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1979 Virginia

6–⁠5 (1–⁠4 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Dick Bestwick.

Schedule and results

Virginia in 1979, game by game: won vs. Richmond 31–0; lost at No. 19 NC State 27–31; won vs. VMI 19–0; won vs. Duke 30–12; lost at Clemson 7–17; won vs. James Madison 69–9; lost at No. 20 Navy 10–17; won at Georgia 31–0; won vs. Virginia Tech 20–18; lost vs. North Carolina 7–13; lost at Maryland 7–17+60−10Won 31–0 vs. Richmond+31RichmondLost 27–31 at No. 19 NC State-4No. 19 NC StateWon 19–0 vs. VMI+19VMIWon 30–12 vs. Duke+18DukeLost 7–17 at Clemson-10ClemsonWon 69–9 vs. James Madison+60James MadisonLost 10–17 at No. 20 Navy-7No. 20 NavyWon 31–0 at Georgia+31GeorgiaWon 20–18 vs. Virginia Tech+2Virginia TechLost 7–13 vs. North Carolina-6North CarolinaLost 7–17 at Maryland-10Maryland
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8vsRichmondW 31–⁠046%
Sep 15at19NC StateL 27–⁠3117%
Sep 22vsVMIW 19–⁠054%
Sep 29vsDukeW 30–⁠1252%
Oct 6atClemsonL 7–⁠1721%
Oct 13vsJames MadisonW 69–⁠995%
Oct 20at20NavyL 10–⁠1722%
Nov 3atGeorgiaW 31–⁠023%
Nov 10vsVirginia TechW 20–⁠1867%
Nov 17vsNorth CarolinaL 7–⁠1346%
Nov 24atMarylandL 7–⁠1726%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Maryland 17–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 6th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 65th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 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 1979.

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
1–⁠4 6th in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
258–⁠134
Coach
Dick Bestwick
Elo
1470 +111 this season
SP+ rating
10.1 No. 40 of 135; offense No. 78, defense No. 14
SRS
9.5 No. 35 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Steve Potter and Michael Newhall

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 5Tony Blount DBNew York Giants

All-ACC

3 first team

First 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 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.