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1979 North Carolina

8–⁠3–⁠1 (3–⁠3 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Dick Crum, finished No. 15 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

North Carolina in 1979, game by game: won vs. South Carolina 28–0; won vs. No. 13 Pittsburgh 17–7; won at Army 41–3; won vs. Cincinnati 35–14; lost vs. Wake Forest 19–24; won at No. 15 NC State 35–21; tied vs. East Carolina 24–24; lost at Maryland 14–17; lost vs. No. 18 Clemson 10–19; won at Virginia 13–7; won at Duke 37–16; won vs. No. 14 Michigan 17–15+38−9Won 28–0 vs. South Carolina+28South CarolinaWon 17–7 vs. No. 13 Pittsburgh+10No. 13 PittsburghWon 41–3 at Army+38ArmyWon 35–14 vs. Cincinnati+21CincinnatiLost 19–24 vs. Wake Forest-5Wake ForestWon 35–21 at No. 15 NC State+14No. 15 NC StateTied 24–24 vs. East Carolina0East CarolinaLost 14–17 at Maryland-3MarylandLost 10–19 vs. No. 18 Clemson-9No. 18 ClemsonWon 13–7 at Virginia+6VirginiaWon 37–16 at Duke+21DukeWon 17–15 vs. No. 14 Michigan+2No. 14 Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8vsSouth CarolinaW 28–⁠060%
Sep 22vs13PittsburghW 17–⁠748%
Sep 29atArmyW 41–⁠356%
Oct 6vsCincinnatiW 35–⁠1471%
Oct 13vsWake ForestL 19–⁠2479%
Oct 20at15NC StateW 35–⁠2136%
Oct 27vsEast CarolinaT 24–⁠2464%
Nov 3atMarylandL 14–⁠1747%
Nov 10vs18ClemsonL 10–⁠1949%
Nov 17atVirginiaW 13–⁠754%
Nov 24atDukeW 37–⁠1673%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvs14MichiganGator BowlW 17–⁠1538%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan 17–⁠15 in the Gator Bowl; No. 15 in the final AP poll; 5th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The tied 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 127 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 18
  2. Wk 6: 14
  3. Wk 7: 19
  4. Wk 8: 15
  5. Wk 9: 18
  6. Final: 15

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
8–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠3 5th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 15 peak No. 14
Points
290–⁠167
Coach
Dick Crum
Elo
1628 +113 this season
SP+ rating
22.4 No. 12 of 135; offense No. 17, defense No. 10
SRS
17.9 No. 15 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Buddy Curry

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 2Buddy Curry LBAtlanta Falcons
Rd 5Doug Paschal RBMinnesota Vikings

All-ACC

4 first team

First team

  • Steve JunkmannOTAP
  • Mike ChathamTEAP
  • Buddy CurryLBAP
  • Ricky BardenDBAP

From Wikipedia’s 1979 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1979 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
NC State5–⁠17–⁠4
Clemson4–⁠28–⁠4
Maryland4–⁠27–⁠4
Wake Forest3–⁠28–⁠4
North Carolina3–⁠38–⁠3–⁠115
Virginia1–⁠46–⁠5
Duke0–⁠62–⁠8–⁠1

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