr TE 32 Willie Rosborough Jr WR 7 Paul Skansi Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 48 Tony Caldwell Jr DT 61 Ray Cattage Jr LB 40 Ken Driscoll Jr CB 8 Ray Horton Sr DT 65 Fletcher Jenkins (C) Sr LB 67 Mark Jerue (C) Sr FS 24 Robert Leaphart So MG 68 Lynn Madsen So DB 23 Vince Newsome Jr SS 30 Chris O'Connor Jr CB 11 Bill Stapleton Jr LB 38 Mark Stewart Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 13 Chuck Nelson Jr P 18 Jeff Partridge Jr	Head coach Don James (7th year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Bob Stull – OC Jim Lambright – DC Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

Source:^[5][6][7]

Game summaries

Washington State

#14 Washington State at #17 Washington

1 2 3 4 Total Cougars 0 7 3 0 10 • Huskies 0 10 10 3 23 Date: Saturday, November 21 Location: Husky Stadium, Seattle, Washington Game start: 1:30 pm PST Game attendance: 60,052 Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C), Overcast Television network: ABC (regional)

Scoring summary 2 WASH Nelson 39-yard field goal WASH 3-0 2 WSU Martin 6-yard run (Leland kick) WSU 7-3 2 WASH Skansi 15-yard pass from Pelluer (Nelson kick) WASH 10-7 3 WSU Leland 27-yard field goal Tied 10-10 3 WASH Jackson 23-yard run (Nelson kick) WASH 17-10 3 WASH Nelson 28-yard field goal WASH 20-10 4 WASH Nelson 34-yard field goal WASH 23-10

The Cougars entered the Apple Cup with an 8–1–1 record and a road win over Washington at Husky Stadium would clinch the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl berth, WSU's first bowl game in 51 years.^[8][9] The Huskies prevailed at home, 23–10, for their eighth straight win over the Cougs,^[10][11] who were invited to the Holiday Bowl.^[12]

Conference leader UCLA lost by a point to rival USC, which gave Washington the Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl berth;^[13] the top five teams in the Pac-10 had two losses each in league play.

vs. Iowa (Rose Bowl)

#12 Washington vs. #13 Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • Huskies 0 13 0 15 28 Hawkeyes 0 0 0 0 0 Date: January 1, 1982 Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California Game attendance: 105,611 Referee: Rich McVay TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen Sources:

Scoring summary 2 UW Robinson 1-yard run (Nelson kick) UW 7-0 2 UW Coby 1-yard run (pass failed) UW 13-0 4 UW Robinson 34-yard run (Pelluer pass to Skansi) UW 21-0 4 UW Cowan 3-yard run (Nelson kick) UW 28-0

Main article: 1982 Rose Bowl

See also: 1981 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

^[14][15]

NFL Draft selections

Two University of Washington Huskies were selected in the 1982 NFL Draft which lasted twelve rounds with 334 selections.

= Husky Hall of Fame^[16]

Player	Position	Round	Overall	Franchise
Mark Jerue	LB	5	135	New York Jets
Fletcher Jenkins	DT	7	169	Baltimore Colts

References

1. Stevenson, Jack (January 2, 1982). "Huskies fry Hawkeyes". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 13.
2. Oates, Bob (January 2, 1982). "Everything comes up roses for UW, 28-0". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Los Angeles Times). p. 1B.
3. "Rose: UW's shootout was a shutout". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). (Los Angeles Times). January 2, 1982. p. 1C.
4. . College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
5. "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). September 26, 1981. p. 2B.
6. "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 17, 1981. p. 2B.
7. "Probable starters". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 21, 1981. p. 17.
8. Gerheim, Earl (November 21, 1981). "Cougs: Today's the day". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 17.
9. Barrows, Bob (November 21, 1981). "WSU and Washington ready to pull the trigger". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
10. Withers, Bud (November 22, 1981). "Huskies shatter a Cougar dream". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1D.
11. Barrows, Bob (November 22, 1981). "WSU's cheers turn to tears in Seattle". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 3D.
12. Van Sickel, Charlie (November 23, 1981). "'Holiday' next for frustrated Cougars". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 33.
13. "USC blocks UCLA's bid for Roses". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 22, 1981. p. 3D.
14. "Iowa flat embarrassed by Washington romp". Chicago Tribune. January 2, 1981. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
15. "Washington Wilts Iowa's Rose, 28-0". The Washington Post. January 2, 1981. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
16. "The Husky Hall of Fame". gohuskies.com. Retrieved 2019-10-08.