CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1979 Arizona

6–⁠5–⁠1 (4–⁠3 Pac-10), coached by Tony Mason.

Schedule and results

Arizona in 1979, game by game: won vs. Colorado State 33–17; won at Washington State 22–7; lost vs. California 7–10; tied vs. Texas Tech 14–14; won vs. San José State 38–18; won vs. Oregon 24–13; lost vs. Stanford 10–30; lost at No. 3 USC 7–34; lost at San Diego State 10–42; won vs. Oregon State 42–18; won at Arizona State 27–24; lost vs. No. 10 Pittsburgh 10–16+24−32Won 33–17 vs. Colorado State+16Colorado StateWon 22–7 at Washington State+15Washington StateLost 7–10 vs. California-3CaliforniaTied 14–14 vs. Texas Tech0Texas TechWon 38–18 vs. San José State+20San José StateWon 24–13 vs. Oregon+11OregonLost 10–30 vs. Stanford-20StanfordLost 7–34 at No. 3 USC-27No. 3 USCLost 10–42 at San Diego State-32San Diego StateWon 42–18 vs. Oregon State+24Oregon StateWon 27–24 at Arizona State+3Arizona StateLost 10–16 vs. No. 10 Pittsburgh-6No. 10 Pittsburgh
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsColorado StateW 33–⁠1760%
Sep 8atWashington StateW 22–⁠755%
Sep 15vsCaliforniaL 7–⁠1058%
Sep 22vsTexas TechT 14–⁠1454%
Sep 29vsSan José StateW 38–⁠1869%
Oct 13vsOregonW 24–⁠1371%
Oct 20vsStanfordL 10–⁠3055%
Nov 3at3USCL 7–⁠3414%
Nov 10atSan Diego StateL 10–⁠4237%
Nov 17vsOregon StateW 42–⁠1881%
Nov 24atArizona StateW 27–⁠2430%
Dec 25Bowls & playoffvs10PittsburghFiesta BowlL 10–⁠1624%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Pittsburgh 16–⁠10 in the Fiesta Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 43rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

Record
6–⁠5–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked
Points
244–⁠243
Coach
Tony Mason
Elo
1519 +17 this season
SP+ rating
4.4 No. 59 of 135; offense No. 59, defense No. 65
SRS
6.2 No. 48 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 2Cleveland Crosby DECleveland Browns
Rd 5Mark Streeter DBDetroit Lions
Rd 6Larry Heater RBKansas City Chiefs

All-Pac-10

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Hubie OliverWRCoaches-2
  • Dave LigginsDBCoaches-2
  • Marcellus GreeneDBCoaches-2

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.