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1979 LSU

7–⁠5 (4–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Charles McClendon.

Schedule and results

LSU in 1979, game by game: won at Colorado 44–0; won vs. Rice 47–3; lost vs. No. 1 USC 12–17; won vs. Florida 20–3; lost at Georgia 14–21; won vs. Kentucky 23–19; lost vs. No. 8 Florida State 19–24; won at Ole Miss 28–24; lost vs. No. 1 Alabama 0–3; won vs. Mississippi State 21–3; lost at No. 18 Tulane 13–24; won vs. Wake Forest 34–10+44−11Won 44–0 at Colorado+44ColoradoWon 47–3 vs. Rice+44RiceLost 12–17 vs. No. 1 USC-5No. 1 USCWon 20–3 vs. Florida+17FloridaLost 14–21 at Georgia-7GeorgiaWon 23–19 vs. Kentucky+4KentuckyLost 19–24 vs. No. 8 Florida State-5No. 8 Florida StateWon 28–24 at Ole Miss+4Ole MissLost 0–3 vs. No. 1 Alabama-3No. 1 AlabamaWon 21–3 vs. Mississippi State+18Mississippi Sta…Lost 13–24 at No. 18 Tulane-11No. 18 TulaneWon 34–10 vs. Wake Forest+24Wake Forest
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15atColoradoW 44–⁠058%
Sep 22vsRiceW 47–⁠383%
Sep 29vs1USCL 12–⁠1741%
Oct 6vsFloridaW 20–⁠373%
Oct 13atGeorgiaL 14–⁠2154%
Oct 20vsKentuckyW 23–⁠1966%
Oct 27vs8Florida StateL 19–⁠2443%
Nov 3atOle MissW 28–⁠2464%
Nov 10vs1AlabamaL 0–⁠332%
Nov 17vsMississippi StateW 21–⁠370%
Nov 24at18TulaneL 13–⁠2449%
Dec 22Bowls & playoffvsWake ForestTangerine BowlW 34–⁠1064%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Wake Forest 34–⁠10 in the Tangerine Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 59th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 20
  2. Wk 5: 17
  3. Wk 6: 13

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
7–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 13
Points
275–⁠151
Coach
Charles McClendon
Elo
1607 +32 this season
SP+ rating
16.8 No. 21 of 135; offense No. 46, defense No. 12
SRS
16.8 No. 17 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 2Willie Teal DBMinnesota Vikings
Rd 5Carlos Carson WRKansas City Chiefs
Rd 5John Adams LBOakland Raiders

All-SEC

4 first team, 3 second team

First 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 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.