The 1981 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

during the

1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season The 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-AA level, began in August 1981 and concluded with the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA F ...

. Delaware ended the regular season ranked No. 7 in the nation, but lost in the first round of the playoffs. In their 16th year under head coach

Tubby Raymond Harold R. "Tubby" Raymond (November 14, 1926 – December 8, 2017) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Delaware from 1966 to 2001, compiling a record of 300–119–3 ...

, the Hens compiled a 9–3 record (9–2 regular season). Ed Braceland was the team captain. Starting the year on a three-game winning streak, the Hens were ranked No. 1 in the first two weeks of the weekly rankings. Though they dropped out of the top 10 in the middle of the year, a strong ending to the season saw them climb back to No. 7 in time to qualify for the eight-team playoff. Delaware played its home games at

Delaware Stadium Delaware Stadium is a 18,800-seat multi-purpose stadium in Newark, Delaware, and is home to the University of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team. The stadium is part of the David M. Nelson Athletic Complex, which includes the Bob Carp ...

on the university campus in

Newark, Delaware Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a small city in New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington. According to the 2010 United States Census, ...

Schedule

References

{{1981 Division I-AA football playoff navbox

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football seasons Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football