1981 Missouri Tigers football team

1981 Missouri Tigers football
1981 Missouri Tigers football
Tangerine Bowl champion
Tangerine Bowl, W 19–17 vs. Southern Miss
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 20
AP	No. 19
Record	8–4 (3–4 Big 8)
Head coach	Warren Powers (4th season);
Home stadium	Faurot Field
	Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 Missouri Tigers football team represented the University of Missouri as a member of the Big Eight Conference (Big 8) during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Warren Powers, the Tigers compiled an overall record of 8–4 with a mark of 3–4 in conference play, placing fifth in the Big 8. Missouri was invited to the Tangerine Bowl, in which they defeated Southern Miss by a score of 19–17. The team played home game at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

1981 Big Eight Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 11 Nebraska $	7	–	0	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 20 Oklahoma	4	–	2	–	1	7	–	4	–	1
Kansas	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Oklahoma State	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
No. 19 Missouri	3	–	4	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Iowa State	2	–	4	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
Colorado	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Kansas State	1	–	6	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	Army*		Faurot Field Columbia, MO	W 24–10	60,033
September 19	Rice*		Faurot Field Columbia, MO	W 42–10	57,112
September 26	Louisville*		Faurot Field Columbia, MO	W 34–3	57,448
October 3	at No. 9 Mississippi State*		Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS	W 14–3	40,776	^[1]
October 10	Kansas State	No. 13	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	W 58–13	61,012
October 17	at Iowa State	No. 8	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA (rivalry)	L 13–34	53,220
October 24	No. 15 Nebraska	No. 19	Faurot Field Columbia, MO (rivalry)	L 0–6	72,001
October 31	Oklahoma State		Faurot Field Columbia, MO	L 12–16	57,541
November 7	at Colorado		Folsom Field Boulder, CO	W 30–14	35,782
November 14	No. 15 Oklahoma		Faurot Field Columbia, MO (rivalry)	W 19–14	67,364
November 21	at Kansas		Memorial Stadium Lawrence, Kansas (Border War)	L 11–19	47,500
December 19	vs. No. 18 Southern Miss*		Orlando Stadium Orlando, FL (Tangerine Bowl)	W 19–17	50,045	^[2]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

	1	2	3	4	Total
Oklahoma	7	0	0	7	14
• Missouri	3	10	6	0	19

Missouri's first win versus Oklahoma since 1969.^[4]

1981 Missouri Tigers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
C	`55`	Brad Edelman	Sr
TE	`83`	Andy Gibler	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`29`	Demetrious Johnson	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class