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1979 Auburn

8–⁠3 (4–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Doug Barfield, finished No. 16 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Auburn in 1979, game by game: won vs. Kansas State 26–18; won vs. Southern Miss 31–9; lost at Tennessee 17–35; won vs. No. 14 NC State 44–31; won vs. Vanderbilt 52–35; won at Georgia Tech 38–14; lost at No. 18 Wake Forest 38–42; won vs. Florida 19–13; won vs. Mississippi State 14–3; won at Georgia 33–13; lost vs. No. 1 Alabama 18–25+24−18Won 26–18 vs. Kansas State+8Kansas StateWon 31–9 vs. Southern Miss+22Southern MissLost 17–35 at Tennessee-18TennesseeWon 44–31 vs. No. 14 NC State+13No. 14 NC StateWon 52–35 vs. Vanderbilt+17VanderbiltWon 38–14 at Georgia Tech+24Georgia TechLost 38–42 at No. 18 Wake Forest-4No. 18 Wake ForestWon 19–13 vs. Florida+6FloridaWon 14–3 vs. Mississippi State+11Mississippi Sta…Won 33–13 at Georgia+20GeorgiaLost 18–25 vs. No. 1 Alabama-7No. 1 Alabama
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15vsKansas StateW 26–⁠1870%
Sep 22vsSouthern MissW 31–⁠957%
Sep 29atTennesseeL 17–⁠3541%
Oct 6vs14NC StateW 44–⁠3143%
Oct 13vsVanderbiltW 52–⁠3587%
Oct 20atGeorgia TechW 38–⁠1453%
Oct 27at18Wake ForestL 38–⁠4258%
Nov 3vsFloridaW 19–⁠1377%
Nov 10vsMississippi StateW 14–⁠368%
Nov 17atGeorgiaW 33–⁠1350%
Dec 1vs1AlabamaL 18–⁠2528%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Alabama 25–⁠18; No. 16 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 45th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 18
  2. Wk 7: 14
  3. Wk 8: 13
  4. Wk 9: 20
  5. Wk 10: 16
  6. Wk 11: 15
  7. Wk 12: 14
  8. Wk 13: 14
  9. Wk 14: 17
  10. Final: 16

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
8–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 13
Points
330–⁠238
Coach
Doug Barfield
Elo
1628 +106 this season
SP+ rating
14.2 No. 26 of 135; offense No. 6, defense No. 76
SRS
13.7 No. 24 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
P.W. Underwood
Offense
Veer, I

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 2Joe Cribbs RBBuffalo Bills

All-SEC

5 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • James McKinneyDBAP-2
  • Jorge PortelaKAP-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 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama6–⁠012–⁠01
Georgia5–⁠16–⁠5
Auburn4–⁠28–⁠316
LSU4–⁠27–⁠5
Tennessee3–⁠37–⁠5
Kentucky3–⁠35–⁠6
Ole Miss3–⁠34–⁠7
Mississippi State2–⁠43–⁠8
Vanderbilt0–⁠61–⁠10
Florida0–⁠60–⁠10–⁠1

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