1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football
Liberty Bowl Champions Big Ten Co-Champions
Liberty Bowl, W 31–28 vs. Navy
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	#12
AP	#15
1981 record	9–3 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Earle Bruce
MVP	Art Schlichter
Captain	Glen Cobb
Captain	Art Schlichter
Home stadium	Ohio Stadium (Capacity: 83,112)

1981 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#15 Ohio State +	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
#18 Iowa +	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
#12 Michigan	6	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Illinois	6	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Wisconsin	6	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Minnesota	4	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Michigan State	4	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	3	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	3	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	9	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–3 record, including the 1981 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, where they won, 31–28, against the Navy Midshipmen.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12	1:30 PM	Duke*	#11	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 34–13	86,266
September 19	1:30 PM	Michigan State	#8	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 27–13	87,084
September 26	4:30 PM	at Stanford*	#8	Stanford Stadium • Stanford, CA		W 24–19	76,102
October 3	1:30 PM	Florida State*	#7	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		L 27–36	87,158
October 10	2:30 PM	at Wisconsin	#18	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI		L 21–24	78,973
October 17	1:30 PM	Illinois		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)		W 34–27	87,158
October 24	1:30 PM	Indiana		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 29-10	87,182
October 31	12:30 PM	at Purdue		Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	ABC	W 45–33	69,927
November 7	2:00 PM	at Minnesota	#18	Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, MN		L 31–35	42,793
November 14	1:30 PM	Northwestern		Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH		W 70–6	86,912
November 21	12:30 PM	at #7 Michigan		Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI (The Game)	ABC	W 14–9	106,043
December 30	8:00 PM	vs. Navy*	#15	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	USA	W 31–28	43,216
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

Depth chart

Defense FS Garcia Lane ⋅ ROLB ILB ILB LOLB Anthony Griggs Glen Cobb Marcus Marek Mike D’Andrea Ben Lee ⋅ ⋅ Orlando Lowry ROV Doug Hill Rowland Tatum CB Shaun Gayle Jeff Cisco DE NT DE Chris Riehm Nick Miller Jerome Foster ⋅ Spencer Nelms ⋅ CB Kelvin Bell Mark Eberts Offense SE Gary Williams Thad Jemison LT LG C RG RT William Roberts Scott Zalenski Jim DeLeone Joe Lukens Joe Smith Jim Lachey ⋅ Kirk Lowdermilk ⋅ Jim Carson TE John Frank Brad Dwelle FL Cedric Anderson ⋅ QB Art Schlichter Mike Tomczak FB Vaughn Broadnax ⋅ Special Teams PK Bob Atha P Gary Alders P Karl Edwards RB Tim Spencer Jimmy Gayle

Coaching staff

• Earle Bruce - Head Coach (3rd year)
• Dennis Fryzel - Defensive Coordinator (3rd year)
• Glen Mason - Offensive Coordinator (4th year)
• Bill Myles - Offensive Line (5th year)
• Nick Saban - Defensive Backs (2nd year)
• Wayne Stanley - Running Backs (3rd year)
• Steve Szabo - Defensive Line (3rd year)
• Bob Tucker - Defensive Outside Linebackers (3rd year)
• Fred Zechman - Quarterbacks/Receivers (3rd year)

Game notes

Stanford

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 0 17 7 0 24 Stanford 3 3 0 13 19 Date: September 26 Location: Stanford Stadium • Palo Alto, CA Television network: ESPN

Scoring summary 1 Stanford Mark Harmon 25 yard field goal Stanford 3-0 2 OSU Shaun Gayle 1 yard run (Atha kick) OSU 7-3 2 Stanford Mark Harmon 39 yard field goal) OSU 7-6 2 OSU Robert Atha 45 yard field goal OSU 10-6 2 OSU Brad Dwelle 5 yard pass from Art Schlichter (Atha kick) OSU 17-6 3 OSU Brad Dwelle 7 yard pass from Art Schlicther (Atha kick) OSU 24-6 4 Stanford Donald Lonslinger 4 yard pass from John Elway (pass failed) OSU 24-12 4 Stanford Michael Tolliver 23 yard pass from John Elway (Harmon kick) OSU 24-19

Florida State

1 2 3 4 Total • Florida St 10 13 13 0 36 Ohio State 7 14 0 6 27 Date: October 3 Location: Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH Television network: USA

Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 0 7 0 7 14 Michigan 3 0 6 0 9 Date: November 21 Location: Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI Game attendance: 106,043 TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels

Scoring summary 1 MICH Ali Haji-Sheikh 19 yard field goal MICH 3-0 2 OSU Art Schlichter 1 yard run (Robert Atha kick) OSU 7-3 3 MICH Ali Haji-Sheikh 26 yard field goal OSU 7-6 3 MICH Ali Haji-Sheikh 24 yard field goal MICH 9-7 4 OSU Art Schlichter 6 yard run (Robert Atha kick) OSU 14-9

Liberty Bowl

1981 Liberty Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total • Ohio State 10 7 7 7 31 Navy 7 6 7 8 28 Date: December 30 Location: Liberty Bowl • Memphis, TN

1982 NFL draftees

Player	Round	Pick	Position	NFL Club
Art Schlichter	1	4	Quarterback	Baltimore Colts
Anthony Griggs	4	105	Linebacker	Philadelphia Eagles
Bob Atha	12	317	Kicker	St. Louis Cardinals

References

Win/Loss statistics

• Ohio State Historical Scores
• 1981 Ohio State Buckeyes Schedule and Results
• 1981 Ohio State Buckeyes Stats
• 1981 Big Ten Conference Year Summary

Draft data

• Ohio State Drafted Players