Michigan State Spartans

The Michigan State Spartans were 5-6 in 1981.

Scores & Schedules

DATE		OPP	SCORE
Sat 11/21	@	IOWA	L 7-36
Sat 11/14	vs	MINN	W 43-36
Sat 11/7	@	NW	W 61-14
Sat 10/31	vs	IND	W 26-3
Sat 10/24	@	PUR	L 26-27

Team Leaders

See roster

PASS YDS

1,521

Clark

RUSH YDS

461

Roberts

REC YDS

653

Turner

1981 Big 10 Standings

TEAM	CONF	OVERALL
Wisconsin	6-3	7-5
Minnesota	4-5	6-5
Michigan State	4-5	5-6
Purdue	3-6	5-6
Indiana	3-6	3-8

Latest Michigan State Spartans News

Washington overcomes challenging night of travel to beat Michigan State 21-14 on TD with 2:24 left

Nov 15, 2026
Michigan State makes 5 field goals, forces 4 turnovers and has 5 sacks in 15-6 win over Michigan

Nov 8, 2026

1981 Stats

See stats

	GP	PTS	YDS	PLY	AVG	RUSH YDS	RUSH ATT	RUSH AVG	PASS YDS	PASS ATT	PASS AVG
Team	11	263	4,195	861	4.9	1,424	447	3.2	2,771	414	6.7
Team Rank		34th	33rd	12th	48th	98th	105th	93rd	12th	11th	49th
Opponent	11	249	3,951		4.7	2,123	512	4.1	1,828	327	5.6
Opponent Rank		96th	95th		80th	98th	75th	112th	78th	117th	19th
Net		+14	+244	+861	+0.2	-699	-65	-1.0	+943	+87	+1.1
Net Rank		66th	63rd	12th	65th	103rd	96th	105th	13th	27th	32nd

More CFB News

Minnesota fires offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh after another rough performance

Nov 15, 2026

Rainy and cold reception for No. 19 Mississippi at Oklahoma day later after travel issues

Nov 15, 2026

No. 2 Utah's Devon Dampier putting himself in Heisman conversation with win over No. 22 Arizona

Nov 15, 2026

No. 6 Indiana keeps finding new ways to overcome obstacles as it continues to produce wins

Nov 15, 2026

Sanders, Buffaloes keep bowl hopes afloat as team 'caught the same bus' in beating No. 14 Houston

Nov 15, 2026

What is the CFP committee thinking? A look at the criteria for the playoff rankings

Nov 15, 2026

CFB 2026 Leaders

Pass Yards Leaders

3,239

Mestemaker

3,169

Atkinson

3,150

Fifita

Rush Yards Leaders

1,335

Flora

1,320

Sheppard

1,291

Riley

Rec Yards Leaders

1,349

Legree

1,317

Smith

1,045

Hatcher

Pass TD Leaders

30

Mestemaker

29

Mensah

29

Veltkamp

Rush TD Leaders

20

Hawkins

19

Sheppard

18

Gutierrez

Rec TD Leaders

15

Legree

15

Smith

13

Toney

QB Rating Leaders

186.8

Mensah

184.5

Sayin

179.8

Stockton

Sack Leaders

14.0

Bradley

11.5

Dean

11.0

Zock

CFB 2026 Rankings

PPG Rankings

44.1

43.9

42.2

41.8

39.7

Opp PPG Rankings

11.7

11.9

12.0

12.5

13.8

14.1

Total Yards Rankings

526.7

520.7

520.1

518.1

512.3

499.2

Rush Yards Rankings

344.0

324.7

298.1

265.6

258.7

240.7

Pass Yards Rankings

373.0

334.9

331.0

328.9

326.2

320.8

Sack Leaders

40.0

39.0

38.0

37.0

32.0

31.0

CFB 2026 Standings

	Pac-12	W	L	PCT
1	Boise State	9	1	.900
2	San Diego State	5	5	.500
3	Texas State	6	4	.600
4	Oregon State	5	5	.500
5	Utah State	4	6	.400
6	Fresno State	5	5	.500
7	Washington State	2	8	.200
8	Colorado State	3	7	.300

	Big 10	W	L	PCT
1	UCLA	10	0	1.000
2	Indiana	9	1	.900
3	Oregon	7	3	.700
4	Ohio State	7	3	.700
5	Iowa	8	2	.800
6	Wisconsin	6	4	.600
7	USC	7	3	.700
8	Illinois	6	4	.600
9	Penn State	6	4	.600
10	Minnesota	5	5	.500
11	Northwestern	6	4	.600
12	Washington	6	4	.600
13	Nebraska	6	4	.600
14	Maryland	4	6	.400
15	Michigan	5	5	.500
16	Purdue	3	7	.300
17	Michigan State	3	7	.300
18	Rutgers	2	8	.200

	Southeastern	W	L	PCT
1	Georgia	9	1	.900
2	Alabama	8	2	.800
3	Texas	8	2	.800
4	Tennessee	8	2	.800
5	Kentucky	7	3	.700
6	Ole Miss	6	4	.600
7	South Carolina	6	4	.600
8	Oklahoma	6	4	.600
9	Florida	6	4	.600
10	Auburn	6	4	.600
11	LSU	6	4	.600
12	Missouri	6	4	.600
13	Arkansas	4	6	.400
14	Mississippi State	4	6	.400
15	Texas A&M	4	6	.400
16	Vanderbilt	4	6	.400

	Conference USA	W	L	PCT
1	Liberty	9	1	.900
2	Jacksonville State	7	3	.700
3	Kennesaw State	4	6	.400
4	Middle Tennessee	5	5	.500
5	Delaware	5	5	.500
6	Western Kentucky	4	6	.400
7	Missouri State	4	6	.400
8	Florida International	4	6	.400
9	New Mexico State	3	7	.300
10	Sam Houston	1	9	.100

	Sun Belt	W	L	PCT
1	Louisiana Tech	8	2	.800
2	Georgia Southern	6	4	.600
3	Louisiana	7	3	.700
4	James Madison	8	3	.727
5	South Alabama	5	5	.500
6	Appalachian State	6	4	.600
7	Louisiana-Monroe	2	8	.200
8	Coastal Carolina	4	6	.400
9	Arkansas State	4	6	.400
10	Georgia State	5	5	.500
11	Troy	4	6	.400
12	Marshall	5	5	.500
13	Southern Miss	3	7	.300
14	Old Dominion	3	7	.300

	Atlantic Coast	W	L	PCT
1	Miami	9	1	.900
2	Wake Forest	9	1	.900
3	Louisville	7	3	.700
4	SMU	7	3	.700
5	Duke	7	3	.700
6	Clemson	6	4	.600
7	Florida State	5	5	.500
8	Pittsburgh	6	4	.600
9	Stanford	5	5	.500
10	Virginia Tech	6	4	.600
11	Virginia	5	5	.500
12	Syracuse	5	5	.500
13	North Carolina	5	5	.500
14	Boston College	4	6	.400
15	NC State	4	6	.400
16	California	3	7	.300
17	Georgia Tech	3	7	.300

	Independent	W	L	PCT
1	Notre Dame	9	1	.900
2	UConn	5	5	.500

	American Athletic	W	L	PCT
1	UTSA	8	2	.800
2	Memphis	8	2	.800
3	North Texas	7	3	.700
4	UAB	6	4	.600
5	East Carolina	6	4	.600
6	Army	5	4	.556
7	Tulsa	6	4	.600
8	Florida Atlantic	6	4	.600
9	Tulane	5	5	.500
10	South Florida	6	4	.600
11	Navy	3	6	.333
12	Charlotte	1	9	.100
13	Temple	2	8	.200
14	Rice	1	9	.100

	Mid-American	W	L	PCT
1	Toledo	8	2	.800
2	Western Michigan	7	3	.700
3	Buffalo	7	3	.700
4	Ohio	7	3	.700
5	Miami (OH)	6	4	.600
6	Central Michigan	5	5	.500
7	Eastern Michigan	4	6	.400
8	Bowling Green	3	7	.300
9	UMass	5	5	.500
10	Kent State	3	7	.300
11	Ball State	3	7	.300
12	Sacramento State	2	9	.182
13	Akron	1	9	.100

	Big 12	W	L	PCT
1	Utah	10	0	1.000
2	Texas Tech	9	1	.900
3	BYU	8	2	.800
4	Houston	7	3	.700
5	Baylor	6	4	.600
6	Arizona	7	3	.700
7	Arizona State	6	4	.600
8	Oklahoma State	6	4	.600
9	UCF	5	5	.500
10	Iowa State	5	5	.500
11	TCU	5	5	.500
12	Kansas	4	6	.400
13	West Virginia	5	5	.500
14	Cincinnati	5	5	.500
15	Colorado	4	6	.400
16	Kansas State	4	6	.400

	Mountain West	W	L	PCT
1	Wyoming	7	3	.700
2	New Mexico	8	2	.800
3	North Dakota State	8	2	.800
4	Air Force	8	2	.800
5	UNLV	6	4	.600
6	Nevada	4	6	.400
7	San Jose State	5	6	.455
8	Hawai'i	3	7	.300
9	UTEP	1	9	.100
10	Northern Illinois	0	10	.000