1981 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

1981 Pittsburgh Panthers football

Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 24–20 vs. Georgia
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 4
1981 record	11–1
Head coach	Jackie Sherrill (5th year)
Offensive coordinator	Joe Moore (1st year)
Offensive scheme	Multiple pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Foge Fazio (3rd year)
Base defense	Multiple front
Home stadium	Pitt Stadium (Capacity: 56,500)

1981 Division I-A independents football records
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#3 Penn State		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
#4 Pittsburgh		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
#8 Miami		–		–		9	–	2	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		9	–	2	–	1
#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		–		–		1	–	10	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. Despite having one loss, the Panthers were selected as national champions by the National Championship Foundation and Montgomery Full Season Championship,^[1] although a national championship is not claimed by the school for this year nor are they popularly recognized that season's national champions.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
Sat. Sep. 5	1:30 p.m.	Illinois	No. 8	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA		W 26–6	46,022
Sat. Sep. 19	1:30 p.m.	Cincinnati	No. 7	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA (River City Rivalry)		W 38–7	40,172
Sat. Oct. 3	7:30 p.m.	at South Carolina	No. 4	Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC	ABC	W 42–28	56,495
Sat. Oct. 10	1:00 p.m.	at West Virginia	No. 4	Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)		W 17–0	54,280
Sat. Oct. 17	1:30 p.m.	No. 11 Florida State	No. 3	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA		W 42–14	55,112
Sat. Oct. 24	12:00 p.m.	Syracuse	No. 2	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA (Rivalry)	USA	W 23–10	50,330
Sat. Oct. 31	1:00 p.m.	at Boston College	No. 2	Alumni Stadium • Chestnut Hill, MA		W 29–24	25,500
Sat. Nov. 7	1:00 p.m.	at Rutgers	No. 1	Giants Stadium • East Rutherford, NJ		W 47–3	34,636
Sat. Nov. 14	1:30 p.m.	Army	No. 1	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA		W 48–0	53,225
Sat. Nov. 21	1:30 p.m.	at Temple	No. 1	Veterans Stadium • Philadelphia, PA	USA	W 35–0	32,570
Sat. Nov. 28	12:00 p.m.	No. 11 Penn State	No. 1	Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, PA (Rivalry)	ABC	L 14–48	60,260
Fri. Jan. 1	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 2 Georgia	No. 10	Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	ABC	W 24–20	77,224
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

Coaching staff

1981 Pittsburgh Panthers football staff

	Coaching Staff Jackie Sherrill – Head Coach Foge Fazio – Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Joe Moore – Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line Joe Daniels – Quarterbacks Bob Davie – Drop Backs Joe Naunchik – Receivers George Pugh – Tight Ends Andy Urbanic – Running Backs Ray Zingler – Rush Ends			Support Staff Alex Kramer – Administrative Assistant Kevin Dickey – Recruiting Coordinator Anthony Folino – Part-Time Assistant–Defensive Backs Bob Matey – Part-Time Assistant–Defensive Line Jim Miceli – Part-Time Assistant–Defensive Line Michael Sherman – Part-Time Assistant–Offensive Line Steve Heintzelman – Volunteer Coach			Strength and Conditioning Staff Buddy Morris – Weight Training Coordinator

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Club
Emil Boures	Center	7	182	Pittsburgh Steelers
Sal Sunseri	Linebacker	10	267	Pittsburgh Steelers
Sam Clancy	Defensive End	11	284	Seattle Seahawks

^[2]

Awards and honors

Dan Marino, Fourth in Heisman Trophy voting

References

Pittsburgh Panthers football

Venues	Recreation Park (1898–1904) Exposition Park (1904–08) Forbes Field (1909–24) Pitt Stadium (1925–99) Three Rivers Stadium (2000) Heinz Field (2001–present) UPMC Sports Performance Complex (practice)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games West Virginia (Backyard Brawl) Penn State Notre Dame Syracuse Cincinnati (River City Rivalry)

Culture & lore	Panthers "Hail to Pitt" "Pitt Victory Song" Marching band

People	Head coaches All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

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