Personnel
| 1981 Arkansas Razorbacks football team roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Offense
| Defense
| Special teams
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| 1981 Arkansas Razorbacks football | |
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Gator Bowl, L 27–31 vs. North Carolina | |
| Conference | Southwest Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 16 |
| Record | 8–4 (5–3 SWC) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive coordinator | Larry Beightol |
| Defensive coordinator | Don Lindsey |
| Home stadium | Razorback Stadium War Memorial Stadium |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 SMU $ | 7 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Texas | 6 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 1 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston | 5 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas A&M | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rice | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baylor | 3 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TCU | 1 | – | 6 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 7 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Tech | 0 | – | 7 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 9 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1981 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The biggest win of the year was against a #1 Texas team, which the Razorbacks were rivals with already. Although unranked, the Razorbacks came out on top by 31 points, ending Texas' run at the top of the polls.
Unranked at the end of the regular season, the Hogs still received a Gator Bowl berth against a 10–2 North Carolina team ranked 11th. [1] The SWC's champion, SMU, could not participate in a bowl game due to probation. [2]
Defensive lineman Billy Ray Smith was a consensus All-American for Arkansas. [3] Bruce Lahay, a kicker, also received first-team honors. Lahay was in a three-way tie for field goals per game in 1981, hitting on 1.73 per game. This mark was also held by Kevin Butler of Georgia and Larry Roach of Oklahoma State.
| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 12 | Tulsa * | W 14–10 | 42,118 | ||||
| September 19 | Northwestern * | W 38–7 | 54,532 | ||||
| September 26 | at Ole Miss * | ESPN | W 27–13 | 63,522 | [4] | ||
| October 3 | at TCU | L 24–28 | 30,313 | ||||
| October 10 | at Texas Tech | ABC | W 26–14 | 41,866 | |||
| October 17 | No. 1 Texas |
| ABC | W 42–11 | 44,031 | ||
| October 24 | Houston | No. 12 |
| L 17–20 | 54,618 | ||
| October 31 | at Rice | No. 20 | W 41–7 | 12,000 | |||
| November 7 | Baylor | No. 19 |
| ESPN | W 41–39 | 54,560 | |
| November 14 | at Texas A&M | No. 16 | ABC | W 10–7 | 60,003 | ||
| November 21 | SMU | No. 16 |
| L 12–32 | 43,842 | ||
| December 28 | vs. No. 11 North Carolina * | ABC | L 27–31 | 71,009 | |||
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| 1981 Arkansas Razorbacks football team roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Offense
| Defense
| Special teams
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| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 11 |
| Arkansas | 15 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 42 |
at Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, Arkansas
| Game information | ||
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Coming home to play Texas is like coming home to your wife with lipstick on your collar. Sometimes, you might be better off not coming home.
Lou Holtz, Arkansas Democrat (during the week)
It was a great win...I'm glad we're not playing them again tomorrow.
Lou Holtz (postgame)
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The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot in 1910 to the Arkansas Razorbacks after a hard-fought battle against LSU in which they were said to play like a "wild band of Razorback hogs" by former coach Hugo Bezdek. The Arkansas Razorbacks are the only major sports team in the U.S. with a porcine nickname, though the Texas A&M–Kingsville Javelinas play in Division II.
Houston Dale Nutt Jr. is a former American football player and coach. He formerly worked for CBS Sports as a college football studio analyst. Previously, he served as the head football coach at Murray State University (1993–1996), Boise State University (1997), the University of Arkansas (1998–2007), and the University of Mississippi (2008–2011). Nutt's all-time career winning percentage is just under 59 percent.
Louis Leo Holtz is a former American football player, coach, and analyst. He served as the head football coach at the College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York Jets (1976), the University of Arkansas (1977–1983), the University of Minnesota (1984–1985), the University of Notre Dame (1986–1996), and the University of South Carolina (1999–2004), compiling a career college football head coaching record of 249–132–7. Holtz's 1988 Notre Dame team went 12–0 with a victory in the Fiesta Bowl and was the consensus national champion. Holtz is the only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 20 rankings.
The Arkansas Razorbacks football program represents the University of Arkansas in the sport of American football. The Razorbacks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The program has one national championship awarded by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and Helms Athletic Foundation (HAF) in 1964 and one national championship awarded by the Rothman Foundation for the Analysis of Competitions and Tournaments in 1977. The school does not claim the 1977 title. The program began in 1894 and has compiled an all-time record of 736–531–40, among the most wins in NCAA Division I history, for a .578 winning percentage. The Razorbacks have won 13 conference championships and have had 58 players named honored as All-Americans.
The 1977 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas in the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. In their first year under head coach Lou Holtz, the Razorbacks compiled an 11–1 record, finished in second place in the SWC, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 389 to 101. The Razorbacks' only loss was to SWC champion Texas by a 13–9 score. There was controversy during that game, when Arkansas QB Ron Calcagni's facemask was grabbed by a Texas player during a key drive, but the officials did not call the penalty, and Arkansas was forced to settle for a field goal. The team advanced to 1978 Orange Bowl, defeating #2 Oklahoma by a 31–6 score. Arkansas was ranked #3 in both the final AP Poll and the final UPI Coaches Poll.
The 1978 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas in the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second year under head coach Lou Holtz, the Razorbacks compiled a 9–2–1 record, finished in a tie for second place in the SWC, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 336 to 147. The Razorbacks' only losses were to SWC champion Houston by a 20–9 score and to Texas by a 28–21 score. The team advanced to 1978 Fiesta Bowl, playing to a 10–10 tie with UCLA. Arkansas was ranked #11 in the final AP Poll and #10 in the final UPI Coaches Poll.
The 1979 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas in the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third year under head coach Lou Holtz, the Razorbacks compiled a 10–2 record, finished in a tie with Houston for the SWC championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 284 to 132. The Razorbacks' only regular season loss was to Houston by a 13–10 score. The team advanced to the 1980 Sugar Bowl, losing to undefeated national champion Alabama by a 24–9 score. Arkansas was ranked #8 in the final AP Poll and #9 in the final UPI Coaches Poll.
During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known as Division I-A. The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of "wire service" polls. The "writers' poll" by Associated Press (AP) was the most popular, followed by the "coaches' poll" by United Press International) (UPI). Prior to 1965, both services issued their final polls at the close of the regular season, but before teams competed in bowl games. For the 1965 season, the AP took its final poll after the postseason games, an arrangement made permanent in 1968. The Associated Press presented the "AP Trophy" to the winner.
The 2008 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas in the 2008 football season. The Razorbacks played five home games at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas and one home game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Razorbacks finished the season with an overall record of 5–7 and a conference record of 2–6 in Bobby Petrino's inaugural season.
The 1977 NCAA Division I football season was one in which the top five teams finished with 11–1 records. Notre Dame, which beat top-ranked and undefeated Texas in the Cotton Bowl, became the national champion.
The Arkansas–Texas A&M football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Arkansas Razorbacks and Texas A&M Aggies, which started in 1903. Between 1992 and 2008, the schools did not play each other when Arkansas left the Southwest Conference to join the Southeastern Conference. The rivalry was renewed as a neutral-site out-of-conference contest in 2009; in 2012 it once again became a conference rivalry when Texas A&M also joined the Southeastern Conference. Arkansas leads the series 42–35–3.
The 1960 Gator Bowl was a college football bowl game between the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets representing the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Southwest Conference (SWC) co-champion Arkansas Razorbacks. Arkansas defeated Georgia Tech, 14–7, in front of 45,104 spectators. There were two players named Most Valuable Player: Jim Mooty of Arkansas and Maxie Baughan of Georgia Tech.
The 1966 Cotton Bowl Classic was a post-season college football bowl game of the 1965 season with national championship implications between the Southwest Conference champion Arkansas Razorbacks and the LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference. With a scoreless second half at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, LSU defeated Arkansas 14–7 in front of 76,200 spectators on Saturday, January 1, 1966.
The Arkansas–Texas football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Arkansas Razorbacks and Texas Longhorns.
The 1970 Sugar Bowl was the 36th edition of the college football bowl game, played at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Thursday, January 1. It featured the third-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks of the Southwest Conference (SWC) and the #13 Ole Miss Rebels of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Ole Miss upset Arkansas, 27–22.
Roland Sales is a former running back for the University of Arkansas and a former professional football player. His career is significant because in the 1977 season's 1978 Orange Bowl, Sales set an Orange Bowl rushing record of 205 yards that stood until the 1998 Orange Bowl when Ahman Green broke it by rushing for 206 yards. Sales and Razorbacks teammate Reggie Freeman were named 1978 Orange Bowl MVPs.
The 1978 Orange Bowl was the 44th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1977–78 bowl game season, it matched the sixth-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks of the Southwest Conference (SWC) against the heavily-favored #2 Oklahoma Sooners of the Big Eight Conference.
The 1975 Texas A&M Aggies football team represented Texas A&M University during the 1975 NCAA Division I football season. The team was ranked second in the nation late in the season before losing its last two games. The Aggies finished as Southwest Conference co-champions with both the Texas Longhorns and the Arkansas Razorbacks. The three co-champions each finished with a 10–2 overall win–loss record and a 6–1 record against Southwest Conference opponents.
The 2015 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represented the University of Arkansas during the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Razorbacks played their home games at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville and War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. They competed as a member of the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference. Arkansas was led by third-year head coach Bret Bielema. Dan Enos served his first season as offensive coordinator, replacing Jim Chaney who left for a job with Pittsburgh. Enos was previously the head coach of Central Michigan.
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