The 1981 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Broncos competed in the Big Sky Conference and played their home games at Bronco Stadium, an outdoor facility on campus in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos were led by sixth-year head coach Jim Criner and were the defending champions of Division I-AA.
| 1981 Boise State Broncos football | |
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| Conference | Big Sky Conference |
| Ranking | |
| AP | No. 5 |
| Record | 10–3 (6–1 Big Sky) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive coordinator | Gene Dahlquist (5th season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Lyle Setencich (2nd season) |
| Base defense | 3–4 |
| Home stadium | Bronco Stadium |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Idaho State $^ | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 12 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Boise State ^ | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nevada | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weber State | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Arizona | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana State | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Idaho | 0 | – | 7 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Regular season
editThe Broncos finished the regular season at 9–2 and 6–1 in conference to tie for first in the Big Sky, but lost the tiebreaker due to the head-to-head loss to champion Idaho State in the conference opener.[1] The Broncos avenged their 1980 loss Cal Poly-SLO, beating the 1980 Division II national champions 17–6 in Boise,[2] but lost at Cal State Fullerton, whom they defeated in Boise in the previous season.[3] The Broncos narrowly defeated rival Idaho for the fifth consecutive year, in the regular season finale in Moscow.[4] The Vandals were winless in the Big Sky in 1981, which caused a change in head coaches. (BSU did not defeat the Vandals again until 1994, losing twelve straight).
Division I-AA playoffs
editThe Broncos were again invited to the Division I-AA playoffs, expanded to eight teams for 1981. As Big Sky runner-up, BSU played on the road in the quarterfinals at Jackson State, and won 19–7.[5] The semifinal game was played at home against top-ranked Eastern Kentucky, whom the Broncos had narrowly defeated in the title game the year before. This time the Colonels prevailed 23–17,[6] but lost the title game to Idaho State the following week in Texas.[7]
The Broncos returned to the I-AA playoffs in 1988, the semifinals in 1990, and the title game in 1994, then moved up to Division I-A in 1996.
Schedule
edit| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 5 | 7:00 pm | Northwestern State* | W 32–20 | 19,347 | [8] | ||
| September 12 | 7:00 pm | Rhode Island* |
| W 33–8 | 19,437 | [9] | |
| September 19 | 7:00 pm | Idaho State |
| L 10–21 | 20,486 | [10] | |
| September 26 | 7:00 pm | Northern Arizona | No. 10 |
| W 34–20 | 17,622 | [11] |
| October 3 | at Montana | No. 9 | W 27–13 | 8,732 | [12] | ||
| October 10 | 7:00 pm | Montana State | No. 7 |
| W 20–10 | 18,842 | [13] |
| October 24 | 1:30 pm | at Weber State | No. 6 | W 33–19 | 12,306 | [14] | |
| October 31 | 1:00 pm | at Nevada | No. 4 | W 13–3 | 14,325 | [15] | |
| November 7 | 1:30 pm | at Cal State Fullerton* | No. 3 |
| L 17–20 | 2,100 | [16] |
| November 14 | 1:30 pm | Cal Poly* | No. 6 |
| W 17–6 | 17,260 | [17] |
| November 21 | 8:30 pm | at Idaho | No. 4 | W 45–43 | 14,000 | [18] | |
| December 5 | 12:30 pm | at No. 4 Jackson State* | No. 5 | W 17–6 | 11,500 | [19] | |
| December 12 | 11:30 am | No. 1 Eastern Kentucky* | No. 5 |
| L 17–23 | 20,176 | [20] |
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Personnel
editCoaches
editHead coach Jim Criner stayed seven seasons at Boise State before departing for Iowa State following the 1982 season. Defensive coordinator Lyle Setencich was promoted to head coach and led Boise State for four seasons, from 1983 to 1986. The defensive secondary coach in 1981 was future National Football League (NFL) head coach John Fox.[21]
Notable players
editFuture NFL players included linebacker John Rade and safety Rick Woods. Defensive lineman Randy Trautman played four seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
Roster
edit| 1981 Boise State Broncos football team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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NFL draft
editTwo Bronco seniors were selected in the 1982 NFL draft, which lasted 12 rounds (334 selections).
| Player | Position | Round | Overall | Franchise |
| Rick Woods | DB | 4th | 97 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Randy Trautman | DT | 9th | 238 | Washington Redskins |
References
edit- ^ "Idaho St. 20, Boise St. 17". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. September 20, 1981. p. 6C.
- ^ "Boise State romps". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 15, 1981. p. 6C.
- ^ "Fullerton 20, Boise St. 17". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 8, 1981. p. 6C.
- ^ Emerson, Paul (November 22, 1981). "Idaho bids goodbye to Davitch with loss". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 2D.
- ^ "Boise State had upper hand". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. December 6, 1981. p. 13C.
- ^ "No.1 E. Kentucky tips Boise St., 23-17". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. December 13, 1981. p. 12E.
- ^ "Bengals ride like the wind". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. December 20, 1981. p. 2D.
- ^ "BSU rolls to triumph in opener". The Idaho Statesman. September 6, 1981. Retrieved October 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Broncos belt Rhode Island". The Idaho Statesman. September 13, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "ISU shatters Bronco jinx with 21–10 win in league showdown". The Times-News. September 20, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Boise State uses big first half to beat NAU". The Arizona Republic. September 27, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Broncos run over Grizzlies". The Independent-Record. October 4, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Broncos bump Cats". The Montana Standard. October 11, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Broncos rip error-plagued Weber State". The Salt Lake Tribune. October 25, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Boise St. dumps Wolfpack". South Idaho Press. November 1, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Pete Donovan (November 8, 1981). "In a Wild Finish, Fullerton Kicks Back to Win, 20–17". The Los Angeles Times (Orange County ed.). Los Angeles, California. p. III-15. Retrieved February 10, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "BSU beats Cal–Poly San Luis Obispo, 17–6". The Times-News. November 15, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Ramsdell, Paul (November 22, 1981). "Idaho bids farewell to Davitch with loss". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 2D.
- ^ "Broncos top Jackson State". The Idaho Statesman. December 6, 1981. Retrieved August 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Broncos' last-ditch attempt falls short". The Idaho Statesman. December 13, 1981. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Game Day program – EKU vs BSU – December 12, 1981, p. 6
- ^ Emerson, Paul (November 21, 1981). "Idaho can return some of the pain: probable starters". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
External links
edit- BSU University News – student newspaper – 1981 editions