CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1979 Tennessee

7–⁠5 (3–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Johnny Majors.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1979, game by game: won at Boston College 28–16; won vs. Utah 51–18; won vs. Auburn 35–17; lost vs. Mississippi State 9–28; won vs. Georgia Tech 31–0; lost at No. 1 Alabama 17–27; lost vs. Rutgers 7–13; won vs. No. 13 Notre Dame 40–18; lost at Ole Miss 20–44; won at Kentucky 20–17; won vs. Vanderbilt 31–10; lost vs. No. 12 Purdue 22–27+33−24Won 28–16 at Boston College+12Boston CollegeWon 51–18 vs. Utah+33UtahWon 35–17 vs. Auburn+18AuburnLost 9–28 vs. Mississippi State-19Mississippi Sta…Won 31–0 vs. Georgia Tech+31Georgia TechLost 17–27 at No. 1 Alabama-10No. 1 AlabamaLost 7–13 vs. Rutgers-6RutgersWon 40–18 vs. No. 13 Notre Dame+22No. 13 Notre DameLost 20–44 at Ole Miss-24Ole MissWon 20–17 at Kentucky+3KentuckyWon 31–10 vs. Vanderbilt+21VanderbiltLost 22–27 vs. No. 12 Purdue-5No. 12 Purdue
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15atBoston CollegeW 28–⁠1666%
Sep 22vsUtahW 51–⁠1864%
Sep 29vsAuburnW 35–⁠1759%
Oct 6vsMississippi StateL 9–⁠2860%
Oct 13vsGeorgia TechW 31–⁠063%
Oct 20at1AlabamaL 17–⁠2720%
Nov 3vsRutgersL 7–⁠1358%
Nov 10vs13Notre DameW 40–⁠1838%
Nov 17atOle MissL 20–⁠4467%
Nov 24atKentuckyW 20–⁠1741%
Dec 1vsVanderbiltW 31–⁠1088%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs12PurdueAstro-Bluebonnet BowlL 22–⁠2737%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Purdue 27–⁠22 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 86th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 19
  2. Wk 7: 18
  3. Wk 8: 19
  4. Wk 9: 17
  5. Wk 11: 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.

Consensus All-AmericanRoland James, DB

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠3 tied for 5th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 17
Points
311–⁠235
Coach
Johnny Majors
Elo
1554 +25 this season
SP+ rating
14.1 No. 27 of 135; offense No. 16, defense No. 49
SRS
11.8 No. 28 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Joe Avezzano
Defensive coordinator
Frank Emanuel
Captains
Roland James, Craig Puki and Jimmy Streater

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 1Roland James DBNew England Patriots
Rd 3Craig Puki LBSan Francisco 49ers

All-SEC

4 first team, 1 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.