1981 Montana State Bobcats football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	3–7 (1–6 Big Sky)
Head coach	Sonny Lubick (4th season)
Home stadium	Reno H. Sales Stadium
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

1981 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e	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 Montana State Bobcats football team represented the Montana State University as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by Sonny Lubick in his fourth and final year as head coach, the Bobcats compiled an overall record of 3–7 and a mark of 1–6 in conference play, placing seventh in the Big Sky.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	at Washington State*	Joe Albi Stadium Spokane, WA	L 21–33	23,721	^[1]
September 19	Fresno State*	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 30–26		^[2]
September 26	Simon Fraser*	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 35–14	7,127	^[3]
October 3	Weber State	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	L 20–28		^[4]
October 10	at No. 7 Boise State	Bronco Stadium Boise, ID	L 10–20	18,842	^[5]
October 17	Idaho	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 29–28	10,017	^[6]
October 24	at Northern Arizona	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, Arizona	L 14–20		^[7]
October 31	Montana	Reno H. Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	L 17–27
November 7	at No. 2 Idaho State	ASISU Minidome Pocatello, ID	L 3–31	10,468
November 14	at Nevada	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	L 13–46	4,900
*Non-conference game Rankings from Associated Press Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 Montana State Bobcats football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB		Tony Boddie	Jr
WR	`81`	Mike Carle	Jr
WR	`18`	Britt Freeman	Sr
C		Larry Rubens	Sr
QB	`12`	Dennis Stauch	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DE		Mark Fellows	Fr
SS		Tim Sturdevant	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

v t e Montana State Bobcats football
Venues	Gatton Field (1930–1971) Van Winkle Stadium (1972) Bobcat Stadium (1973–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Montana
Culture & lore	Spirit of the West Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National championship seasons in bold