Northwestern
B10 · 1981 Season · Final
All-Time Resume
- 12-Team Playoff & Revenue Era · 1 seasons
- Limited Playoff Era · 25 seasons
- Independents & Bowl Tie-In Era · 16 seasons · 1 Top 10
- Divisional Era · 26 seasons
- AP Poll & Postwar Era · 20 seasons
- Forward Pass & Stadium Boom Era · 28 seasons · 2 Top 10
- Pioneer Era · 14 seasons · 1 Top 10
Final finishes, as published; the season in progress counts toward record only. Compare Northwestern head-to-head · History & Eras
1981 Schedule & Results
| Wk | Date | Opponent | Conf | Opp. Record | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Week 3 · Sep 15 |  Indiana (INDIANA)H2H |  B10 | 3–8 | L 20–21 |
| 4 | Week 4 · Sep 22 |  Arkansas (ARKANSAS)H2H | IND SWC | 8–4 | L 7–38 |
| 5 | Week 5 · Sep 29 |  Utah (UTAH)H2H | IND WAC | 8–2–1 | L 0–42 |
| 6 | Week 6 · Oct 6 |  Iowa (IOWA)H2H | B10 | 8–4 | L 0–64 |
| 7 | Week 7 · Oct 13 |  Minnesota (MINNESOTA)H2H | B10 | 6–5 | L 23–35 |
| 8 | Week 8 · Oct 20 |  Purdue (PURDUE)H2H | B10 | 5–6 | L 0–35 |
| 9 | Week 9 · Oct 27 |  Michigan (MICHIGAN)H2H | B10 | 9–3 | L 0–38 |
| 10 | Week 10 · Nov 3 |  Wisconsin (WISCONSIN)H2H | B10 | 7–5 | L 0–52 |
| 11 | Week 11 · Nov 10 |  Michigan State (MICHIGAN STATE)H2H | B10 | 5–6 | L 14–61 |
| 12 | Week 12 · Nov 17 |  Ohio State (OHIO STATE)H2H | B10 | 9–3 | L 6–70 |
| 13 | Week 13 · Nov 24 |  Illinois (ILLINOIS)H2H | B10 | 7–4 | L 12–49 |
Past season results come from the published weekly rankings; home/away is not recorded. Unranked = opponent outside the ranked field. Kickoff times in Eastern Time. TBD = not yet announced. vs* = neutral site. Opp. Record is the current season record; — = unavailable.
Where the rating sits on the 12-tier scale (lower is better).
- Utah -2
- Michigan -3
- Ohio State -3
- Arkansas -4
- Iowa -4
- Illinois -4
- Minnesota -5
- Wisconsin -5
- Purdue -6
- Michigan State -6
- Indiana -8
Each win stacks that opponent's win total to the right; each loss stacks that opponent's loss total to the left.
0.000 Win % · No change
Percent of all FBS teams this team is ahead of.
Higher on the chart = better rank.
Bars above the line are wins, below are losses; height = point margin.
Higher = better finish. Ranks as published.