1981 Navy Midshipmen football team

American college football season

1981 Navy Midshipmen football
Liberty Bowl, L 28–31 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Independent
Record	7–4–1
Head coach	George Welsh (9th season)
Captain	Tim Jordan, Eddie Meyers
Home stadium	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Seasons← 1980 1982 →

1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Pittsburgh		–		–		11	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Penn State		–		–		10	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Miami (FL)		–		–		9	–	2	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–		9	–	2	–	1
No. 17 West Virginia		–		–		9	–	3	–	0
Colgate		–		–		7	–	3	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–		7	–	4	–	0
Navy		–		–		7	–	4	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Florida State		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Holy Cross		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
Tulane		–		–		6	–	5	–	0
UNLV		–		–		6	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–		6	–	6	–	0
Temple		–		–		5	–	5	–	0
Boston College		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
East Carolina		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Northeast Louisiana		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Louisville		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Rutgers		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
William & Mary		–		–		5	–	6	–	0
Syracuse		–		–		4	–	6	–	1
Richmond		–		–		4	–	7	–	0
Army		–		–		3	–	7	–	1
North Texas State		–		–		2	–	9	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		–		1	–	10	–	0
Memphis State		–		–		1	–	10	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was led by ninth-year head coach George Welsh.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12		The Citadel	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		W 17–7	18,135
September 19		Eastern Kentucky	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		W 24–0	16,379
September 26		at Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI		L 16–21	105,213
October 3		at Yale	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	ABC	L 19–23	38,000
October 10		Air Force	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy)		W 30–13	31,181
October 17		at Boston College	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		W 25–10	31,000
October 24		William & Mary	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		W 27–0	25,014
October 31		at Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		L 0–38	59,075
November 7		Syracuse	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		W 35–23	23,355
November 14		at Georgia Tech	Grant Field Atlanta, GA		W 20–14	20,129
December 5		vs. Army	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA (Army–Navy Game)	ABC	T 3–3	60,470
December 30	8:00 p.m.	vs. Ohio State	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	USA	L 28–31	43,216
Homecoming All times are in Eastern time

Games summaries

Syracuse

Eddie Meyers 298 rush yards, 3 TD

Army

	1	2	3	4	Total
Navy	0	3	0	0	3
Army	0	0	3	0	3

NAVY: Steve Fehr 35 FG
ARMY: Dave Aucoin FG, 4:37

Personnel

1981 Navy Midshipmen football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
OT	`74`	Keith Boring	Sr
OT	`71`	Doug Borrebach	So
TE	`83`	Mark Fitzgerald	Sr
G	`63`	Jeff Johnson	Sr
QB	`16`	Jeff Korn	Jr
C	`51`	Dennis McCall	Jr
RB	`30`	Napoleon McCallum	Fr
RB	`40`	Eddie Meyers (C)	Sr
WR	`89`	Troy Mitchell	Sr
QB	`15`	Marco Pagnanelli	So
TE	`82`	Greg Papajohn	Sr
RB	`38`	Andy Skehan	Jr
RB	`49`	Tim Jackson	Sr
G	`59`	Mark Woodhouse	Jr
WR	`88`	Chris Yelder	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`41`	John Foley	Sr
LB	`57`	Todd Hastings	So
DT	`56`	Tim Jordan (C)	Sr
LB	`50`	Ken Olson	Sr
DT	`73`	Steve Peters	So
LB		Andy Ponseigo
DB	`47`	Eliott Reagans	Sr
DE	`84`	Mike Rouser	Sr
DB	`14`	Jeff Shoemake	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`24`	Steve Fehr	Sr

Head coach

George Welsh

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

References

"Football History" (PDF). United States Naval Academy. p. 194. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
"Navy Yearly Results (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
"Middies sink Citadel". The Baltimore Sun. September 13, 1981. Retrieved August 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
"Freshman helps Middies tar E. Kentucky 24–0". The Baltimore Sun. September 20, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Wolverines sink hopeful Navy". Dayton Daily News. September 27, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
McIntyre, Mark D. (October 4, 1981). "Yale Rally Surprises Navy". Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. p. 84 – via Newspapers.com.
Jackson, James H. (October 11, 1981). "Navy soars over Air Force, 30–13". The Baltimore Sun. p. C1. Retrieved October 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
"Meyers, Fehr lead Navy past B.C. by 25–10". The Baltimore Sun. October 18, 1981. p. C12 – via Newspapers.com.
"Navy goes overland to sink punchless W&M". Richmond Times-Dispatch. October 25, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Notre Dame rips Midshipmen 38–0". The Times Recorder. November 1, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Navy's Meyers human destroyer vs. SU". Syracuse Herald-American. November 8, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Jackets blow No. 9, tumble to Navy 20–14". The Atlanta Constitution. November 15, 1981. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
Verner, Bill (December 5, 1981). "Army: Our day will come again". The Journal News. White Plains, New York. p. C1. Retrieved July 3, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
Verner, Bill (December 5, 1981). "Army-Navy (continued)". The Journal News. White Plains, New York. p. C5. Retrieved July 3, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
"Army Rises To Occasion Against Navy". The Town Talk. Alexandria, Louisiana. Associated Press. December 6, 1981. p. 22. Retrieved July 3, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
"Navy's hit by a Gayle (Jimmy)". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. December 31, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"1981 Navy Midshipmen Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 31, 2024.

v t e Navy Midshipmen football
Venues	Worden Field (1890–1923) Thompson Stadium (1924–1958) Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (1959–present) Memorial Stadium (alternate)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Army: Army–Navy Game (Commander-in-Chief's Trophy) Air Force: Commander-in-Chief's Trophy Johns Hopkins Maryland: Crab Bowl Classic Notre Dame SMU: Gansz Trophy
Culture & lore	Bill the Goat "Anchors Aweigh" "I believe that we will win!" Marching band "Navy ends the drought" 2007 North Texas game Salute That Navy Spirit Navy Blue and Gold
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1879 1880–1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 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 1943 1944 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 2024
National championship seasons in bold

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