1981 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

American college football season

1981 South Carolina Gamecocks football
Conference	Independent
Record	6–6
Head coach	Jim Carlen (7th season)
Defensive coordinator	Richard Bell (7th season)
Home stadium	Williams–Brice Stadium
Seasons← 1980 1982 →

1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	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 1981 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by Jim Carlen in his seventh and final season as head coach, the Gamecocks compiled a record of 6–6.

In 1981, South Carolina started 6–3, highlighted by an upset over No. 3 North Carolina on the road, the first win over a top-5 team in program history. It would remain the biggest win in program history until 2010. However, the Gamecocks lost the last three games of the season, which left Carlen's job security in jeopardy, as Carlen and school president James B. Holderman were already constantly at odds over football revenues. Despite Carlen overseeing one of the most successful periods in program history until then (a 45–36–1 record, three of the school's five bowl games, two of the school's three eight-win seasons, and a Heisman Trophy), he was fired.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	at Wake Forest	Groves Stadium Winston-Salem, NC		W 23–6	29,300
September 12	Ole Miss	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		L 13–20	56,424
September 19	Duke	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		W 17–3	56,321
September 26	at No. 17 Georgia	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)		L 0–24	82,100
October 3	No. 4 Pittsburgh	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	ABC	L 28–42	56,495
October 10	at Kentucky	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY		W 28–14	57,553
October 17	Virginia	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		W 21–3	56,101
October 24	at No. 3 North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)		W 31–13	50,500
October 31	NC State	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	ABC	W 20–12	56,517
November 7	Pacific (CA)	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		L 21–23	51,679
November 21	No. 2 Clemson	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (rivalry)	ESPN	L 13–29	56,971
December 5	at Hawaii	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI		L 10–33	43,958
Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 South Carolina Gamecocks football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
G	`67`	Jeff Doyle	Sr
OT	`76`	Chuck Slaughter	Sr
RB	`36`	Johnnie Wright	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`70`	Andrew Provence	Jr
DT	`52`	Emanuel Weaver	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
P	`13`	Chris Norman	So

Head coach

Jim Carlen

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

References

tryptic67 (September 17, 2014). "USC versus AP Top 10 Opponents". Garnet And Black Attack. Retrieved September 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "Some History for the New South Carolina Coach: It's a Good Job But A Hard Job". TMG Sports. November 18, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
Gillespie, Bob (July 22, 2020). "Richard Bell, one-and-done as USC coach: How 1982 season shaped him, players, program". The State. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
"South Carolina Gamecocks College Football History, Stats, Records". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
"S. Carolina drops Wake Forest". The Selma Times-Journal. September 6, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Fourcade-led rally lifts Mississippi over Gamecocks". The Times and Democrat. September 13, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"South Carolina defeats Duke". Greensboro Daily News. September 20, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Walker carrier Bulldogs". The News and Observer. September 27, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"Pitt romps 42–28". The Roanoke Times & World-News. October 4, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
Mark Bradley (October 11, 1981). "Gamecocks' second-half surge dooms Cats". Sunday Herald-Leader. pp. D1, D5. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Gamecocks down Cavs, 21–3". The Sun-News. October 18, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Gamecocks upset 'Heels". The Tampa Tribune. October 25, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"South Carolina stops bumbling Wolfpack". The News and Observer. November 1, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Pacific scores upset". The Sacramento Bee. November 8, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Tigers enjoy perfect finish". The Charlotte Observer. November 22, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Mistakes hurt Carolina in loss to Hawaii". The Item. December 7, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"1981 Football Schedule". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 29, 2017.

v t e South Carolina Gamecocks football
Venues	Old State Fairgrounds (1894, 1896–1898) Shandon Park (1895) College Park/Davis Field (1899–1925) Melton Field (1926–1934) Williams–Brice Stadium (1934–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Clemson Georgia North Carolina Tennessee
Culture & lore	Spurrier Cocky "The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way" Mighty Sound of the Southeast "Sandstorm" The Brawl University of South Carolina steroid scandal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	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

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