1981 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

The 1981 New Hampshire Wildcats football team was an American football team that represented the University of New Hampshire as a member of the Yankee Conference during the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season. In its tenth year under head coach Bill Bowes, the team compiled a 7–3 record (2–3 against conference opponents) and finished fourth out of six teams in the Yankee Conference.

1981 New Hampshire Wildcats football
Conference	Yankee Conference
Record	7–3 (2–3 Yankee)
Head coach	Bill Bowes (10th season)
Home stadium	Cowell Stadium

1981 Yankee Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Rhode Island +^	4	–	1	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
No. T–10 UMass +	4	–	1	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Boston University	3	–	2	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
No. T–10 New Hampshire	2	–	3	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Connecticut	1	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Maine	1	–	4	–	0			3	–	7	–	1
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 12	American International*		Cowell Stadium Durham, NH	W 28–13	8,250
September 19	at Boston University		Nickerson Field Boston, MA	W 10–8	4,257
September 26	Towson State*	No. 9	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH	W 31–29	4,700
October 3	at No. 8 Connecticut	No. T–9	Memorial Stadium Storrs, CT	W 28–24
October 10	at Maine	No. 5	Alumni Field Orono, ME (Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket)	L 16–26
October 17	No. 5 Lehigh*	No. 10	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH	W 13–12	17,500
October 24	at Northeastern*	No. 3	Parsons Field Brookline, MA	W 24–17
October 31	at Rhode Island	No. 2	Meade Stadium Kingston, RI	L 12–14
November 7	at Lafayette*	No. 6	Fisher Stadium Easton, PA	W 21–18	5,300
November 14	UMass	No. 4	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH (rivalry)	L 9–20
*Non-conference game Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game