1981 Louisville Cardinals football team

The 1981 Louisville Cardinals football team was an American football team that represented the University of Louisville as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second season under head coach Bob Weber, the Cardinals compiled a 5–6 record and were outscored by a total of 212 to 180.

1981 Louisville Cardinals football
Conference	Independent
Record	5–6
Head coach	Bob Weber (2nd season)
Home stadium	Fairgrounds Stadium

1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Pittsburgh		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Penn State		–		–				10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Miami (FL)		–		–				9	–	2	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
No. 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 State		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The team's statistical leaders included Dean May with 589 passing yards, Don Craft with 475 rushing yards, Mark Clayton with 596 receiving yards, and Don Craft and Tony Blair with 42 points each.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	at No. 19 Florida State	Doak Campbell Stadium Tallahassee, FL	L 0–17	50,735
September 12	Toledo	Fairgrounds Stadium Louisville, KY	W 31–6	21,226
September 19	Long Beach State	Fairgrounds Stadium Louisville, KY	W 35–13	23,424
September 26	at Missouri	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	L 3–34	57,448
October 3	Marshall	Fairgrounds Stadium Louisville, KY	W 36–0
October 10	at Memphis State	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (rivalry)	W 14–7	24,286
October 17	Tennessee State	Fairgrounds Stadium Louisville, KY	L 30–42	28,136
October 24	at Oklahoma State	Lewis Field Stillwater, OK	L 11–19	44,000
November 7	Northeast Louisiana	Fairgrounds Stadium Louisville, KY	L 7–40	15,994
November 14	at Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH (The Keg of Nails)	L 0–24	15,617
November 21	No. 9 Southern Miss	Fairgrounds Stadium Louisville, KY	W 13–10	12,940
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 Louisville Cardinals football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 5 Dean May So WR 20 Mark Clayton Jr FB 31 Ron Davenport Fr OT 76 Tom Andrews So	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 1 Frank Minnifield Jr LB 2 Greg Jones Jr CB 34 Roger Clay Jr LB 39 Anthony Williams Jr DT 77 Pete McCartney So DT 97 Dan Williams Jr LB 99 Fred Blackmon Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Bob Weber Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt