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1980 North Carolina

11–⁠1 (6–⁠0 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Dick Crum, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

North Carolina in 1980, game by game: won vs. Furman 35–13; won at Texas Tech 9–3; won vs. No. 19 Maryland 17–3; won vs. Georgia Tech 33–0; won at Wake Forest 27–9; won vs. NC State 28–8; won vs. East Carolina 31–3; lost at No. 16 Oklahoma 7–41; won at Clemson 24–19; won vs. Virginia 26–3; won vs. Duke 44–21; won vs. Texas 16–7+33−34Won 35–13 vs. Furman+22FurmanWon 9–3 at Texas Tech+6Texas TechWon 17–3 vs. No. 19 Maryland+14No. 19 MarylandWon 33–0 vs. Georgia Tech+33Georgia TechWon 27–9 at Wake Forest+18Wake ForestWon 28–8 vs. NC State+20NC StateWon 31–3 vs. East Carolina+28East CarolinaLost 7–41 at No. 16 Oklahoma-34No. 16 OklahomaWon 24–19 at Clemson+5ClemsonWon 26–3 vs. Virginia+23VirginiaWon 44–21 vs. Duke+23DukeWon 16–7 vs. Texas+9Texas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vsFurmanW 35–⁠1374%
Sep 13atTexas TechW 9–⁠356%
Sep 27vs19MarylandW 17–⁠359%
Oct 4vsGeorgia TechW 33–⁠081%
Oct 11atWake ForestW 27–⁠958%
Oct 18vsNC StateW 28–⁠874%
Oct 25vsEast CarolinaW 31–⁠377%
Nov 1at16OklahomaL 7–⁠4144%
Nov 8atClemsonW 24–⁠1958%
Nov 15vsVirginiaW 26–⁠384%
Nov 22vsDukeW 44–⁠2189%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsTexasAstro-Bluebonnet BowlW 16–⁠765%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas 16–⁠7 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 4th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 127 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1980.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanLawrence Taylor, LB

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠0 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 6
Points
297–⁠130
Coach
Dick Crum
Elo
1719 +133 this season
SP+ rating
22.4 No. 11 of 133; offense No. 29, defense No. 7
SRS
18.8 No. 13 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Rick Donnalley, Steve Streater, Lawrence Taylor and Ron Wooten

Drafted in 1981

The 1981 draft
Rd 1Lawrence Taylor LBNew York Giants
Rd 1Donnell Thompson DEBaltimore Colts
Rd 3Rick Donnalley CPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Amos Lawrence RBSan Diego Chargers
Rd 6Ron Wooten OGNew England Patriots
Rd 6Harry Stanback DTAtlanta Falcons

All-ACC

8 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1980 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1980 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
North Carolina6–⁠011–⁠110
Maryland5–⁠18–⁠4
NC State3–⁠36–⁠5
Clemson2–⁠46–⁠5
Wake Forest2–⁠45–⁠6
Virginia2–⁠44–⁠7
Duke1–⁠52–⁠9

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