CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1979 Indiana

8–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Lee Corso, finished No. 19 in the AP poll.

Team photo of the 1979 Holiday Bowl
Team photo of the 1979 Holiday BowlPhoto: RallyMachine, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Indiana in 1979, game by game: won at Iowa 30–26; won vs. Vanderbilt 44–13; won vs. Kentucky 18–10; lost vs. Colorado 16–17; won at Wisconsin 3–0; lost at No. 8 Ohio State 6–47; won vs. Northwestern 30–0; lost at No. 10 Michigan 21–27; won vs. Minnesota 42–24; won at Illinois 45–14; lost vs. No. 12 Purdue 21–37; won vs. No. 9 BYU 38–37+31−41Won 30–26 at Iowa+4IowaWon 44–13 vs. Vanderbilt+31VanderbiltWon 18–10 vs. Kentucky+8KentuckyLost 16–17 vs. Colorado-1ColoradoWon 3–0 at Wisconsin+3WisconsinLost 6–47 at No. 8 Ohio State-41No. 8 Ohio StateWon 30–0 vs. Northwestern+30NorthwesternLost 21–27 at No. 10 Michigan-6No. 10 MichiganWon 42–24 vs. Minnesota+18MinnesotaWon 45–14 at Illinois+31IllinoisLost 21–37 vs. No. 12 Purdue-16No. 12 PurdueWon 38–37 vs. No. 9 BYU+1No. 9 BYU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8atIowaW 30–⁠2651%
Sep 15vsVanderbiltW 44–⁠1374%
Sep 22vsKentuckyW 18–⁠1053%
Sep 29vsColoradoL 16–⁠1772%
Oct 6atWisconsinW 3–⁠053%
Oct 13at8Ohio StateL 6–⁠4726%
Oct 20vsNorthwesternW 30–⁠084%
Oct 27at10MichiganL 21–⁠2718%
Nov 3vsMinnesotaW 42–⁠2456%
Nov 10atIllinoisW 45–⁠1469%
Nov 17vs12PurdueL 21–⁠3746%
Dec 21Bowls & playoffvs9BYUHoliday BowlW 38–⁠3722%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat BYU 38–⁠37 in the Holiday Bowl; No. 19 in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 22nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Final: 19

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
8–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 4th in Big Ten
AP final
No. 19 peak No. 19
Points
314–⁠252
Coach
Lee Corso
Elo
1540 +72 this season
SP+ rating
9.2 No. 41 of 135; offense No. 20, defense No. 73
SRS
10.7 No. 33 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Tim Clifford, Tony D’Orazio, Terry Tallen and Brent Tisdale
Most valuable player
Tim Clifford

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 3Mike Friede WRDetroit Lions

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Tim WilburDBAP-1; UPI-2

Second team

  • Tim CliffordQBUPI-2
  • Mark HarkraderRBUPI-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 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠011–⁠14
Purdue7–⁠110–⁠210
Michigan6–⁠28–⁠418
Indiana5–⁠38–⁠419
Iowa4–⁠45–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠5–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Michigan State3–⁠55–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠54–⁠7
Illinois1–⁠6–⁠12–⁠8–⁠1
Northwestern0–⁠91–⁠10

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