The 1981 Virginia Cavaliers football team represented the University of Virginia during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cavaliers were led by sixth-year head coach Dick Bestwick and played their home games at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia. They competed as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, finishing in last. At the conclusion of a 1–10 campaign, Bestwick was fired.^[2] He had a record of 16–49–1 at Virginia.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	1:30 p.m.	West Virginia*	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	L 18–32	34,007	[3]
September 18	7:30 p.m.	at Rutgers*	Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ	L 0–3	22,816	[4]
September 26	1:30 p.m.	Duke	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	L 24–29	27,523	[5]
October 3	1:00 p.m.	at NC State	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC	L 24–30	42,200	[6]
October 10	1:00 p.m.	at No. 9 Clemson	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	L 0–27	63,000	[7]
October 17	7:00 p.m.	at South Carolina*	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	L 3–21	56,101	[8]
October 24	1:30 p.m.	Wake Forest	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	L 21–24	24,222	[9]
October 31	1:30 p.m.	VMI*	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	W 13–10	25,119	[10]
November 14	1:30 p.m.	No. 13 North Carolina	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (South's Oldest Rivalry)	L 14–17	30,047	[11]
November 21	1:30 p.m.	at Maryland	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD (rivalry)	L 7–48	21,300	[12]
November 28	1:30 p.m.	Virginia Tech*	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (rivalry)	L 3–20	39,027	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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