CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1979 Washington

9–⁠3 (5–⁠2 Pac-10), coached by Don James, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Washington in 1979, game by game: won vs. Wyoming 38–2; won vs. Utah 41–7; won at Oregon 21–17; won vs. Fresno State 49–14; won vs. Oregon State 41–0; lost at Arizona State 7–12; lost vs. No. 17 Pittsburgh 14–26; won at UCLA 34–14; won at California 28–24; lost vs. No. 4 USC 17–24; won vs. Washington State 17–7; won vs. No. 11 Texas 14–7+41−12Won 38–2 vs. Wyoming+36WyomingWon 41–7 vs. Utah+34UtahWon 21–17 at Oregon+4OregonWon 49–14 vs. Fresno State+35Fresno StateWon 41–0 vs. Oregon State+41Oregon StateLost 7–12 at Arizona State-5Arizona StateLost 14–26 vs. No. 17 Pittsburgh-12No. 17 PittsburghWon 34–14 at UCLA+20UCLAWon 28–24 at California+4CaliforniaLost 17–24 vs. No. 4 USC-7No. 4 USCWon 17–7 vs. Washington State+10Washington StateWon 14–7 vs. No. 11 Texas+7No. 11 Texas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8vsWyomingW 38–⁠275%
Sep 15vsUtahW 41–⁠771%
Sep 22atOregonW 21–⁠1769%
Sep 29vsFresno StateW 49–⁠1487%
Oct 6vsOregon StateW 41–⁠090%
Oct 13atArizona StateL 7–⁠1255%
Oct 20vs17PittsburghL 14–⁠2661%
Oct 27atUCLAW 34–⁠1447%
Nov 3atCaliforniaW 28–⁠2458%
Nov 10vs4USCL 17–⁠2438%
Nov 17vsWashington StateW 17–⁠788%
Dec 22Bowls & playoffvs11TexasSun BowlW 14–⁠736%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas 14–⁠7 in the Sun Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 16th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 15
  2. Wk 2: 14
  3. Wk 3: 12
  4. Wk 4: 9
  5. Wk 5: 7
  6. Wk 6: 6
  7. Wk 7: 12
  8. Wk 8: 20
  9. Wk 9: 16
  10. Wk 10: 15
  11. Wk 11: 16
  12. Wk 12: 14
  13. Wk 13: 13
  14. Wk 14: 13
  15. Final: 11

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
5–⁠2 2nd in Pac-10
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 6
Points
321–⁠154
Coach
Don James
Elo
1672 +72 this season
SP+ rating
20.2 No. 16 of 135; offense No. 18, defense No. 17
SRS
19.7 No. 10 of 140 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bob Stull
Defensive coordinator
Jim Lambright
Captains
Phil Foreman, Doug Martin, Richardson and Joe Steele
Most valuable player
Mark Lee

Drafted in 1980

The 1980 draft
Rd 1Doug Martin DEMinnesota Vikings
Rd 2Mark Lee DBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 3Tom Turnure CDetroit Lions
Rd 5Joe Steele RBSeattle Seahawks
Rd 7Chris Linnin DENew York Giants

All-Pac-10

6 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Joe SanfordOTCoaches-2
  • Greg GrimesDBCoaches-2
  • Mike LansfordKCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 1979 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1979 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC6–⁠0–⁠111–⁠0–⁠12
Washington5–⁠29–⁠311
Oregon4–⁠36–⁠5
Arizona4–⁠36–⁠5–⁠1
California5–⁠46–⁠6
Stanford3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Arizona State3–⁠46–⁠6
UCLA3–⁠45–⁠6
Washington State2–⁠63–⁠8
Oregon State1–⁠71–⁠10

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