American college football season
The 1979 Tennessee Volunteers football team (variously "Tennessee", "UT" or the "Vols") represented the University of Tennessee in the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season . Playing as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the team was led by head coach Johnny Majors , in his third year, and played their home games at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee . They finished the season with a record of seven wins and five losses (7–5 overall, 3–3 in the SEC) and a loss against Purdue in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl .
Schedule [ ] Date Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance September 15 at Boston College * W 28–1630,150 September 22 Utah * W 51–1885,783 September 29 Auburn Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN W 35–1785,936 October 6 vs. Mississippi State No. 19 L 9–2848,820 October 13 Georgia Tech * Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN W 31–085,524 October 20 at No. 1 Alabama No. 18 L 17–2777,665 November 3 Rutgers * No. 17 Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN L 7–1384,265 November 10 No. 13 Notre Dame * Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN W 40–1886,489 November 17 at Ole Miss No. 19 L 20–4455,760 November 24 at Kentucky Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (Battle for the Barrel )W 20–1757,950 December 1 Vanderbilt Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry ) W 31–1084,142 December 31 vs. No. 12 Purdue * Mizlou L 22–2740,542 *Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
Personnel [ ]
1979 Tennessee Volunteers football team roster
Players
Coaches
Offense
Pos.
#
Name
Class
RB
34
James Berry So
OG
64
Roy Cunningham Fr
RB
43
Terry Daniels So
WR
24
Clyde Duncan Fr
WR
26
Willie Gault Fr
WR
28
Anthony Hancock So
TE
85
Reggie Harper Jr
WR
4
Phil Ingram Jr
OT
78
Tim Irwin Jr
OG
68
Mike Jester Jr
C
59
Alan Lynn Sr
OG
70
Bill Marren Sr
RB
33
Gary Moore Sr
C
73
Lee North So
QB
5
Jeff Olszewski So
QB
8
David Rudder Sr
RB
32
Hubert Simpson Jr
QB
6
Jimmy Streater Sr
OT
67
Phil Sutton Sr
OG
71
Jay Williams Jr
Defense
Special teams
Pos.
#
Name
Class
K
10
Alan Duncan Jr
P
49
Dale Schnitman Sr
P
20
John Warren Fr
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible
Season summary [ ] at Kentucky [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Tennessee
3
7 7 3
20
Kentucky
0
14 0 3
17
Date: November 25Location: Commonwealth Stadium , Lexington, KY Game attendance: 57,950 Scoring summary Q1 TENN Duncan 30 yard field goal TENN 3–0 Q2 TENN Simpson 12 yard pass from Olszewski (Duncan kick) TENN 10–0 Q2 UK Jones 57 yard run (kick failed) TEN 10–6 Q2 UK Wilson 9 yard pass from Henry (Jones run) UK 14–10 Q3 TENN Berry 2 yard run (Duncan kick) TENN 17–14 Q4 UK Streim 25 yard field goal Tie 17–17 Q4 :05 TENN Duncan 25 yard field goal TENN 20–17
[2]
Vanderbilt [ ]
Vanderbilt Commodores (1–9) at Tennessee Volunteers (6–4)
1
2
3 4 Total
Vanderbilt
10
0
0 0 10
Tennessee 0
0
21 10 31
at Neyland Stadium , Knoxville, Tennessee
Date : December 1Game attendance : 84,142[3]
Game information
First quarter
VAN – Mike Woodard 31-yard field goal. Vanderbilt 3–0. Drive:
VAN – Van Heflin 1-yard run (Mike Woodard kick). Vanderbilt 10–0. Drive: Second quarter
Third quarter
TEN – Anthony Hancock 41-yard pass from Jimmy Streater (Alan Duncan kick), 11:45. Vanderbilt 10–7. Drive: 7 plays, 72 yards.
TEN – Roland James 89-yard punt return (Alan Duncan kick). Tennessee 14–10.
TEN – Anthony Hancock 85-yard pass from Jimmy Streater (Alan Duncan kick). Tennessee 21–10. Drive: Fourth quarter
TEN – Gary Moore 17-yard run (Alan Duncan kick). Tennessee 28–10. Drive:
TEN – Alan Duncan 27-yard field goal. Tennessee 31–10. Drive:
Top passers VAN – Van Heflin – 6/16, 50 yards, 3 INT
TEN – Jimmy Streater – 13/23, 221 yards, 2 TD, INT Top rushers VAN – Terry Potter – 19 rushes, 127 yards
TEN – Hubert Simpson – 19 rushes, 42 yards Top receivers
Jimmy Streater became school's all-time leading passer Bluebonnet Bowl (vs. Purdue) [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Purdue
0
14 7 6
27
Tennessee
0
0 16 6
22
Date: December 31Location: Astrodome , Houston, Texas Game attendance: 40,542 Scoring summary 2 Purdue Ben McCall 6-yard run (John Seibel kick) Purdue 7-0 2 Purdue Bart Burrell 12-yard pass from Mark Herrmann (John Seibel kick) Purdue 14-0 3 Purdue Dave Young 12-yard pass from Mark Herrmann (John Seibel kick) Purdue 21-0 3 Tennessee Glenn Ford 8-yard pass from Jimmy Streater (pass failed) Purdue 21-6 4 Tennessee James Berry 15-yard pass from Phil Ingram (Hubert Simpson run) Purdue 21-14 4 Tennessee Hubert Simpson 1-yard run (Hubert Simpson pass from Jimmy Streater) Tennessee 22-21 4 Purdue Dave Young 17-yard pass from Mark Herrmann (pass failed) Purdue 27-22
Team players drafted into the NFL [ ] References [ ] General
Specific
^ 2011 Tennessee Football Record Book , p. 125^ "Late Field Goal Lifts Tennessee." Palm Beach Post. 1979 Nov 25.
^ "Vols bash Vandy." Eugene Register-Guard. 1979 Dec 02. Pg. 7E. Retrieved 2020-Dec-11.
^ 2011 Tennessee Football Record Book , p. 101^ "1980 NFL Draft" . Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 6, 2012 .
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