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1981 Boise State Broncos football team

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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

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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).

Division I-AA playoffs

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The Broncos were again invited to the 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.

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 57:00 pmNorthwestern State*
W 32–2019,347[8]
September 127:00 pmRhode Island*
  • Bronco Stadium
  • Boise, ID
W 33–819,437[9]
September 197:00 pmIdaho State
  • Bronco Stadium
  • Boise, ID
L 10–2120,486[10]
September 267:00 pmNorthern ArizonaNo. 10
  • Bronco Stadium
  • Boise, ID
W 34–2017,622[11]
October 3at MontanaNo. 9
W 27–138,732[12]
October 107:00 pmMontana StatedaggerNo. 7
  • Bronco Stadium
  • Boise, ID
W 20–1018,842[13]
October 241:30 pmat Weber StateNo. 6
W 33–1912,306[14]
October 311:00 pmat NevadaNo. 4
W 13–314,325[15]
November 71:30 pmat Cal State Fullerton*No. 3
L 17–20  2,100[16]
November 141:30 pmCal Poly*No. 6
  • Bronco Stadium
  • Boise, ID
W 17–617,260[17]
November 218:30 pmat IdahoNo. 4
W 45–4314,000[18]
December 512:30 pmat No. 4 Jackson State*No. 5
W 17–611,500[19]
December 1211:30 amNo. 1 Eastern Kentucky*No. 5
  • Bronco Stadium
  • Boise, ID (Div. I-AA Semifinal)
L 17–2320,176[20]

Personnel

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Coaches

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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 led Boise State for four seasons, from 1983 to 1986. The defensive secondary coach in 1981 was future National Football League (NFL) head coach John Fox.[21]

Notable players

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

Roster

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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

[21][22]

NFL draft

[edit]

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

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  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. ^ "BSU rolls to triumph in opener". The Idaho Statesman. September 6, 1981. Retrieved October 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Broncos belt Rhode Island". The Idaho Statesman. September 13, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "ISU shatters Bronco jinx with 21–10 win in league showdown". The Times-News. September 20, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Boise State uses big first half to beat NAU". The Arizona Republic. September 27, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Broncos run over Grizzlies". The Independent-Record. October 4, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Broncos bump Cats". The Montana Standard. October 11, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Broncos rip error-plagued Weber State". The Salt Lake Tribune. October 25, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Boise St. dumps Wolfpack". South Idaho Press. November 1, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ 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
  17. ^ "BSU beats Cal–Poly San Luis Obispo, 17–6". The Times-News. November 15, 1981. Retrieved October 30, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Ramsdell, Paul (November 22, 1981). "Idaho bids farewell to Davitch with loss". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 2D.
  19. ^ "Broncos top Jackson State". The Idaho Statesman. December 6, 1981. Retrieved August 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Broncos' last-ditch attempt falls short". The Idaho Statesman. December 13, 1981. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ a b Game Day program – EKU vs BSU – December 12, 1981, p. 6
  22. ^ Emerson, Paul (November 21, 1981). "Idaho can return some of the pain: probable starters". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
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