1981 would have been smack in the middle of The Streak–a record setting losing streak of 30 + games for Northwestern, running from 1979-1982. It was broken the year before I went there. We call that The Dark Ages and 1995-present, The Modern Era. The coach who broke the streak and earned Big Ten COY for getting NU to three wins was none other than Dennis Green. Yes, he was who we thought he was.