1981 Cincinnati Bearcats football team

The 1981 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented University of Cincinnati during 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season.

1981 Cincinnati Bearcats football
Conference	Independent
Record	6–5
Head coach	Mike Gottfried (1st season)
Home stadium	Nippert Stadium

1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Pittsburgh		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Penn State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Miami (FL)		–		–				9	–	2	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
No. 17 West Virginia		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Colgate		–		–				7	–	3	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Navy		–		–				7	–	4	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Florida State		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Tulane		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
UNLV		–		–				6	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				6	–	6	–	0
Temple		–		–				5	–	5	–	0
Boston College		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Louisville		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
William & Mary		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				4	–	6	–	1
Richmond		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Army		–		–				3	–	7	–	1
North Texas State		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	Youngstown State	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	L 13–16
September 12	at No. 9 Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	L 0–52	84,342
September 19	at No. 7 Pittsburgh	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (River City Rivalry)	L 7–38	40,172
September 26	Rutgers	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	W 10–0
October 10	at Ohio	Peden Stadium Athens, OH	W 19–9
October 17	Richmond	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	W 27–18
October 24	Temple	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	L 13–24
October 31	Tulane	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	W 17–13	19,486
November 7	Memphis State	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH (rivalry)	W 38–7
November 14	Louisville	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH (Keg of Nails)	W 24–0
November 21	at Miami (OH)	Miami Field Oxford, OH (Victory Bell)	L 3–7
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 Cincinnati Bearcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 6 Danny Barrett Jr FB 26 Don Goodman So OT 69 Kari Yli-Renko Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 82 George Jamison So DB 10 Mel Jenkins So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Mike Gottfried Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt