1981 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

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

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 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.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
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