CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1979 Houston

11–⁠1 (7–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Bill Yeoman, finished No. 5 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Houston in 1979, game by game: won at UCLA 24–16; won vs. Florida 14–10; won vs. West Texas 49–10; won vs. Baylor 13–10; won at Texas A&M 17–14; won vs. SMU 37–10; won at No. 4 Arkansas 13–10; won at TCU 21–10; lost vs. No. 8 Texas 13–21; won vs. Texas Tech 14–10; won at Rice 63–0; won vs. No. 7 Nebraska 17–14+63−8Won 24–16 at UCLA+8UCLAWon 14–10 vs. Florida+4FloridaWon 49–10 vs. West Texas+39West TexasWon 13–10 vs. Baylor+3BaylorWon 17–14 at Texas A&M+3Texas A&MWon 37–10 vs. SMU+27SMUWon 13–10 at No. 4 Arkansas+3No. 4 ArkansasWon 21–10 at TCU+11TCULost 13–21 vs. No. 8 Texas-8No. 8 TexasWon 14–10 vs. Texas Tech+4Texas TechWon 63–0 at Rice+63RiceWon 17–14 vs. No. 7 Nebraska+3No. 7 Nebraska
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8atUCLAW 24–⁠1645%
Sep 15vsFloridaW 14–⁠1074%
Sep 29vsWest TexasW 49–⁠1086%
Oct 6vsBaylorW 13–⁠1074%
Oct 13atTexas A&MW 17–⁠1453%
Oct 20vsSMUW 37–⁠1079%
Oct 27at4ArkansasW 13–⁠1038%
Nov 3atTCUW 21–⁠1084%
Nov 10vs8TexasL 13–⁠2157%
Nov 24vsTexas TechW 14–⁠1082%
Dec 1atRiceW 63–⁠089%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs7NebraskaCotton BowlW 17–⁠1445%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Nebraska 17–⁠14 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 5 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 3rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 81 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 5 peak No. 4
Points
295–⁠135
Coach
Bill Yeoman
Elo
1726 +101 this season
SP+ rating
21.2 No. 15 of 135; offense No. 28, defense No. 7
SRS
20.0 No. 9 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Don Todd
Captains
David Hodge, Delrick Brown and Jim Wells
Offense
Houston Veer

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 4David Hodge LBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 7Melvin Jones OGWashington Redskins

All-Southwest Conference

4 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 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.