American college football season
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The 1981 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina as an independent during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by Jim Carlen in his seventh and final season as head coach, the Gamecocks compiled a record of 6–6.
In 1981, South Carolina started 6–3, highlighted by an upset over No. 3 North Carolina on the road, the first win over a top-5 team in program history. It would remain the biggest win in program history until 2010. However, the Gamecocks lost the last three games of the season, which left Carlen's job security in jeopardy, as Carlen and school president James B. Holderman were already constantly at odds over football revenues. Despite Carlen overseeing one of the most successful periods in program history until then (a 45–36–1 record, three of the school's five bowl games, two of the school's three eight-win seasons, and a Heisman Trophy), he was fired.
References.
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