1981 Ottawa Rough Riders season

1981 Ottawa Rough Riders season
Owner	Allan Waters
General manager	Jake Dunlap
Head coach	George Brancato
Home stadium	Lansdowne Park
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	2nd, East
Playoffs	Lost Grey Cup
Uniform
←  1980 Rough Riders seasons 1982  →

The 1981 Ottawa Rough Riders finished the season in second place in the East Division with a 5–11 record. They appeared in the Grey Cup game, in what would be their last Grey Cup appearance in franchise history, and the last for any Ottawa-based CFL team for 34 years.

Offseason

CFL draft

Rd	Pick	Player	Position	School
0	0	John Park	TE	Bowling Green
0	0	Ian Beckstead	TE	Richmond
1	3	Maurice Doyle	RB	Toronto
2	12	Don Burns	WR	Ottawa
4	30	Eric Boss	DT	Toronto
5	39	Larry Ring	DB	Bishop's
6	48	Anthony Refosso	OT	Toronto
7	57	Rob Ball	DL	Queen's

Preseason

Date	Opponent	Final Score	Result	Attendance	Record
June 4	at Toronto Argonauts	20–12	Win	28,325	1–0
June 11	vs. Montreal Alouettes	18–17	Win	16,139	2–0
June 21	at Montreal Alouettes	21–17	Loss	21,249	2–1
June 26	vs. Toronto Argonauts	35–25	Win	14,092	3–1

Regular season

Standings

East Division view talk edit
Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	PF	PA	Div	Stk
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	16	11	4	1	23	414	335	6–0	W1	Details
Ottawa Rough Riders	16	5	11	0	10	306	446	3–3	L1	Details
Montreal Alouettes	16	3	13	0	6	267	518	2–4	W1	Details
Toronto Argonauts	16	2	14	0	4	241	506	1–5	L2	Details

Schedule

Week	Game	Date	Opponent	Results		Venue	Attendance
				Score	Record
1	1	July 3	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	L 21–47	0–1		22,023
2	2	July 11	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	L 10–47	0–2		22,345
3	3	July 17	vs. Montreal Alouettes	W 33–31	1–2		24,827
4	4	July 25	at BC Lions	L 17–31	1–3		26,661
5	Bye
6	5	Aug 7	vs. Toronto Argonauts	W 38–11	2–3		22,658
7	6	Aug 15	vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders	L 16–32	2–4		18,408
8	7	Aug 21	at Calgary Stampeders	L 18–30	2–5		30,276
9	8	Aug 28	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	L 8–31	2–6		26,031
10	9	Sept 4	vs. BC Lions	W 17–7	3–6		18,393
11	10	Sept 13	at Toronto Argonauts	W 23–6	4–6		30,340
12	11	Sept 20	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	L 23–26	4–7		28,335
13	12	Sept 26	vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats	L 16–30	4–8		20,451
14	13	Oct 3	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	L 24–44	4–9		15,523
15	14	Oct 12	at Edmonton Eskimos	L 6–24	4–10		45,805
16	15	Oct 18	vs. Calgary Stampeders	W 21–10	5–10		15,002
17	Bye
18	16	Nov 1	at Montreal Alouettes	L 15–39	5–11		20,867

^[1]

Postseason

Round	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance
East Semi-Final	Nov 8	vs. Montreal Alouettes	20–16	Win	17,554
East Final	Nov 15	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	17–13	Win	28,104
Grey Cup	Nov 22	Edmonton Eskimos	26–23	Loss	52,478

Grey Cup

Main article: 69th Grey Cup

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Edmonton Eskimos	0	1	14	11	26
Ottawa Rough Riders	13	7	0	3	23

^[2]

First Quarter

Ottawa – FG – Gerry Organ 34 yards
Ottawa – FG – Gerry Organ 37 yards
Ottawa – TD – Jim Reid 1-yard run (Gerry Organ convert)

Second Quarter

Ottawa – TD – Sam Platt 14-yard run (Gerry Organ convert)
Edmonton – Single – Dave Cutler 24 yards missed Field Goal

Third Quarter

Edmonton – TD – Jim Germany 2-yard run (Dave Cutler convert)
Edmonton – TD – Warren Moon 1-yard run (Dave Cutler convert)

Fourth Quarter

Ottawa – FG – Gerry Organ 28 yards
Edmonton – TD – Warren Moon 1-yard run (Marco Cyncar 2 point convert pass from Moon)
Edmonton – FG – Dave Cutler 27 yards

Awards and honours

• James S. Dixon Trophy --Eastern Division Championship
• Lew Hayman Trophy -- Tony Gabriel

Grey Cup Most Valuable Player

• J.C. Watts - Offense
• John Glassford - Defence

CFL All-Stars

East Division

• Val Belcher -- Offensive Guard
• Tony Gabriel -- Tight End
• Mike Raines -- Defensive Tackle
• Randy Rhino -- Defensive Back
• Larry Brune -- Defensive Back

Belcher, Raines, and Rhino were also CFL All Stars in their respective positions.

References

1. "1981 Ottawa Rough Riders (CFL) - Pro Football Archives".
2. "HISTORY >> Grey Cup >> 1981 | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". Archived from the original on 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2017-08-23.