Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were 5-6 in 1981.

Scores & Schedules

DATE		OPP	SCORE
Fri 11/27	@	MIA	L 15-37
Sat 11/21	@	PSU	L 21-24
Sat 11/14	@	AFA	W 35-7
Sat 11/7	vs	GT	W 35-3
Sat 10/31	vs	NAVY	W 38-0

Team Leaders

See roster

PASS YDS

936

Kiel

RUSH YDS

727

Carter

REC YDS

463

Howard

Latest Notre Dame Fighting Irish News

Marcus Freeman is excited about taking No. 2 Notre Dame on the road to face No. 8 BYU

Oct 12, 2026
BYU hosts Notre Dame as Cougars chase signature win in the 1st top-10 game at LaVell Edwards Stadium

Oct 12, 2026
Georgia takes over at No. 1 in AP Top 25 with Notre Dame, Miami next; Oregon is out of the poll

Oct 11, 2026
No. 3 Notre Dame uses big plays to rout Stanford 58-7 for its 16th straight victory

Oct 10, 2026
Focused Faison thriving in No. 3 Notre Dame's high-scoring offense after giving up lacrosse

Oct 7, 2026

1981 Stats

See stats

	GP	PTS	YDS	PLY	AVG	RUSH YDS	RUSH ATT	RUSH AVG	PASS YDS	PASS ATT	PASS AVG
Team	11	232	3,609	743	4.9	1,985	491	4.0	1,624	252	6.4
Team Rank		63rd	68th	106th	51st	53rd	78th	37th	69th	73rd	63rd
Opponent	11	160	3,228		4.3	1,829	507	3.6	1,399	243	5.8
Opponent Rank		35th	42nd		46th	72nd	70th	73rd	19th	37th	27th
Net		+72	+381	+743	+0.6	+156	-16	+0.4	+225	+9	+0.7
Net Rank		41st	54th	106th	44th	61st	82nd	55th	43rd	62nd	48th

More CFB News

Oklahoma State winning again is a Big 12 surprise as Cowboys rack up AP midseason awards

Oct 13, 2026

Bob Chesney and his surprising Bruins top the list of AP Big Ten midseason awards

Oct 13, 2026

UCLA coach Bob Chesney: 'Serious concern' QB Nico Iamaleava could miss season

Oct 13, 2026

Marcus Freeman is excited about taking No. 2 Notre Dame on the road to face No. 8 BYU

Oct 12, 2026

Texas special teams are giving up big plays and creating big problems for the 7th-ranked Longhorns

Oct 12, 2026

Auburn will be without standout linebacker Xavier Atkins against No. 1 Georgia

Oct 12, 2026

CFB 2026 Leaders

Pass Yards Leaders

2,257

Atkinson

2,045

Maiava

1,868

Jackson

Rush Yards Leaders

835

Riley

828

Roberts

793

Cook

Rec Yards Leaders

932

Legree

916

Smith

720

Hernandez

Pass TD Leaders

21

Atkinson

18

Maiava

17

Taylor

Rush TD Leaders

12

Baugh

12

Hawkins

10

Daniels

Rec TD Leaders

12

Legree

11

Smith

9

Dixon

QB Rating Leaders

212.2

Mensah

200.5

Hoover

198.6

Stockton

Sack Leaders

9.5

Simmons

8.0

Umanmielen

7.0

Esqillion

CFB 2026 Rankings

PPG Rankings

49.6

46.2

44.2

44.0

43.4

42.8

Opp PPG Rankings

9.8

10.3

10.6

11.0

11.8

12.2

Total Yards Rankings

554.8

533.8

531.6

524.8

522.3

521.4

Rush Yards Rankings

333.2

325.6

299.4

295.5

263.6

253.2

Pass Yards Rankings

391.2

347.0

341.0

337.8

334.4

322.4

Sack Leaders

24.0

22.0

20.0

19.0

CFB 2026 Standings

	Pac-12	W	L	PCT
1	Boise State	5	1	.833
2	Oregon State	4	2	.667
3	Fresno State	4	2	.667
4	San Diego State	2	4	.333
5	Utah State	2	4	.333
6	Colorado State	2	3	.400
7	Texas State	2	3	.400
8	Washington State	1	5	.167

	Big 12	W	L	PCT
1	BYU	5	0	1.000
2	Texas Tech	5	0	1.000
3	Utah	5	0	1.000
4	Baylor	4	1	.800
5	Oklahoma State	4	1	.800
6	Arizona	5	1	.833
7	Houston	5	1	.833
8	Cincinnati	4	1	.800
9	Arizona State	3	2	.600
10	Iowa State	3	3	.500
11	UCF	3	3	.500
12	Kansas State	3	2	.600
13	Colorado	2	3	.400
14	Kansas	2	3	.400
15	TCU	2	3	.400
16	West Virginia	3	3	.500

	Mid-American	W	L	PCT
1	Eastern Michigan	4	3	.571
2	Ohio	4	2	.667
3	Western Michigan	4	2	.667
4	Bowling Green	2	4	.333
5	Buffalo	3	3	.500
6	Toledo	4	2	.667
7	Central Michigan	3	3	.500
8	Miami (OH)	3	3	.500
9	UMass	4	2	.667
10	Kent State	2	4	.333
11	Akron	1	5	.167
12	Ball State	1	5	.167
13	Sacramento State	1	5	.167

	Southeastern	W	L	PCT
1	Georgia	6	0	1.000
2	Alabama	5	1	.833
3	Kentucky	5	1	.833
4	Mississippi State	4	1	.800
5	Missouri	5	1	.833
6	Tennessee	5	1	.833
7	Ole Miss	4	1	.800
8	Oklahoma	3	2	.600
9	Florida	4	2	.667
10	Texas	4	1	.800
11	LSU	4	2	.667
12	Auburn	3	2	.600
13	South Carolina	3	3	.500
14	Texas A&M	3	3	.500
15	Vanderbilt	3	3	.500
16	Arkansas	2	4	.333

	Big 10	W	L	PCT
1	Indiana	6	0	1.000
2	UCLA	5	0	1.000
3	Ohio State	5	1	.833
4	Wisconsin	4	1	.800
5	USC	6	1	.857
6	Purdue	3	3	.500
7	Iowa	5	1	.833
8	Nebraska	5	1	.833
9	Minnesota	4	2	.667
10	Northwestern	4	1	.800
11	Oregon	3	2	.600
12	Illinois	3	3	.500
13	Michigan	3	2	.600
14	Rutgers	1	4	.200
15	Penn State	3	3	.500
16	Washington	3	3	.500
17	Maryland	2	4	.333
18	Michigan State	2	4	.333

	Conference USA	W	L	PCT
1	Liberty	5	1	.833
2	Jacksonville State	4	2	.667
3	Florida International	3	2	.600
4	New Mexico State	2	4	.333
5	Western Kentucky	2	4	.333
6	Delaware	2	3	.400
7	Middle Tennessee	2	3	.400
8	Kennesaw State	1	4	.200
9	Missouri State	1	4	.200
10	Sam Houston	1	4	.200

	American Athletic	W	L	PCT
1	Memphis	5	1	.833
2	UTSA	5	1	.833
3	North Texas	4	2	.667
4	Florida Atlantic	4	1	.800
5	East Carolina	3	2	.600
6	Army	3	2	.600
7	UAB	3	3	.500
8	Temple	2	4	.333
9	South Florida	4	2	.667
10	Navy	2	3	.400
11	Tulane	2	3	.400
12	Tulsa	3	3	.500
13	Rice	1	5	.167
14	Charlotte	0	6	.000

	Atlantic Coast	W	L	PCT
1	Miami	5	0	1.000
2	Wake Forest	5	1	.833
3	Clemson	3	2	.600
4	Pittsburgh	5	1	.833
5	SMU	4	1	.800
6	Virginia	4	2	.667
7	California	3	3	.500
8	Georgia Tech	2	3	.400
9	Louisville	3	3	.500
10	Duke	4	1	.800
11	North Carolina	3	2	.600
12	Virginia Tech	4	2	.667
13	Florida State	3	3	.500
14	NC State	3	3	.500
15	Stanford	2	4	.333
16	Boston College	2	3	.400
17	Syracuse	2	3	.400

	Mountain West	W	L	PCT
1	UNLV	4	2	.667
2	New Mexico	4	1	.800
3	North Dakota State	5	1	.833
4	Air Force	4	1	.800
5	Wyoming	3	3	.500
6	San Jose State	3	3	.500
7	Nevada	2	3	.400
8	Northern Illinois	0	5	.000
9	UTEP	1	5	.167
10	Hawai'i	1	5	.167

	Independent	W	L	PCT
1	Notre Dame	6	0	1.000
2	UConn	3	3	.500

	Sun Belt	W	L	PCT
1	James Madison	6	0	1.000
2	South Alabama	4	2	.667
3	Georgia State	4	1	.800
4	Louisiana Tech	3	2	.600
5	Troy	3	2	.600
6	Louisiana	4	2	.667
7	Georgia Southern	2	4	.333
8	Coastal Carolina	2	4	.333
9	Old Dominion	2	4	.333
10	Appalachian State	3	2	.600
11	Southern Miss	1	4	.200
12	Louisiana-Monroe	0	5	.000
13	Marshall	3	3	.500
14	Arkansas State	2	4	.333