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1980 Tennessee

5–⁠6 (3–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Johnny Majors.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1980, game by game: lost vs. No. 16 Georgia 15–16; lost vs. No. 5 USC 17–20; won vs. Washington State 35–23; won at No. 18 Auburn 42–0; won at Georgia Tech 23–10; lost vs. No. 1 Alabama 0–27; lost vs. No. 12 Pittsburgh 6–30; lost vs. Virginia 13–16; lost vs. Ole Miss 9–20; won vs. Kentucky 45–14; won at Vanderbilt 51–13+42−27Lost 15–16 vs. No. 16 Georgia-1No. 16 GeorgiaLost 17–20 vs. No. 5 USC-3No. 5 USCWon 35–23 vs. Washington State+12Washington StateWon 42–0 at No. 18 Auburn+42No. 18 AuburnWon 23–10 at Georgia Tech+13Georgia TechLost 0–27 vs. No. 1 Alabama-27No. 1 AlabamaLost 6–30 vs. No. 12 Pittsburgh-24No. 12 PittsburghLost 13–16 vs. Virginia-3VirginiaLost 9–20 vs. Ole Miss-11Ole MissWon 45–14 vs. Kentucky+31KentuckyWon 51–13 at Vanderbilt+38Vanderbilt
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vs16GeorgiaL 15–⁠1658%
Sep 13vs5USCL 17–⁠2031%
Sep 20vsWashington StateW 35–⁠2375%
Sep 27at18AuburnW 42–⁠033%
Oct 11atGeorgia TechW 23–⁠1063%
Oct 18vs1AlabamaL 0–⁠2734%
Oct 25vs12PittsburghL 6–⁠3041%
Nov 1vsVirginiaL 13–⁠1672%
Nov 15vsOle MissL 9–⁠2064%
Nov 22vsKentuckyW 45–⁠1465%
Nov 29atVanderbiltW 51–⁠1373%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Vanderbilt 51–⁠13; unranked in the final AP poll; 6th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 89th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

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.

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠3 6th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
256–⁠189
Coach
Johnny Majors
Elo
1543 +7 this season
SP+ rating
11.8 No. 30 of 133; offense No. 40, defense No. 32
SRS
13.5 No. 24 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bill Pace
Defensive coordinator
Bobby Jackson
Captain
Jim Noonan

Drafted in 1981

The 1981 draft
Rd 3Tim Irwin OTMinnesota Vikings
Rd 5Danny Spradlin LBDallas Cowboys
Rd 7Alan Duncan KPhiladelphia Eagles

All-SEC

3 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Tim IrwinOTAP-1; UPI
  • Lee NorthCAP-2; UPI
  • Jim NoonanMGAP-1; UPI

Second 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 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia6–⁠012–⁠01
Alabama6–⁠110–⁠26
Mississippi State5–⁠19–⁠319
Florida4–⁠28–⁠4
LSU4–⁠27–⁠4
Tennessee3–⁠35–⁠6
Ole Miss2–⁠53–⁠8
Kentucky1–⁠53–⁠8
Auburn0–⁠65–⁠6
Vanderbilt0–⁠62–⁠9

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