1981 Temple Owls football team

The 1981 Temple Owls football team was an American football team that represented Temple University as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its 12th season under head coach Wayne Hardin, the team compiled a 5–5 record and was outscored by a total of 195 to 181.^[1][2] The team played its home games at Veterans Stadium (two games) and Franklin Field (two games) in Philadelphia.

1981 Temple Owls football
Conference	Independent
Record	5–5
Head coach	Wayne Hardin (12th season)
Home stadium	Veterans Stadium, Franklin Field
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

1981 Major eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Penn State $	5	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 4 Pittsburgh	5	–	1	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 17 West Virginia	3	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Temple	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Syracuse	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Boston College	1	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Rutgers	1	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

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 team's statistical leaders included Tink Murphy with 1,589 passing yards, Jim Brown with 883 rushing yards and 66 points scored, and Gerald Lucear with 493 receiving yards.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	William & Mary	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 42–0	10,985	[4]
September 12	Syracuse	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA	W 31–19	15,091	[5]
September 19	at Delaware	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	L 7–13	22,379	[6]
October 3	at No. 2 Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	L 0–30	84,562	[7]
October 10	Colgate	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 31–0	12,203	[8]
October 17	at Rutgers	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ	W 24–12	22,189	[9]
October 24	at Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium Cincinnati, OH	W 24–13	11,124	[10]
October 31	at No. 5 Georgia	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	L 3–49	80,117	[11]
November 7	at West Virginia	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	L 19–24	40,342	[12]
November 21	No. 1 Pittsburgh	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA	L 0–35	32,570	[13]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 Temple Owls football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 9 Tink Murphy Sr QB 14 Tim Riordan So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 36 Kevin Ross So DB 26 Anthony Yonug Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Wayne Hardin Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "1981 Temple Owls Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
2. "2019 Temple Owls Football Media Guide" (PDF). Temple University. p. 132. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
3. "1981 Temple Owls Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
4. "Temple rips William & Mary, 42–0, as Brown scores four touchdowns". The Philadelphia Inquirer. September 6, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Temple cruises over Syracuse". Courier-Post. September 13, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Simmons, Bill (September 20, 1981). "Delaware Massacres Princeton". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pa. p. 9-D – via Newspapers.com.
7. "State stuffs Owls in 'funny game'". The Patriot-News. October 4, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Owls Ground Red Raiders". The Sunday Press. Binghamton, N.Y. Associated Press. October 11, 1981. pp. 6B, 2B – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Murphy-passes Owls over Rutgers, 24–12". The Daily Register. October 18, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Jim Brown's 3 TDs spur Temple over Cincinnati". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. October 25, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Walker, Georgia whip Temple, 49–3". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 1, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "W. Va.'s Luck good; Owls' bad". The Courier-Post. November 8, 1981. Retrieved January 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Pitt cruises by Temple". The Post-Crescent. November 22, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.