1981 Boise State Broncos football
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Ranking
APNo. 5
Record10–3 (6–1 Big Sky)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGene Dahlquist (5th season)
Defensive coordinatorLyle Setencich (2nd season)
Base defense3–4
Home stadiumBronco Stadium
Seasons
← 1980
1982 →
1981 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Idaho State $^ 6 – 1 – 0 12 – 1 – 0
No. 5 Boise State ^ 6 – 1 – 0 10 – 3 – 0
Montana 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Nevada 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Weber State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Northern Arizona 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Montana State 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Idaho 0 – 7 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Committee poll

The 1981 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Broncos competed in the Big Sky Conference and played their home games at Bronco Stadium, an outdoor facility on campus in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos were led by sixth-year head coach Jim Criner and were the defending champions of Division I-AA.

Regular season

The Broncos finished the regular season at 9–2 and 6–1 in conference to tie for first in the Big Sky, but lost the tiebreaker due to the head-to-head loss to champion Idaho State in the conference opener.[1] The Broncos avenged their 1980 loss Cal Poly-SLO, beating the 1980 Division II national champions 17–6 in Boise,[2] but lost at Cal State Fullerton, whom they defeated in Boise in the previous season.[3] The Broncos narrowly defeated rival Idaho for the fifth consecutive year, in the regular season finale in Moscow.[4] The Vandals were winless in the Big Sky in 1981, which caused a change in head coaches. (BSU did not defeat the Vandals again until 1994, losing twelve straight).

NCAA Division I-AA playoffs

The Broncos were again invited to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, expanded to eight teams for 1981. As Big Sky runner-up, BSU played on the road in the quarterfinals at Jackson State, and won 19–7.[5] The semifinal game was played at home against top-ranked Eastern Kentucky, whom the Broncos had narrowly defeated in the title game the year before. This time the Colonels prevailed 23–17,[6] but lost the title game to Idaho State the following week in Texas.[7]

The Broncos returned to the I-AA playoffs in 1988, the semifinals in 1990, and the title game in 1994, then moved up to Division I-A in 1996.

Notable players

Future NFL players included linebacker John Rade and safety Rick Woods. Defensive lineman Randy Trautman played four seasons in the Canadian Football League and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

Coaches

Head coach Jim Criner stayed seven seasons at Boise State before departing for Iowa State following the 1982 season. Defensive coordinator Lyle Setencich was promoted to head coach and would stay for four seasons (1983–1986). The defensive secondary coach at BSU in 1981 was future NFL head coach John Fox.[8]

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 5Northwestern State*
W 32–2019,347
September 12Rhode Island*
  • Bronco Stadium
  • Boise, ID
W 33–819,437
September 19Idaho State
  • Bronco Stadium
  • Boise, ID
L 10–2120,486
September 26Northern ArizonaNo. 10
  • Bronco Stadium
  • Boise, ID
W 34–2017,622
October 3at MontanaNo. T–9
W 27–138,732
October 10Montana StateNo. T–7
  • Bronco Stadium
  • Boise, ID
W 20–1018,842
October 24at Weber StateNo. 6
W 33–1912,306
October 31at NevadaNo. 4
W 13–314,325
November 7at Cal State Fullerton*No. 3
L 17–202,100[9]
November 14Cal Poly*No. 6
  • Bronco Stadium
  • Boise, ID
W 17–617,260
November 21at IdahoNo. 4
W 45–4314,000
December 5at No. 4 Jackson State*No. 5
W 17–611,500[10]
December 12No. 1 Eastern Kentucky*No. 5
  • Bronco Stadium
  • Boise, ID (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)
L 17–2320,176[11]

Roster

1981 Boise State Broncos football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
FL 1 Ron Harvey Jr
QB 13 Gerald DesPres Fr
QB 18 Tim Klena So
TB 34 Rodney Webster So
FB 36 Robert Farmer Jr
C 53 Scott Baker So
LT 60 Dennis Brady Sr
RT 67 Bill Madinger Sr
LG 68 Greg Sutton So
RG 71 Jon Zogg Jr
SE 80 Kipp Bedard Sr
TE 90 Duane Dlouhy Sr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
FS 26 David Blackburn Jr
CB 28 Chris Bell Sr
SS 29 Rick Woods Sr
LOLB 32 Dan LeBeau Sr
CB 37 Bobby Fryer Jr
FS 42 Larry Alder Jr
NG 43 Bob Skinner Jr
RILB 44 Curt Hecker Jr
ROLB 58 John Rade Jr
LILB 61 Ray Santucci Sr
LDT 70 Randy Trautman Sr
RDT 75 Eric McCree Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
KR 5 John Broadous Jr
K 10 Kenrick Camerud Jr
PR 29 Rick Woods Sr
P 33 Eric Brown Fr
LS 66 Jeff Caves So
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Source:[8][12]

NFL Draft

Two Bronco seniors were selected in the 1982 NFL Draft, which lasted twelve rounds (334 selections).

Player Position Round Overall Franchise
Rick Woods DB 4th 97 Pittsburgh Steelers
Randy Trautman DT 9th 238 Washington Redskins

References

  1. ^ "Idaho St. 20, Boise St. 17". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. September 20, 1981. p. 6C.
  2. ^ "Boise State romps". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 15, 1981. p. 6C.
  3. ^ "Fullerton 20, Boise St. 17". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. November 8, 1981. p. 6C.
  4. ^ Emerson, Paul (November 22, 1981). "Idaho bids goodbye to Davitch with loss". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. p. 2D.
  5. ^ "Boise State had upper hand". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. December 6, 1981. p. 13C.
  6. ^ "No.1 E. Kentucky tips Boise St., 23-17". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. December 13, 1981. p. 12E.
  7. ^ "Bengals ride like the wind". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. December 20, 1981. p. 2D.
  8. ^ a b Game Day program – EKU vs BSU – December 12, 1981, p. 6
  9. ^ Pete Donovan (November 8, 1981). "In a Wild Finish, Fullerton Kicks Back to Win, 20-17". The Los Angeles Times (Orange County ed.). Los Angeles, California. p. III-15. Retrieved February 10, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  10. ^ "Broncos top Jackson State". The Idaho Statesman. December 6, 1981. Retrieved August 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Broncos' last-ditch attempt falls short". The Idaho Statesman. December 13, 1981. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Emerson, Paul (November 21, 1981). "Idaho can return some of the pain: probable starters". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
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