The 1981 Colorado Buffaloes football team represented the University of Colorado at Boulder in the Big Eight Conference during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the third and final season for Chuck Fairbanks' as head coach, and the first year of blue jerseys for the Buffaloes, which were phased out in 1984.^[1][2][3]

The Buffaloes finished at 3–8 (2–5 in Big 8, seventh) for a third consecutive losing season. Home games were played on campus at Folsom Field in Boulder. After a shutout loss at Kansas,^[4] CU defeated last-place Kansas State by three points at home in the season finale to avoid the conference cellar.

Fairbanks resigned in early June 1982 to become head coach, president, and minority owner of the New Jersey Generals of the new United States Football League (USFL).^[2][5] His overall record at CU was a disappointing 7–26 (.212), 5–16 (.238) in conference. Bill McCartney, the defensive coordinator at Michigan under Bo Schembechler, was announced as Colorado's new head coach on June 9,^[6][7][8] and led the program for thirteen seasons, through 1994.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 12	Texas Tech*	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	W 45–27	34,884
September 19	Washington State*	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	L 10–14	35,277
September 26	No. 11 BYU*	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	L 20–41	43,259
October 3	at No. 16 UCLA*	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	L 7–27	40,347
October 10	at Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE (rivalry)	L 0–59	76,168
October 17	Oklahoma State	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	W 11–10	36,101
October 24	at No. 14 Iowa State	Cyclone Stadium Ames, IA	L 10–17	50,103
October 31	at No. 19 Oklahoma	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	L 0–49	75,638
November 7	Missouri	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	L 14–30	35,782
November 14	at Kansas	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	L 0–27	31,500
November 21	Kansas State	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)	W 24–21	23,921
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[9][10][11]

Roster

^[12]