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American college football season
The 1981 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Big Eight Conference during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season . It was the third and final season for Chuck Fairbanks ' as head coach, and the first year of blue jerseys for the Buffaloes, which were phased out in 1984 .[ 1] [ 2] [ 3]
The Buffaloes finished at 3–8 (2–5 in Big 8, seventh) for a third consecutive losing season. Home games were played on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder . After a shutout loss at Kansas ,[ 4] CU defeated last-place Kansas State by three points at home in the season finale to avoid the conference cellar.
Well after the season in June 1982, Fairbanks resigned to become head coach, president, and minority owner of the New Jersey Generals of the new United States Football League (USFL).[ 2] [ 5] His overall record at CU was a disappointing 7–26 (.212), 5–16 (.238) in conference. Bill McCartney , the defensive coordinator at Michigan under Bo Schembechler , was announced as Colorado's new head coach on June 9,[ 6] [ 7] [ 8] and led the program for thirteen seasons, through 1994 .
Date Opponent Site Result Attendance September 12 Texas Tech * W 45–2734,884
September 19 Washington State * L 10–1435,277
September 26 No. 11 BYU * L 20–4143,259
October 3 at No. 16 UCLA * L 7–2740,347
October 10 at Nebraska L 0–5976,168
October 17 Oklahoma State W 11–1036,101
October 24 at No. 14 Iowa State L 10–1750,103
October 31 at No. 19 Oklahoma L 0–4975,638
November 7 Missouri L 14–3035,782
November 14 at Kansas L 0–2731,500
November 21 Kansas State W 24–2123,921
*Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
[ 9] [ 10] [ 11]
1981 Colorado Buffaloes football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Defense
Special teams
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
Injured
Redshirt
Roster
[ 12] [ 13]
^ "CU Logo Evolution Fact Sheet" . CUBuffs.com. Retrieved December 5, 2019 .
^ a b Thorburn, Ryan (April 2, 2013). "Football: Former CU Buffs coach Chuck Fairbanks dies at 79" . Boulder Daily Camera . Buffzone.com. Retrieved April 3, 2013 .
^ McCallum, Jack (October 11, 1982). "UCLA now stands for Uncork Lots Of Aerials" . Sports Illustrated . p. 32.
^ Woodling, Chuck (June 2, 1982). "Jayhawks' defense corrals Buffs, 27-0" . Lawrence Daily Journal-World . (Kansas). p. 17.
^ "Fairbanks quits Colorado to coach in USFL" . Lawrence Daily Journal-World . (Kansas). Associated Press. June 2, 1982. p. 17.
^ "Colorado talks with McCartney" . Ludington Daily News . (Michigan). Associated Press. June 9, 1982. p. 9.
^ "McCartney gets Colorado post" . Toledo Blade . (Ohio). Associated Press. June 10, 1982. p. 38.
^ "CU tabs McCartney new football coach" . Lawrence Journal-World . (Kansas). Associated Press. June 10, 1982. p. 15.
^ "1981 Colorado Buffaloes Schedule and Results" . College Football @ Sports-Reference.com . Sports Reference . Retrieved October 24, 2023 .
^ "1981 Football Schedule" . University of Colorado Boulder . Retrieved October 24, 2023 .
^ "Colorado Football 2023 Record Book" (PDF) . University of Colorado Boulder . p. 50. Retrieved October 24, 2023 .
^ "Probable starters" . Spokesman-Review . (Spokane, Washington). September 19, 1981. p. 15.
^ "Saturday's game rosters" . Lawrence Journal-World . (Kansas). November 13, 1981. p. 18.
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