Jump to content

Main menu Navigation ●Main page ●Contents ●Current events ●Random article ●About Wikipedia ●Contact us ●Donate Contribute ●Help ●Learn to edit ●Community portal ●Recent changes ●Upload file

●Create account ●Log in ●Create account ● Log in Pages for logged out editors learn more ●Contributions ●Talk

(Top) 1 Schedule 2 Personnel 3 Game summaries 3.1 Michigan 3.2 At Minnesota 4 1982 NFL Draft 5 References

1981 Wisconsin Badgers football team

Add links ●Article ●Talk ●Read ●Edit ●View history Tools Actions ●Read ●Edit ●View history General ●What links here ●Related changes ●Upload file ●Special pages ●Permanent link ●Page information ●Cite this page ●Get shortened URL ●Download QR code ●Wikidata item Print/export ●Download as PDF ●Printable version Appearance From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1981 Wisconsin Badgers football
Garden State Bowl, L 21–28 vs. Tennessee
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	7–5 (6–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Dave McClain (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Bill Dudley (2nd as OC; 4th overall season)
Offensive scheme	Triple option
Defensive coordinator	Jim Hilles (4th season)
Base defense	3–4
MVP	Dave Levenick
Captains	Dave Levenick Dave Mohapp Larry Spurlin
Home stadium	Camp Randall Stadium
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

1981 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No.15Ohio State +	6	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No.18Iowa +	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
No.12Michigan	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 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 1981 Big Ten Conference football season.

Several Wisconsin players ranked among the Big Ten leaders, including the following:

Quarterback Jess Cole ranked seventh in the conference with 12 passing touchdowns and ninth with 1,180 passing yards.^[1]
Running back John Williams ranked second in the conference with 5.5 rushing yards per carry and seventh with 634 rushing yards.
David Greenwood led the conference with 156 interception return yards, and he and Matt Vanden Boom tied for second in the conference with six interceptions each.^[1]

Wisconsin made its first bowl appearance since the 1963 Rose Bowl.

Schedule[edit]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	No. 1Michigan		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 21–14	68,733
September 19	No. 9UCLA*	No. 20	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 13–31	71,496
September 26	Western Michigan*		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 21–10	67,196
October 3	Purdue		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 20–14	68,603
October 10	No. 18Ohio State		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 24–21	78,973
October 17	atMichigan State	No. 14	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 14–33	67,352
October 24	atIllinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 21–23	67,413
October 31	Northwestern		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 52–0	70,035
November 7	atIndiana		Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	W 28–7	44,218
November 14	Iowa		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	L 7–17	78,731
November 21	atMinnesota		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN (rivalry)	W 26–21	47,125
December 13	vs. Tennessee*		Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ (Garden State Bowl)	L 21–28	53,220	^[2]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[3]

Personnel[edit]

1981 Wisconsin Badgers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`10`	Jess Cole	So
RB	`23`	Chucky Davis	So
OT	`70`	Jerry Doerger	Sr
FB	`41`	Gary Ellerson	Fr
TE	`37`	Craig Fredrick	Sr
FB	`36`	Gerald Green	Jr
FB	`8`	Paul Hughes	Sr
WR	`82`	Michael Jones	Fr
G	`71`	Leo Joyce	Sr
RB	`35`	Troy King	Jr
WR	`20`	Thad McFadden	So
WR	`38`	Kyle McKinnon	Sr
FB	`28`	Dave Mohapp (C)	Sr
TE	`88`	Jeff Nault	Jr
WR	`22`	Marvin Neal	Jr
TE	`86`	Bret Pearson	So
TE	`84`	Greg Rabas	Sr
RB	`33`	Curtis Richardson	Sr
WR	`34`	Al Seamonson	Sr
G	`52`	Pete Severson	Jr
WR	`42`	Tim Stracka	Sr
G	`53`	Mark Subach	Jr
OT	`66`	Scott Swan	Sr
G	`73`	Melvin Terrell	So
WR	`87`	Al Toon	Fr
C	`58`	Ron Versnik	Jr
OT	`74`	Carlton Walker	So
RB	`1`	John Williams	Jr
OT	`79`	Bob Winckler	Jr
QB	`12`	Randy Wright	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB	`26`	Brett Armstrong	Jr
LB	`95`	Guy Boliaux	Sr
LB	`32`	Kyle Borland	Jr
DT	`72`	Jeff Dellenbach	Fr
S/P	`31`	David Greenwood	Jr
NT	`93`	Jack Grundy	Jr
NT	`50`	Tim Krumrie	Jr
LB	`47`	Dave Levenick (C)	Sr
LB	`94`	Jeff Luko	Jr
CB	`45`	Von Mansfield	Sr
CB	`15`	Brian Marrow	So
LB	`33`	James Melka	Fr
S	`11`	Dan Messenger	Jr
LB	`44`	Jody O'Donnell	Jr
DT	`71`	Chris Osswald	So
DT	`76`	Mark Shumate	Jr
CB	`9`	Clint Sims	Jr
DT	`60`	Darryl Simms	So
LB	`49`	Larry Spurlin (C)	Sr
S	`2`	Ron Steverson	Sr
S	`27`	Vaughn Thomas	Jr
CB	`5`	Jerry Vance	So
S	`39`	Matt Vanden Boom	Jr
S	`7`	John Westphal	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
S, P	`31`	David Greenwood	Jr
K	`24`	Mark Doran	So
K	`6`	Wendell Gladem	So

Head coach

Dave McClain

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Bill Dudley – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks and Receivers
Jim Hilles – Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Doug Graber – Defensive Backs
Arnold Jeter – Defensive Line
Cliff Knox – Running Backs
Mike Nelson – Defensive Ends
Bob Palcic – Tackles and Tight Ends
Mario Russo – Centers and Guards
Jerry Fishbain – Recruiting Coordinator

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries[edit]

Michigan[edit]

#1 Michigan at Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Michigan	0	7	7	0	14
• Wisconsin	0	14	7	0	21

Date: Saturday, September 12
Location: Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, Wisconsin
Game attendance: 68,733

Source: Gainesville Sun

Scoring summary

2		Michigan	S. Smith 4 yard run (Haji-Sheikh kick)	Michigan 7-0

2		Wisconsin	Neal 17 yard pass from Cole (Doran kick)	Tie 7-7

2		Wisconsin	Davis 1 yard run (Doran kick)	Wisconsin 14-7

3		Michigan	Woolfolk 89 yard run (Haji-Sheikh kick)	Tie 14-14

3	5:13	Wisconsin	Williams 71 yard pass from Cole (Doran kick)	Wisconsin 21-14

Wisconsin safety Matt Vanden Boom had three interceptions, including the game-clincher with two seconds left at his own 17. It was the Badgers first win against Michigan since 1962 and the first time they scored points against the Wolverines since 1976.

At Minnesota[edit]

Wisconsin Badgers (6–4) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (6–4)

Period	1	2	Total
Wisconsin			0
Minnesota			0

atMemorial Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Date: November 21, 1981
Game attendance: 47,125
^[4]

Head coach Dave McClain inserted backup Randy Wright in the fourth quarter after Minnesota took the lead for the first time, on the reason "because Cole was not having a good day throwing." Following the victory, Wisconsin accepted the bid from the Garden State Bowl to play Tennessee.^[5]

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Wisconsin	Passing	Jess Cole	6/17, 84 Yds
	Rushing
	Receiving
Minnesota	Passing	Mike Hohensee	17/34, 254 Yds, TD
	Rushing
	Receiving	Chester Cooper	6 Rec, 123 Yds, TD

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	WISC	MINN
4					Minnesota	Chester Cooper 4-yard touchdown reception from Mike Hohensee, Jim Gallery kick good	20	21
4	1:05				Wisconsin	Michael Jones 7-yard touchdown reception from Randy Wright, 2-point	26	21
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							26	21

1982 NFL Draft[edit]

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Von Mansfield	Cornerback	5	122	Atlanta Falcons
Jerry Doerger	Tackle	8	200	Chicago Bears
Guy Boliaux	Linebacker	11	283	Chicago Bears
Dave Levenick	Linebacker	12	315	Atlanta Falcons

^[6]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b "1981 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 19, 2016.

^ "Tennessee's speed burns Wisconsin". Clarion-Ledger. December 14, 1981. Retrieved August 18, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

^ "Wisconsin Badgers Index". sports-reference.com. Retrieved July 28, 2011.

^ "Wisconsin 26, Minnesota 21". UPI Archives. November 22, 1981. Retrieved December 18, 2022.

^ "1982 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.

v t e Wisconsin Badgers football
Venues	Randall Field (1895–1916) Camp Randall Stadium (1917–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Iowa Minnesota Nebraska
Culture & lore	Bucky Badger "On, Wisconsin!" Marching band "Jump Around" Tall Grass Game Crazylegs
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders Retired numbers
Seasons	1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1981_Wisconsin_Badgers_football_team&oldid=1170925308" Categories: ●1981 Big Ten Conference football season ●Wisconsin Badgers football seasons ●1981 in sports in Wisconsin Hidden categories: ●Articles with short description ●Short description matches Wikidata ●Use mdy dates from August 2023 ●Pages using infobox college sports team season with no sport parameter ●Pages using CFB schedule with named parameters ●Articles with hCards ●This page was last edited on 18 August 2023, at 00:54 (UTC). ●Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. ●Privacy policy ●About Wikipedia ●Disclaimers ●Contact Wikipedia ●Code of Conduct ●Developers ●Statistics ●Cookie statement ●Mobile view