1981 Kentucky Wildcats football team

American college football season

1981 Kentucky Wildcats football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	3–8 (2–4 SEC)
Head coach	Fran Curci (9th season)
Home stadium	Commonwealth Stadium
Seasons← 1980 1982 →

1981 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Georgia +	6	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
No. 7 Alabama +	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	2	–	1
Mississippi State	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Tennessee	3	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Florida	3	–	3	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Auburn	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Ole Miss	1	–	4	–	1	4	–	6	–	1
LSU	1	–	4	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Vanderbilt	1	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their ninth and final season under head coach Fran Curci, the Wildcats compiled a 3–8 record (2–4 against SEC opponents), finished in a tie for sixth place in the SEC, and were outscored by their opponents, 224 to 134. The team played its home games in Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

The team's statistical leaders included Randy Jenkins with 1,079 passing yards, Lawrence Lee with 275 rushing yards, and Rick Massie with 448 receiving yards.

At the end of November 1981, Curci was fired by the University of Kentucky. The decision followed four losing seasons, arrests of 18 players from 1978 to 1981, and recruiting violations that resulted in the program being placed on probation.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 5	North Texas State*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	W 28–6	55,262
September 19	No. 12 Alabama	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	L 10–19	57,960
September 26	at Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	L 16–21	40,200
October 3	No. 14 Clemson*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	L 3–21	57,453
October 10	South Carolina*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	L 14–28	57,553
October 17	at LSU	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	L 10–24	69,169
October 24	at No. 7 Georgia	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	L 0–21	80,780
October 31	Virginia Tech*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	L 3–29	54,500
November 7	at Vanderbilt	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN (rivalry)	W 17–10	40,250
November 14	at Florida	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	L 12–33	60,286
November 21	Tennessee	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)	W 21–10	54,604
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

"1981 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
"Kentucky Football Media Guide". University of Kentucky. 2015. p. 184. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
"1981 Kentucky Wildcats Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
"Kentucky Fires Coach Curci After Athletic Board's Vote". The Palm Beach Post. November 25, 1981. p. D2.
Mark Bradley (September 6, 1981). "Wildcats roll over North Texas State 28–6". Sunday Herald-Leader. pp. D1, D7 – via Newspapers.com.
Mark Bradley (September 20, 1981). "Alabama rallies, snatches victory from Cats". Sunday Herald-Leader. pp. D1, D5 – via Newspapers.com.
"KU overcomes loss of Bell". The Kansas City Star. September 27, 1981. Retrieved November 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Jerry Tipton (October 4, 1981). "Clemson roars back to whip Wildcats 21–3". Sunday Herald-Leader. pp. C1, C5 – via Newspapers.com.
Mark Bradley (October 11, 1981). "Gamecocks' second-half surge dooms Cats". Sunday Herald-Leader. pp. D1, D5 – via Newspapers.com.
"Kickoff return zaps Wildcats in 24–10 loss". The Park City Daily News. October 18, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"At last...Kentucky breaks losing streak with 17–10 win over Vanderbilt". Messenger-Inquirer. November 8, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"The beat goes on, Va. Tech drums UK". Messenger-Inquirer. November 1, 1981. Retrieved December 16, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
"At last...Kentucky breaks losing streak with 17–10 win over Vanderbilt". Messenger-Inquirer. November 8, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"Gators feast on Wildcats". The Tennessean. November 15, 1981. Retrieved November 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"Wildcats silence Vols' thunder". The Paducah Sun. November 22, 1981. Retrieved August 18, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e Kentucky Wildcats football
Venues	Stoll Field/McLean Stadium (1916–1972) Kroger Field (1973–present) E.J. Nutter Training Facility (practice)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Centre Florida Indiana Louisville: Governor's Cup Tennessee Transylvania: Battle On Broadway Vanderbilt
Culture & lore	The Wildcat Scratch Blue "On, On, U of K" "Kentucky Fight" Marching band Bluegrass Miracle 2003 Arkansas game Big Blue Nation
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees Starting quarterbacks
Seasons	1881 1882–1890 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 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

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