1981 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

1981 Northern Illinois Huskies football
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	3–8 (2–7 MAC)
Head coach	Bill Mallory (2nd season)
Home stadium	Huskie Stadium (Capacity: 20,257)

1981 Mid-American Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Toledo $	8	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Miami (OH)	6	–	1	–	1			8	–	2	–	1
Central Michigan	7	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Bowling Green	5	–	3	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Western Michigan	5	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Ohio	5	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Kent State	3	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Ball State	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Northern Illinois	2	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Eastern Michigan	0	–	9	–	0			0	–	11	–	0
$ – Conference champion

The 1981 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Huskies competed in the highest division of football at the time, Division I-A. The Huskies played under the Mid-American Conference banner during this season. They were led by head coach Bill Mallory, and they played their home games at Huskie Stadium.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 12	Long Beach State*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	L 7–17
September 19	at Central Michigan	Perry Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	L 10–17
September 26	Illinois State*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	W 40–7
October 3	at Ball State	Ball State Stadium Muncie, IN	L 0–23
October 10	Kent State	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	L 10–31
October 17	Bowling Green	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	L 10–17
October 24	at Eastern Michigan	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI	W 30–7
October 31	Western Michigan	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	L 12–23
November 7	Ohio	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	W 38–14
November 14	at Miami (OH)	Miami Field Oxford, OH	L 3–30
November 21	Toledo	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	L 0–31
*Non-conference game