1981 Delaware State Hornets football team

1981 Delaware State Hornets football
Conference	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Record	2–9 (1–4 MEAC)
Head coach	Joe Purzycki (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Bill Collick (1st season)
Home stadium	Alumni Stadium

1981 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 South Carolina State $^	5	–	0	–	0			10	–	3	–	0
Florida A&M	4	–	1	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Bethune–Cookman	3	–	2	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Howard	2	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Delaware State	1	–	4	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
North Carolina A&T	0	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

The 1981 Delaware State Hornets football team represented Delaware State College (now known as Delaware State University) as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) during the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by first-year head coach Joe Purzycki, the Hornets compiled an overall record of 2–9, with a mark of 1–4 in conference play, and finished fifth in the MEAC.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	at Virginia State*	Rogers Stadium Petersburg, VA	L 12–13	3,500
September 12	at South Carolina State	State College Stadium Orangeburg, SC	L 0–29	8,227
September 19	at Florida A&M	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	L 3–27	13,081
September 26	West Chester State*	Alumni Stadium Dover, DE	L 16–19
October 3	Bethune–Cookman	Alumni Stadium Dover, DE	L 0–8
October 10	Howard	Alumni Stadium Dover, DE	L 27–31
October 17	North Carolina A&T	Alumni Stadium Dover, DE	W 21–17
October 31	Towson State*	Alumni Stadium Dover, DE	L 10–24
November 7	at Salisbury State*	Sea Gull Stadium Salisbury, MD	L 7–13
November 14	at Central State (OH)*	McPherson Stadium Wilberforce, OH	W 13–6
November 21	at Eastern Illinois*	O'Brien Field Charleston, IL	L 16–24
*Non-conference game