1981 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

1981 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football
Conference	Independent
Record	1–10
Head coach	Bill Curry (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Rip Scherer (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Ken Blair (2nd season)
Captain	Dave Lutz Lance Skelton Mark Bradley Ken Carney
Home stadium	Grant Field
Seasons ←  1980 1982  →

1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	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

The 1981 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represented the Georgia Institute of Technology during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Yellow Jackets were led by second-year head coach Bill Curry, and played their home games at Grant Field in Atlanta. Georgia Tech produced abysmal results for the second consecutive year under Curry, finishing with a record of 1–10, their worst season in terms of winning percentage in school history (it would later be matched by another 1–10 season in 1994). Their sole win was a season-opening upset victory over the second-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in Birmingham.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	at No. 2 Alabama	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	W 24–21	78,865	[1]
September 19	at Florida	Florida Field Gainesville, FL		L 6–27	63,876	[2]
September 26	Memphis State	Grant Field Atlanta, GA		L 15–28	32,463	[3]
October 3	No. 6 North Carolina	Grant Field Atlanta, GA		L 7–28	39,263	[4]
October 10	at Tennessee	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)		L 7–10	94,478	[5]
October 17	Auburn	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (rivalry)		L 7–31	50,263–50,326	[6]
October 24	at Tulane	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA		L 10–27	37,431	[7]
October 31	Duke	Grant Field Atlanta, GA		L 24–38	30,232	[8]
November 7	at Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		L 3–35	59,075	[9]
November 14	Navy	Grant Field Atlanta, GA		L 14–20	20,129	[10]
December 5	No. 2 Georgia	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate)	ABC	L 7–44	58,623	[11]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^{[12] [13]}

Roster

1981 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 2 Mike Kelley Sr QB 12 Jim Bob Taylor Jr RB Robert Lavette RB Ronny Cone WR Kenny Thompson WR Jeff Keisler TE 9 Ken Whisenhunt So G 64 Ben Utt Sr OT 78 Dave Lutz Jr OL Ellis Gardner OL Ken Howell OL Mark Schultz OL Dean Waters	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL Mark Bradley DL Donnie Chisholm DL Marvin Dyett LB 56 Robert Jaracz LB Rob Horton LB Lance Skelton LB Duane Wood CB 22 Jack Westbrook So DB Sammy Brown DB Paul Menegazzi DB Mark Sheffield DB Ted Thurson	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Bill Curry Coordinators/assistant coaches Rip Scherer –Offensive coordinator Jeff McLean –Running backs Terry Tuley –Wide receivers Brad Roper –Tight ends Mac McWhorter –Offensive line Mark Hunter –Offensive line Ken Blair –Defensive coordinator John Guy –Defensive line Barry Wilson –Inside linebackers Mike Dean –Defensive backs Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "Tech 24, Alabama 21 - it really did happen". The Atlanta Constitution. September 13, 1981. Retrieved February 19, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Gators pull Tech out of the clouds in 27–6 beating". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. September 20, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Memphis St. QB terrorizes Tech". Greensboro News and Record. September 27, 1981. Retrieved July 25, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Heels take tough one from Tech". Winston-Salem Journal. October 4, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Tennessee rebounds to beat Jackets 10–7". The Macon Telegraph & News. October 11, 1981. Retrieved August 18, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Auburn rips Jackets 31–7". The Macon Telegraph & News. October 18, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Tulane trounces Tech 27–10". The Atlanta Constitution. October 25, 1981. Retrieved October 19, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Rallying Duke wrecks Tech". The News and Observer. November 1, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Notre Dame unveils 'Small Wonder'". The Vincennes Sun-Commercial. November 8, 1981. Retrieved July 25, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Jackets blow No. 9, tumble to Navy 20–14". The Atlanta Constitution. November 15, 1981. Retrieved July 25, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
11. "After Tech rout, Walker praises Georgia's line". The Palm Beach Post. December 6, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
12. "1981 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
13. 2011 Georgia Tech Media Guide Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine . p. 173