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1979 Tulane

9–⁠3, coached by Larry Smith.

Schedule and results

Tulane in 1979, game by game: won vs. No. 13 Stanford 33–10; lost at Rice 17–21; won at TCU 33–19; won vs. No. 19 SMU 24–17; won vs. Vanderbilt 42–14; won at Southern Miss 20–19; lost at West Virginia 17–27; won vs. Georgia Tech 12–7; won at Boston College 41–8; won vs. Ole Miss 49–15; won vs. LSU 24–13; lost vs. Penn State 6–9+34−10Won 33–10 vs. No. 13 Stanford+23No. 13 StanfordLost 17–21 at Rice-4RiceWon 33–19 at TCU+14TCUWon 24–17 vs. No. 19 SMU+7No. 19 SMUWon 42–14 vs. Vanderbilt+28VanderbiltWon 20–19 at Southern Miss+1Southern MissLost 17–27 at West Virginia-10West VirginiaWon 12–7 vs. Georgia Tech+5Georgia TechWon 41–8 at Boston College+33Boston CollegeWon 49–15 vs. Ole Miss+34Ole MissWon 24–13 vs. LSU+11LSULost 6–9 vs. Penn State-3Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8vs13StanfordW 33–⁠1035%
Sep 15atRiceL 17–⁠2160%
Sep 22atTCUW 33–⁠1959%
Sep 29vs19SMUW 24–⁠1749%
Oct 6vsVanderbiltW 42–⁠1482%
Oct 13atSouthern MissW 20–⁠1937%
Oct 20atWest VirginiaL 17–⁠2762%
Oct 27vsGeorgia TechW 12–⁠763%
Nov 3atBoston CollegeW 41–⁠862%
Nov 10vsOle MissW 49–⁠1573%
Nov 24vsLSUW 24–⁠1351%
Dec 22Bowls & playoffvsPenn StateLiberty BowlL 6–⁠940%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Penn State 9–⁠6 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll.

In program history: The 21st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 11: 20
  2. Wk 12: 18
  3. Wk 13: 16
  4. Wk 14: 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
9–⁠3
Conference
—
AP final
Unranked peak No. 15
Points
318–⁠179
Coach
Larry Smith
Elo
1573 +125 this season
SP+ rating
10.8 No. 37 of 135; offense No. 41, defense No. 45
SRS
14.6 No. 21 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Moe Ankney

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 7Eddie Murray KDetroit Lions