1981 Temple Owls football team

1981 Temple Owls football
ConferenceIndependent
Record5–5
Head coach
Home stadiumVeterans Stadium, Franklin Field
1981 Major eastern college football independents records
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 3 Penn State $ 5 0 010 2 0
No. 4 Pittsburgh 5 1 011 1 0
No. 17 West Virginia 3 3 09 3 0
Temple 2 3 05 5 0
Syracuse 2 4 04 6 1
Boston College 1 4 05 6 0
Rutgers 1 4 05 6 0
Rankings from AP Poll
1981 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf.Overall
TeamW L TW 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 Temple Owls football team was an American football team that represented Temple University as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its 12th season under head coach Wayne Hardin, the team compiled a 5–5 record and was outscored by a total of 195 to 181. The team played its home games at Veterans Stadium (two games) and Franklin Field (two games) in Philadelphia.

The team's statistical leaders included Tink Murphy with 1,589 passing yards, Jim Brown with 883 rushing yards and 66 points scored, and Gerald Lucear with 493 receiving yards.