#9 North Carolina Tar Heels

The North Carolina Tar Heels were 9-2 in 1981. They emerged victorious over the Arkansas Razorbacks, 31 to 27, in the Gator Bowl on December 28, 1981.

Scores & Schedules

See schedule

DATE		OPP	SCORE
Mon 12/28	vs	ARK	W 31-27
Sat 11/21	@	DUKE	W 31-10
Sat 11/14	@	UVA	W 17-14
Sat 11/7	vs	CLEM	L 8-10
Sat 10/31	@	MD	W 17-10

Team Leaders

See roster

PASS YDS

994

Elkins

RUSH YDS

1,015

Bryant

REC YDS

373

Richardson

1981 ACC Standings

	TEAM	CONF	OVERALL
1	Clemson	6-0	12-0
	North Carolina	5-1	10-2
	Duke	3-3	6-5
	Maryland	4-2	4-6-1
	NC State	2-4	4-7

1981 Stats

See stats

	GP	PTS	YDS	PLY	AVG	RUSH YDS	RUSH ATT	RUSH AVG	PASS YDS	PASS ATT	PASS AVG
Team	11	344	4,573	853	5.4	3,019	626	4.8	1,554	227	6.8
Team Rank		10th	12th	14th	23rd	8th	14th	11th	81st	91st	40th
Opponent	11	123	3,256		4.2	1,213	447	2.7	2,043	329	6.2
Opponent Rank		5th	43rd		38th	16th	27th	15th	104th	118th	60th
Net		+221	+1,317	+853	+1.2	+1,806	+179	+2.1	-489	-102	+0.6
Net Rank		6th	10th	14th	18th	5th	11th	7th	105th	115th	50th

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CFB 2026 Leaders

Pass Yards Leaders

3,169

Atkinson

3,076

Mensah

2,973

Jennings

Rush Yards Leaders

1,335

Flora

1,320

Sheppard

1,241

Riley

Rec Yards Leaders

1,317

Smith

1,209

Legree

1,045

Hatcher

Pass TD Leaders

29

Mensah

29

Mestemaker

28

Stokes

Rush TD Leaders

20

Hawkins

19

Sheppard

18

Gutierrez

Rec TD Leaders

15

Smith

14

Legree

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

44.7

44.1

43.9

41.8

40.8

Opp PPG Rankings

10.9

11.9

12.2

12.5

13.8

14.1

Total Yards Rankings

535.4

533.6

520.7

520.1

518.1

504.1

Rush Yards Rankings

332.0

324.7

298.1

265.6

258.7

240.7

Pass Yards Rankings

370.4

343.8

339.1

331.0

324.9

322.9

Sack Leaders

39.0

37.0

36.0

32.0

31.0

CFB 2026 Standings

	Pac-12	W	L	PCT
1	Boise State	8	1	.889
2	Texas State	6	4	.600
3	Oregon State	5	4	.556
4	San Diego State	4	5	.444
5	Utah State	4	5	.444
6	Fresno State	5	5	.500
7	Colorado State	3	6	.333
8	Washington State	1	8	.111

	Big 10	W	L	PCT
1	UCLA	10	0	1.000
2	Indiana	9	1	.900
3	Oregon	7	3	.700
4	Iowa	7	2	.778
5	USC	7	3	.700
6	Ohio State	7	3	.700
7	Wisconsin	6	4	.600
8	Illinois	6	4	.600
9	Northwestern	6	4	.600
10	Minnesota	5	4	.556
11	Penn State	5	4	.556
12	Washington	6	4	.600
13	Michigan	5	5	.500
14	Nebraska	6	4	.600
15	Purdue	3	6	.333
16	Rutgers	2	8	.200
17	Maryland	4	6	.400
18	Michigan State	3	7	.300

	Southeastern	W	L	PCT
1	Georgia	9	1	.900
2	Alabama	8	2	.800
3	Kentucky	7	2	.778
4	Texas	7	2	.778
5	Tennessee	8	2	.800
6	Ole Miss	6	3	.667
7	South Carolina	6	3	.667
8	LSU	6	3	.667
9	Missouri	6	4	.600
10	Oklahoma	5	4	.556
11	Florida	5	4	.556
12	Auburn	6	4	.600
13	Mississippi State	4	6	.400
14	Texas A&M	4	6	.400
15	Arkansas	3	6	.333
16	Vanderbilt	4	6	.400

	Conference USA	W	L	PCT
1	Liberty	9	1	.900
2	Jacksonville State	7	3	.700
3	Middle Tennessee	5	5	.500
4	Delaware	5	5	.500
5	Florida International	4	6	.400
6	New Mexico State	3	7	.300
7	Western Kentucky	4	6	.400
8	Missouri State	4	6	.400
9	Kennesaw State	4	6	.400
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	4	5	.444
6	Appalachian State	6	4	.600
7	Arkansas State	4	6	.400
8	Coastal Carolina	4	6	.400
9	Troy	4	5	.444
10	Marshall	5	5	.500
11	Southern Miss	3	7	.300
12	Georgia State	5	5	.500
13	Louisiana-Monroe	2	8	.200
14	Old Dominion	3	7	.300

	Atlantic Coast	W	L	PCT
1	Miami	9	1	.900
2	Wake Forest	9	1	.900
3	Louisville	6	3	.667
4	SMU	7	3	.700
5	Duke	7	3	.700
6	Clemson	6	4	.600
7	Virginia Tech	6	3	.667
8	Florida State	5	5	.500
9	Pittsburgh	6	4	.600
10	North Carolina	5	4	.556
11	Stanford	4	5	.444
12	Virginia	5	5	.500
13	NC State	4	6	.400
14	Boston College	4	6	.400
15	California	3	7	.300
16	Syracuse	5	5	.500
17	Georgia Tech	3	7	.300

	Mountain West	W	L	PCT
1	New Mexico	8	1	.889
2	Wyoming	6	3	.667
3	North Dakota State	7	2	.778
4	Air Force	7	2	.778
5	UNLV	5	4	.556
6	San Jose State	5	5	.500
7	Nevada	4	6	.400
8	Hawai'i	3	6	.333
9	UTEP	1	8	.111
10	Northern Illinois	0	10	.000

	American Athletic	W	L	PCT
1	North Texas	7	2	.778
2	Memphis	8	2	.800
3	UTSA	7	2	.778
4	Army	5	4	.556
5	UAB	6	4	.600
6	Florida Atlantic	6	3	.667
7	East Carolina	6	4	.600
8	Tulsa	5	4	.556
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

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

	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	9	0	1.000
2	Texas Tech	8	1	.889
3	BYU	7	2	.778
4	Arizona	7	2	.778
5	Baylor	6	3	.667
6	Oklahoma State	6	3	.667
7	Houston	7	3	.700
8	Arizona State	6	4	.600
9	UCF	5	5	.500
10	West Virginia	5	5	.500
11	Iowa State	5	5	.500
12	Cincinnati	5	5	.500
13	TCU	5	5	.500
14	Colorado	4	6	.400
15	Kansas State	4	6	.400
16	Kansas	4	6	.400