1981 Clemson Tigers football team The 1981 Clemson Tigers football team represented Clemson University in the Atlantic Coast Conference . The Tigers were led by head coach Danny Ford and played their home games in Memorial Stadium . Clemson finished their undefeated 1981 season with a 22 - 15 victory over the # 4 Nebraska Cornhuskers in the 1982 Orange Bowl , and were voted # 1 in the Associated Press ( AP ) and United Press International ( UPI ) polls . Achievements . The Clemson Tigers finished the 1981 season 12 - 0 and were voted # 1 in the AP and UPI polls . Following the bowl win over Nebraska , the Tigers were selected as Consensus National Champions by the AP , UPI , Football Writers Association of America ( FWAA ) , and National Football Foundation ( NFF ) . The Clemson Tigers of the 1980s were the fifth winningest Division I college football team of the decade , with a record of 86 - 25 - 4 ( . 765 ) . Clemson head coach Danny Ford was awarded the 1981 Coach of the Year Award by the American Football Coaches Association ( AFCA ) and the FWAA . At the time , Coach Ford was the youngest ever to receive the award , and the youngest to have won a National Championship . In the 1982 Orange Bowl , Clemson QB Homer Jordan received Offensive Most Valuable Player honors . He earned first - team All - ACC honors in 1981 , his junior season , and finished first in the ACC in passing efficiency and 12th in the nation . Jordan was an honorable mention All - American selection in 1981 . He was runner - up for ACC MVP behind teammate Jeff Davis , but the team voted him MVP in 1981 . Even though Jordan was injured for much of his senior season , he helped lead the 1982 team to a 9 - 1 - 1 record and number - eight national ranking . He also earned honorable mention All - American honors as a senior . He ranked as Clemson ' s 18th greatest player of the century . Jordan was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame in 1993 . Clemson LB Jeff Davis , captain of Clemson ' s 1981 team , was inducted into the Clemson Ring of Honor in 1995 . Davis was a Consensus All - American in 1981 when he led the Tigers in tackles . Davis was also named MVP of the ACC and was the defensive MVP of the Orange Bowl victory over Nebraska . Davis has the third best mark in career tackles in Clemson history and has also caused the most fumbles and recovered the most fumbles in team history . He was a fifth - round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and played for them from 1982 - 87 . He led the Buccaneers in tackles and was the captain of the team for four seasons . Along with being in the Clemson Ring of Honor , Davis was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame in 1989 and the South Carolina Hall of Fame in 2001 . He was named to Clemson ' s Centennial football team in 1996 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December 2007 . Clemson DB Terry Kinard is the only Clemson player to be a unanimous All - America pick . He was the first two - time Clemson All - American defensive back and a first - team AP All - American two years in a row , the only Clemson player to accomplish that . Kinard was named the CBS National Defensive Player - of - the - Year for the 1982 season and was chosen to the USA Today All - College Football Team in the 1980s . Kinard was a two - year member of the All - ACC team . He is the all - time Clemson leader in interceptions with 17 , a mark that tied the 20 - year - old ACC record . He also holds the Clemson record for tackles by a defensive back with 294 in his career . After leaving Clemson Kinard was a first - round pick of the New York Giants in 1983 , and was the 10th pick overall in the draft . Sports Illustrated named him to College Football ' s Centennial Team in 1999 . He played with Super Bowl Champion New York Giants in 1986 and was with the club from 1983 until 1989 . Kinard played in the 1988 Pro Bowl Game . Kinard played with Houston Oilers in 1990 . He was named to Clemson ' s Centennial team in April 1996 . He ranks as Clemson ' s # 3 football player of all - time was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December 2001 . He was inducted into Clemson Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Ring of Honor in 2001 . He was also inducted into the state of South Carolina Hall of Fame in 2002 . Clemson WR Perry Tuttle was voted a first - team All - American in 1981 , and set then - Clemson records for receptions and yards . Tuttle also had at least one reception during the last 32 games of his Tiger career . He still ranks fourth all - time in receptions ( 150 ) , second all - time in receiving yards ( 2 , 534 ) , second in touchdown receptions ( 17 ) , and ninth in yards per reception ( 16 . 89 ) . In the 1982 Orange Bowl , he had five receptions for 56 yards , including a 13 - yard touchdown pass . That touchdown catch was the final reception of his Clemson career and earned him a place on the cover of Sports Illustrated . Following his Clemson career , Tuttle was chosen with the 19th overall pick of the 1982 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills . After a three - year NFL career , Tuttle went on to the Canadian Football League where he had a six - year career with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers . He helped lead the team to a Grey Cup Championship in 1990 and was inducted into the Winnipeg Hall of Fame in 1997 . Tuttle was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame in 1991 and named to Clemson ' s Centennial team in 1996 . Notable . Clemson hosted the Wofford Terriers on Saturday , September 5 , 1981 in both teams ' season opener . Wofford was one of the three teams Clemson played in its first year of football competition in 1896 , but had not played the Terriers since 1940 . Clemson had originally scheduled Villanova University for the third game of the 1981 season ( scheduled for Saturday , September 26 , 1981 ) but the Wildcats had cancelled their football program in the spring of that year . Wofford had an open spot in their schedule and agreed to play Clemson .