The 1981

Garden State Bowl The Garden State Bowl was an annual post-season college football bowl game played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, from 1978 until 1981.Foldesy, Jody. "Bowls burgeon as big business", ''The Washington Times''. December 21, 1997 ...

, part of the 1981–82 bowl game season, took place on December 13, 1981, at

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted sp ...

East Rutherford East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The competing teams were the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

, representing the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC), and the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

, representing the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

(Big 10). In what was the final edition of the game, Tennessee won 28–21.

Teams

Tennessee

The 1981 Tennessee squad was undefeated at

Neyland Stadium Neyland Stadium ( ), is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several National Footb ...

but finished 2–4 on the road. The Volunteers lost to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. They accepted an invitation to play in the Garden State Bowl against Wisconsin following their loss to Kentucky on November 21. The appearance was the first for Tennessee in the Garden State Bowl and their 23rd overall bowl appearance.

Wisconsin

The 1981 Wisconsin squad was 5–2 at

Camp Randall Stadium Camp Randall Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Wisconsin. It has been the home of the Wisconsin Badgers football team in rudimentary form since 1895 ...

, and 2–2 on the road to finish the regular season 7–4. The Badgers lost to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. The appearance marked the fourth overall bowl appearance for Wisconsin and their first non-

Rose Bowl Game The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. The Rose ...

Game summary

Tennessee drove 74-yards on their opening drive and

Fuad Reveiz Fuad Reveiz (born February 24, 1963) is a former American football placekicker who played 10 seasons in the National Football League. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. He also played for the San ...

connected on a 22-yard

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

to give the Volunteers a 3–0 lead. On the following possession Wisconsin took a 7–3 lead after Jess Cole scored on a three-yard touchdown run. The lead was short-lived as

Willie Gault Willie James Gault (born September 5, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Raiders. Considered one of the f ...

returned the ensuing

kickoff Kickoff or kick-off may refer to * Kick-off (association football) * Kickoff (gridiron football) * ''Kick Off'' (series), a series of computer association football games * ''Kick Off'' (album), a 1985 album by Onyanko Club * ''Kick Off'' (magaz ...

87-yards to give Tennessee a 10–7 lead. The Volunteers extended their lead to 13–7 at the end of the first quarter after Reveiz connected on a 44-yard field goal. Tennessee extended their lead further to 21–7 at halftime after a 43-yard

Steve Alatorre Steven Michael Alatorre (born September 3, 1959) is a former Canadian football quarterback who played for the Montreal Concordes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Early years Alatorre attended and played high school football at Cypress ...

touchdown pass to Anthony Hancock and a successful

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

in the second quarter. After a scoreless third quarter, the teams traded fourth-quarter touchdowns. The Badgers scored on

Randy Wright Randall Steven Wright (born January 12, 1961) is a former professional American football quarterback and color commentator who played for the Green Bay Packers from 1984 NFL season, 1984 to 1988 NFL season, 1988 and covered Big Ten football for E ...

touchdown passes to Jeff Nault and Thaddus McFadden and the Volunteers on a six-yard Alatorre run.

References

{{Wisconsin Badgers bowl game navbox

Garden State Bowl Tennessee Volunteers football bowl games Wisconsin Badgers football bowl games December 1981 sports events in the United States 1981 in sports in New Jersey