# 1981 Ottawa Rough Riders season

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

## 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

| 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