CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1979 California

6–⁠6 (5–⁠4 Pac-10), coached by Roger Theder.

Schedule and results

California in 1979, game by game: won at No. 18 Arizona State 17–9; won at Arizona 10–7; won vs. San José State 13–10; lost vs. No. 11 Michigan 10–14; lost at Oregon 14–19; won vs. Oregon State 45–0; lost at UCLA 27–28; lost vs. No. 3 USC 14–24; lost vs. No. 16 Washington 24–28; won at Washington State 45–13; won at Stanford 21–14; lost vs. No. 20 Temple 17–28+45−11Won 17–9 at No. 18 Arizona State+8No. 18 Arizona StateWon 10–7 at Arizona+3ArizonaWon 13–10 vs. San José State+3San José StateLost 10–14 vs. No. 11 Michigan-4No. 11 MichiganLost 14–19 at Oregon-5OregonWon 45–0 vs. Oregon State+45Oregon StateLost 27–28 at UCLA-1UCLALost 14–24 vs. No. 3 USC-10No. 3 USCLost 24–28 vs. No. 16 Washington-4No. 16 WashingtonWon 45–13 at Washington State+32Washington StateWon 21–14 at Stanford+7StanfordLost 17–28 vs. No. 20 Temple-11No. 20 Temple
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8at18Arizona StateW 17–⁠932%
Sep 15atArizonaW 10–⁠742%
Sep 22vsSan José StateW 13–⁠1072%
Sep 29vs11MichiganL 10–⁠1444%
Oct 6atOregonL 14–⁠1960%
Oct 13vsOregon StateW 45–⁠083%
Oct 20atUCLAL 27–⁠2838%
Oct 27vs3USCL 14–⁠2426%
Nov 3vs16WashingtonL 24–⁠2842%
Nov 10atWashington StateW 45–⁠1361%
Nov 17atStanfordW 21–⁠1437%
Dec 15Bowls & playoffvs20TempleGarden State BowlL 17–⁠2838%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Temple 28–⁠17 in the Garden State Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 35th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

Record
6–⁠6
Conference
5–⁠4 5th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked
Points
257–⁠194
Coach
Roger Theder
Elo
1550 +37 this season
SP+ rating
14.9 No. 25 of 135; offense No. 43, defense No. 28
SRS
14.1 No. 22 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Al Saunders
Defensive coordinator
Gunther Cunningham
Captains
Ron Hill and Paul Jones

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 2Daryle Skaugstad DTHouston Oilers
Rd 5Paul Jones RBMinnesota Vikings
Rd 7Joe Rose TEMiami Dolphins

All-Pac-10

7 second team

Second 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.