1981 UNLV Rebels football team

The 1981 UNLV Rebels football team was an American football team that represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their sixth and final year under head coach Tony Knap, the team compiled a 6–6 record.[1][2]

1981 UNLV Rebels football
ConferenceIndependent
Record6–6
Head coach
Home stadiumLas Vegas Silver Bowl
1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW 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

A notable win was the road victory over eighth-ranked BYU in October, who were without starting quarterback Jim McMahon, replaced by sophomore Steve Young.[3]

Approaching age 67, Knap retired after the season,[4] and was succeeded by Harvey Hyde, the head coach at Pasadena City College.[5][6]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 5at San Jose StateW 16–617,112
September 12New MexicoW 49–4225,605
September 19West Texas State
  • Las Vegas Silver Bowl
  • Whitney, NV
L 17–2124,560[7]
September 26Long Beach State
  • Las Vegas Silver Bowl
  • Whitney, NV
W 32–3125,080
October 3at WyomingL 21–4523,793
October 10at No. 8 BYUW 45–4139,852[3]
October 24Utah
  • Las Vegas Silver Bowl
  • Whitney, NV
L 28–6927,883
October 31at HawaiiL 21–5746,153
November 7at Fresno StateL 26–4216,241
November 14San Diego State
  • Las Vegas Silver Bowl
  • Whitney, NV
L 20–3823,090
November 21Air Force
  • Las Vegas Silver Bowl
  • Whitney, NV
W 24–2122,574[8]
November 28at UTEPW 27–20  3,214
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 UNLV Rebels football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
FB 24 Mel Carver Sr
FB 21 Ray Crouse Sr
QB 12 Randall Cunningham Fr
QB 1 Sam King Sr
OT 71 Dan McQuaid Jr
RB 23 Michael Morton Sr
WR 11 Mike Reed Sr
TE 88 Jeff Spek Jr
Defense
Pos.#NameClass
DB 4 Bruce Cunningham Jr
DB 2 Wymon Henderson Jr
DB 43 Keyvan Jenkins So
DE Todd Liebenstein Sr
DT 76 Aaron Moog So
Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

References

  1. "1981 UNLV Rebels Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  2. "UNLV 2020 Football Guide" (PDF). University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 2020. p. 130. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  3. "Vegas shocks BYU, 45-41". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. October 11, 1981. p. 6B.
  4. "Knap resigns at UNLV, plans to grow apples". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 24, 1981. p. 3C.
  5. "Pasadena City College Coach Harvey Hyde, 42, who guided..." UPI.com. (UPI archives). December 7, 1981. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  6. "Transactions: college". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). December 8, 1981. p. 28.
  7. "West Texas State 21, Nevada-Las Vegas 17". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 20, 1981. Retrieved May 2, 2021 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Nevada-Las Vegas 24, Air Force 21". The Arizona Republic. November 22, 1981. p. G2. Retrieved October 20, 2021 via Newspapers.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.