1981 Ottawa Rough Riders season

1981 Ottawa Rough Riders season
Head coach	George Brancato
Home field	Lansdowne Park
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	2nd, East
Playoff finish	Lost Grey Cup
Uniform

The 1981 Ottawa Rough Riders finished the season in second place in the East Division with a 5–11 record. They appeared in the Grey Cup game, in what would be their last Grey Cup appearance in franchise history, and the last for any Ottawa-based CFL team for 34 years.

Offseason

CFL Draft

Rd	Pick	Player	Position	School
0	0	John Park	TE	Bowling Green
0	0	Ian Beckstead	TE	Richmond
1	3	Maurice Doyle	RB	Toronto
2	12	Don Burns	WR	Ottawa
4	30	Eric Boss	DT	Toronto
5	39	Larry Ring	DB	Bishop's
6	48	Anthony Refosso	OT	Toronto
7	57	Rob Ball	DL	Queen's

Preseason

Date	Opponent	Final Score	Result	Attendance	Record
June 4	at Toronto Argonauts	20–12	Win	28,325	1–0
June 11	vs. Montreal Alouettes	18–17	Win	16,139	2–0
June 21	at Montreal Alouettes	21–17	Loss	21,249	2–1
June 26	vs. Toronto Argonauts	35–25	Win	14,092	3–1

Regular season

Standings

East Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	PF	PA	Div	Stk
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	16	11	4	1	23	414	335	6–0	W1	Details
Ottawa Rough Riders	16	5	11	0	10	306	446	3–3	L1	Details
Montreal Alouettes	16	3	13	0	6	267	518	2–4	W1	Details
Toronto Argonauts	16	2	14	0	4	241	506	1–5	L2	Details

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance	Record
1	July 3	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	47–21	Loss	22,023	0–1
2	July 11	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	47–10	Loss	22,345	0–2
3	July 17	vs. Montreal Alouettes	33–31	Win	24,827	1–2
4	July 25	at BC Lions	31–17	Loss	26,661	1–3
5	Bye
6	Aug 7	vs. Toronto Argonauts	38–11	Win	22,658	2–3
7	Aug 15	vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders	32–16	Loss	18,408	2–4
8	Aug 21	at Calgary Stampeders	30–18	Loss	30,276	2–5
9	Aug 28	at Winnipeg Blue Bombers	31–8	Loss	26,031	2–6
10	Sept 4	vs. BC Lions	17–7	Win	18,393	3–6
11	Sept 13	at Toronto Argonauts	23–6	Win	30,340	4–6
12	Sept 20	at Saskatchewan Roughriders	26–23	Loss	28,335	4–7
13	Sept 26	vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats	30–16	Loss	20,451	4–8
14	Oct 3	vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers	44–24	Loss	15,523	4–9
15	Oct 12	at Edmonton Eskimos	24–6	Loss	45,805	4–10
16	Oct 18	vs. Calgary Stampeders	21–10	Win	15,002	5–10
17	Bye
18	Nov 1	at Montreal Alouettes	39–15	Loss	20,867	5–11

Postseason

Round	Date	Opponent	Score	Result	Attendance
East Semi-Final	Nov 8	vs. Montreal Alouettes	20–16	Win	17,554
East Final	Nov 15	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	17–13	Win	28,104
Grey Cup	Nov 22	Edmonton Eskimos	26–23	Loss	52,478

Grey Cup

Main article: 69th Grey Cup

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Edmonton Eskimos	0	1	14	11	26
Ottawa Rough Riders	13	7	0	3	23

First Quarter

Ottawa – FG – Gerry Organ 34 yards
Ottawa – FG – Gerry Organ 37 yards
Ottawa – TD – Jim Reid 1-yard run (Gerry Organ convert)

Second Quarter

Ottawa – TD – Sam Platt 14-yard run (Gerry Organ convert)
Edmonton – Single – Dave Cutler 24 yards missed Field Goal

Third Quarter

Edmonton – TD – Jim Germany 2-yard run (Dave Cutler convert)
Edmonton – TD – Warren Moon 1-yard run (Dave Cutler convert)

Fourth Quarter

Ottawa – FG – Gerry Organ 28 yards
Edmonton – TD – Warren Moon 1-yard run (Marco Cyncar 2 point convert pass from Moon)
Edmonton – FG – Dave Cutler 27 yards