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1981 UNLV Rebels football
1981 UNLV Rebels football
Conference	Independent
Record	6–6
Head coach	Tony Knap (6th season);
Home stadium	Las Vegas Silver Bowl
	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 UNLV Rebels football team was an American football team that represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their sixth and final year under head coach Tony Knap, the team compiled a 6–6 record.^[1]^[2]

A notable win was the road victory over eighth-ranked BYU in October, who were without starting quarterback Jim McMahon, replaced by sophomore Steve Young.^[3]

Approaching age 67, Knap retired after the season,^[4] and was succeeded by Harvey Hyde, the head coach at Pasadena City College.^[5]^[6]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	at San Jose State	Spartan Stadium San Jose, CA	W 16–6	17,112	^[7]
September 12	New Mexico	Las Vegas Silver Bowl Whitney, NV	W 49–42	25,605	^[8]
September 19	West Texas State	Las Vegas Silver Bowl Whitney, NV	L 17–21	24,560	^[9]
September 26	Long Beach State	Las Vegas Silver Bowl Whitney, NV	W 32–31	25,080	^[10]
October 3	at Wyoming	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY	L 21–45	23,793	^[11]
October 10	at No. 8 BYU	Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	W 45–41	39,852	^[3]
October 24	Utah	Las Vegas Silver Bowl Whitney, NV	L 28–69	27,883	^[12]
October 31	at Hawaii	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI	L 21–57	46,153	^[13]
November 7	at Fresno State	Ratcliffe Stadium Fresno, CA	L 26–42	16,241	^[14]
November 14	San Diego State	Las Vegas Silver Bowl Whitney, NV	L 20–38	23,090	^[15]
November 21	Air Force	Las Vegas Silver Bowl Whitney, NV	W 24–21	22,574	^[16]
November 28	at UTEP	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	W 27–20	2,312	^[17]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1981 UNLV Rebels football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
FB	`24`	Mel Carver	Sr
FB	`21`	Ray Crouse	Sr
QB	`12`	Randall Cunningham	Fr
QB	`1`	Sam King	Sr
OT	`71`	Dan McQuaid	Jr
RB	`23`	Michael Morton	Sr
WR	`11`	Mike Reed	Sr
TE	`88`	Jeff Spek	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`4`	Bruce Cunningham	Jr
DB	`2`	Wymon Henderson	Jr
DB	`43`	Keyvan Jenkins	So
DE		Todd Liebenstein	Sr
DT	`76`	Aaron Moog	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Tony Knap (6th year)

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

References

^ "1981 UNLV Rebels Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
^ "UNLV 2020 Football Guide" (PDF). University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 2020. p. 130. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Vegas shocks BYU, 45-41". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire service reports. October 11, 1981. p. 6B.
^ "Knap resigns at UNLV, plans to grow apples". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. November 24, 1981. p. 3C.
^ "Pasadena City College Coach Harvey Hyde, 42, who guided..." UPI.com. (UPI archives). December 7, 1981. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
^ "Transactions: college". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). December 8, 1981. p. 28.
^ "Rebels shut down San Jose State's passing, win 16–6". Oakland Tribune. September 6, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "UNLV wins, 49–42". The Arizona Republic. September 13, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "West Texas State 21, Nevada-Las Vegas 17". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 20, 1981. Retrieved May 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Long Beach comes close, but finds odds are too much in Las Vegas". The Los Angeles Times. September 27, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Cowboys deal Vegas loss". The Montana Standard. October 4, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Utes halt Rebels". The Salt Lake Tribune. October 25, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Hawaii wins a Rebel-rouser, 57–21". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. November 1, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Fresno State 42, Nevada–Las Vegas 26". The Sacramento Bee. November 8, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Kofler on a roll as Aztecs snap losing streak". The Blade-Tribune. November 15, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Nevada-Las Vegas 24, Air Force 21". The Arizona Republic. November 22, 1981. p. G2. Retrieved October 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Rain, Rebs drown Miners". The El Paso Times. November 29, 1981. Retrieved October 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.