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1979 Arizona State

6–⁠6 (3–⁠4 Pac-10), coached by Frank Kush, then Bob Owens (interim final 7 games). Officially 1–⁠6. The NCAA vacated five wins, per the season’s Wikipedia article.

Schedule and results

Arizona State in 1979, game by game: lost vs. California 9–17; lost vs. No. 18 Florida State 3–31; won vs. Toledo 49–0; won at Oregon State 45–0; won vs. No. 6 Washington 12–7; won vs. Washington State 28–17; won vs. Utah State 28–14; lost at Stanford 21–28; lost at UCLA 28–31; won vs. West Virginia 42–7; lost vs. Arizona 24–27; lost at Hawai’i 17–29+49−28Lost 9–17 vs. California-8CaliforniaLost 3–31 vs. No. 18 Florida State-28No. 18 Florida StateWon 49–0 vs. Toledo+49ToledoWon 45–0 at Oregon State+45Oregon StateWon 12–7 vs. No. 6 Washington+5No. 6 WashingtonWon 28–17 vs. Washington State+11Washington StateWon 28–14 vs. Utah State+14Utah StateLost 21–28 at Stanford-7StanfordLost 28–31 at UCLA-3UCLAWon 42–7 vs. West Virginia+35West VirginiaLost 24–27 vs. Arizona-3ArizonaLost 17–29 at Hawai’i-12Hawai’i
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8vsCaliforniaL 9–⁠1768%
Sep 15vs18Florida StateL 3–⁠3141%
Sep 22vsToledoW 49–⁠076%
Sep 29atOregon StateW 45–⁠070%
Oct 13vs6WashingtonW 12–⁠745%
Oct 20vsWashington StateW 28–⁠1780%
Oct 27vsUtah StateW 28–⁠1470%
Nov 3atStanfordL 21–⁠2844%
Nov 10atUCLAL 28–⁠3150%
Nov 17vsWest VirginiaW 42–⁠777%
Nov 24vsArizonaL 24–⁠2770%
Dec 1atHawai’iL 17–⁠2962%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Hawai’i 29–⁠17; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 50th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 93 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 18

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1979.

Record
6–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠4 tied for 7th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
306–⁠208
Coach
Frank Kush, then Bob Owens (interim final 7 games)
Elo
1544 −46 this season
SP+ rating
10.5 No. 39 of 135; offense No. 33, defense No. 51
SRS
11.5 No. 31 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 1Mark Malone QBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 2Bob Kohrs LBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Ben Apuna LBSt. Louis Cardinals

All-Pac-10

1 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1979 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1979 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC6–⁠0–⁠111–⁠0–⁠12
Washington5–⁠29–⁠311
Oregon4–⁠36–⁠5
Arizona4–⁠36–⁠5–⁠1
California5–⁠46–⁠6
Stanford3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Arizona State3–⁠46–⁠6
UCLA3–⁠45–⁠6
Washington State2–⁠63–⁠8
Oregon State1–⁠71–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.