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1979 Arkansas

10–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Lou Holtz, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Arkansas in 1979, game by game: won vs. Colorado State 36–3; won vs. Oklahoma State 27–7; won vs. Tulsa 33–8; won at TCU 16–13; won at Texas Tech 20–6; won vs. No. 2 Texas 17–14; lost vs. No. 6 Houston 10–13; won at Rice 34–7; won vs. No. 17 Baylor 29–20; won at Texas A&M 22–10; won vs. SMU 31–7; lost vs. No. 2 Alabama 9–24+33−15Won 36–3 vs. Colorado State+33Colorado StateWon 27–7 vs. Oklahoma State+20Oklahoma StateWon 33–8 vs. Tulsa+25TulsaWon 16–13 at TCU+3TCUWon 20–6 at Texas Tech+14Texas TechWon 17–14 vs. No. 2 Texas+3No. 2 TexasLost 10–13 vs. No. 6 Houston-3No. 6 HoustonWon 34–7 at Rice+27RiceWon 29–20 vs. No. 17 Baylor+9No. 17 BaylorWon 22–10 at Texas A&M+12Texas A&MWon 31–7 vs. SMU+24SMULost 9–24 vs. No. 2 Alabama-15No. 2 Alabama
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15vsColorado StateW 36–⁠380%
Sep 22vsOklahoma StateW 27–⁠776%
Sep 29vsTulsaW 33–⁠877%
Oct 6atTCUW 16–⁠1387%
Oct 13atTexas TechW 20–⁠664%
Oct 20vs2TexasW 17–⁠1457%
Oct 27vs6HoustonL 10–⁠1362%
Nov 3atRiceW 34–⁠789%
Nov 10vs17BaylorW 29–⁠2074%
Nov 17atTexas A&MW 22–⁠1058%
Nov 24vsSMUW 31–⁠784%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs2AlabamaSugar BowlL 9–⁠2442%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Alabama 24–⁠9 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 4th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 20
  2. Wk 2: 17
  3. Wk 3: 15
  4. Wk 4: 13
  5. Wk 5: 13
  6. Wk 6: 12
  7. Wk 7: 10
  8. Wk 8: 4
  9. Wk 9: 9
  10. Wk 10: 9
  11. Wk 11: 8
  12. Wk 12: 7
  13. Wk 13: 8
  14. Wk 14: 6
  15. Final: 8

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.

Southwest Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Houston

Consensus All-AmericanGreg Kolenda, OT

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 4
Points
284–⁠132
Coach
Lou Holtz
Elo
1735 +81 this season
SP+ rating
23.7 No. 9 of 135; offense No. 25, defense No. 3
SRS
20.9 No. 8 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Monte Kiffin
Captains
Jim Howard and Roland Sales

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 5Tom Ginn OGDetroit Lions

All-Southwest Conference

7 first team

First team

  • Kevin ScanlonQBCoaches-1
  • Robert FarrellWRCoaches-1
  • George StewartOGCoaches-1
  • Greg KolendaOTCoaches-1
  • Ish OrdonezKCoaches-1
  • Steve CoxPCoaches-1
  • Lou HoltzMiscellaneousCoaches

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

1979 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Houston7–⁠111–⁠15
Arkansas7–⁠110–⁠28
Texas6–⁠29–⁠312
Baylor5–⁠38–⁠414
Texas A&M4–⁠46–⁠5
SMU3–⁠55–⁠6
Texas Tech2–⁠5–⁠13–⁠6–⁠2
TCU1–⁠6–⁠12–⁠8–⁠1
Rice0–⁠81–⁠10

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