1981 San Jose State Spartans football team

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1981 San Jose State Spartans football team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1981 San Jose State Spartans football

PCAA champion
California Bowl, L 25–27 vs. Toledo
Conference	Pacific Coast Athletic Association
Record	9–3 (5–0 PCAA)
Head coach	Jack Elway (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Dennis Erickson (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Home stadium	Spartan Stadium
Seasons ← 1980 1982 →

1981 Pacific Coast Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
San Jose State $	5	–	0	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Utah State	4	–	1	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
Fresno State	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Pacific (CA)	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Cal State Fullerton	1	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Long Beach State	1	–	4	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion

The 1981 San Jose State Spartans football team represented San Jose State University during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association.^{[note 1]} Led by third-year head coach Jack Elway, they played home games at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California.

The Spartans were champions of the PCAA, with a record of nine wins and three losses (9–3, 5–0 PCAA), and qualified for the initial California Bowl against the Mid-American Conference (MAC) champion Toledo Rockets.^[1] This was the second bowl appearance for the Spartans since moving up to Division I-A; they were in the Pasadena Bowl a decade earlier. The California Bowl was played at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, and Toledo won 27–25 with a late field goal.^[2]^[3]^[4]

In early December, offensive coordinator Dennis Erickson was hired as the head coach at Idaho in the Big Sky Conference, but coached the Spartans in the bowl game.^[5]

The Spartan offense was led by quarterback Steve Clarkson, running back Gerald Willhite, and wide receiver Tim Kearse.^[1]

Schedule

[edit]

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	UNLV*	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA		L 6–16	17,112	^[6]
September 12	Santa Clara*	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA		W 41–7	17,238	^[7]
September 19	at Stanford*	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	USA	W 28–6	67,888	^[8]
September 26	at California*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	ABC	W 27–24	34,000	^[9]
October 3	at Fresno State	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA (rivalry)	ABC	W 65–33	25,617	^[10]^[11]
October 17	Cal State Fullerton	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	ESPN	W 45–23	21,238	^[12]
October 24	at Utah State	Romney Stadium Logan, UT		W 27–24	16,071	^[13]
November 7	at No. 10 Arizona State*	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, CA		L 24–31	65,728	^[14]
November 14	Pacific (CA)	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA		W 40–25	15,060	^[15]
November 21	at Long Beach State	Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, CA		W 25–22	6,723	^[16]
November 28	North Texas State*	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA		W 28–16	13,091	^[17]
December 19	Toledo*	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA (California Bowl)	Mizlou	L 25–27	15,565	^[18]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Source:^[19]^[20]

Team players in the NFL

[edit]

The following were selected in the 1982 NFL draft.^[21]

Player	Position	Round	Overall	NFL team
Gerald Willhite	Running back	1	21	Denver Broncos
Stacey Bailey	Wide receiver	3	63	Atlanta Falcons

The following finished their college career in 1981, were not drafted, but played in the NFL.^[22]

Player	Position	First NFL team
Kenny Daniel	Defensive back	1984 New York Giants
Tracy Franz	Guard	1987 San Francisco 49ers

Notes

[edit]

^ The Big West Conference was known as the Pacific Coast Athletic Association from its founding in 1969 through 1987.

References

[edit]

^ ^a ^b Woolford, Dave (December 19, 1981). "Rockets in fighting mood". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. 18.
^ Woolford, Dave (December 20, 1981). "UT shocks San Jose State on FG". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. C1.
^ "Toledo field goal nips Sparts". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. December 20, 1981. p. 6D.
^ "Toledo rocks San Jose". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 20, 1981. p. C3.
^ Missildine, Harry (December 12, 1981). "Erickson's 'bowling' date comes before Vandals". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Spokane, Washington. p. 12.
^ "Rebels shut down San Jose State's passing, win 16–6". Oakland Tribune. September 6, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Willhite's 'short-shift' leads San Jose to laughter over Santa Clara". The Sacramento Bee. September 13, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Willhite leads San Jose State upset of Stanford, 28–6". The Tampa Tribune-Times. September 20, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Spartans shock Bears, 27–24". The San Francisco Examiner. September 27, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Fresno State 2016 Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved December 8, 2016.
^ "Southland". The Los Angeles Times. October 4, 1981. p. III-18. Retrieved April 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Pete Donovan (October 18, 1981). "Spartans Run It Up, Titans Run Out of Gas". The Los Angeles Times (Orange County ed.). p. III-3. Retrieved February 10, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Spartans use big plays to trip Ags". The Salt Lake Tribune. October 25, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "ASU TD breaks 24–24 tie, beats San Jose State". The Arizona Republic. November 8, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "SJS 40, UOP 25". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. November 15, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "San Jose St., 24–22". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Santa Cruz, California. November 22, 1981. p. 65. Retrieved February 10, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Spartans' Willhite stars in win over N. Texas". The San Francisco Examiner. November 29, 1981. Retrieved October 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Toledo topples San Jose in first California Bowl". The Billings Gazette. December 20, 1981. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "San Jose State 1981 Schedule". Retrieved December 16, 2016.
^ "San Jose State 2016 Football Media Guide". Retrieved December 16, 2016.
^ "1982 NFL Draft". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
^ "San Jose St. Players/Alumni". Retrieved December 16, 2016.

v t e San Jose State Spartans football
Venues	CEFCU Stadium (1933–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Fresno State: Battle for the Valley Hawaii: Dick Tomey Legacy Game Pacific: Victory Bell Stanford: Bill Walsh Legacy Game
Media	Radio: KDOW KSJS KTRB
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1892 1893 1894 1895 1896–1897 1898 1899 1900 1901–1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 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

Big West Conference football champions

San Diego State (1969)
Long Beach State & San Diego State (1970)
Long Beach State (1971)
San Diego State (1972)
San Diego State (1973)
San Diego State (1974)
San Jose State (1975)
San Jose State (1976)
Fresno State (1977)
San Jose State and Utah State (1978)
Utah State (1979)
Long Beach State (1980)
San Jose State (1981)
Fresno State (1982)
Cal State Fullerton (1983)
Cal State Fullerton (1984)
Fresno State (1985)
San Jose State (1986)
San Jose State (1987)
Fresno State (1988)
Fresno State (1989)
San Jose State (1990)
Fresno State & San Jose State (1991)
Nevada (1992)
Southwestern Louisiana & Utah State (1993)
Nevada, Southwestern Louisiana, & UNLV (1994)
Nevada (1995)
Nevada & Utah State (1996)
Nevada & Utah State (1997)
Idaho (1998)
Boise State (1999)
Boise State (2000)

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