1981 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

1981 Southern Illinois Salukis football
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	7–4 (5–2 MVC)
Head coach	Rey Dempsey (6th season)
Home stadium	McAndrew Stadium
Seasons ←  1980 1982  →

1981 Missouri Valley Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Drake +	5	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Tulsa +	5	–	1	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Southern Illinois	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
West Texas State	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Wichita State	3	–	3	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Indiana State	2	–	4	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
New Mexico State	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Illinois State	0	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions

The 1981 Southern Illinois Salukis football team was an American football team that represented Southern Illinois University (now known as Southern Illinois University Carbondale) in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. Under sixth-year head coach Rey Dempsey, the team compiled a 7–4 record. ^[1] The team played its home games at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	at McNeese State *	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	L 12–27	20,065	[2]
September 12	Wichita State	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	L 7–13	9,500	[3]
September 19	Tennessee State *	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	L 14–17	12,500
September 26	at Tulsa	Skelly Stadium Tulsa, OK	W 36–34	18,943
October 3	Illinois State	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 14–3	14,900
October 10	at West Texas State	Kimbrough Memorial Stadium Canyon, TX	W 29–22	9,950	[4]
October 17	at Fresno State *	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA	W 24–18	16,385
October 24	Southwestern Louisiana *	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 41–0	15,750
November 1	at Indiana State	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	W 17–3	8,432	[5]
November 7	Drake	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	L 17–22	17,000
November 14	at New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM	W 23–15	13,076	[6]
*Non-conference game

References

1. "Southern Illinois Saluki Football 2019 Media Guide" (PDF). Southern Illinois University. 2019. p. 118. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
2. "McNeese State tops Southern Illinois". The Pantagraph. September 6, 1981. Retrieved March 3, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Victory slips from Salukis". Southern Illinoisan. September 13, 1981. Retrieved May 2, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Salukis pull out another one, 29–22". Southern Illinoisan. October 11, 1981. Retrieved May 2, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
5. "SIU–C downs Indiana State". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. November 2, 1981. Retrieved August 17, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Ags cough up 23–15 verdict". The El Paso Times. November 15, 1981. Retrieved May 2, 2021– via Newspapers.com.